| |
History
in a Pecan Shell
First settled prior to the Civil War, a post office was granted to the fledgling
community in 1880. The post office had requested the name Nixon, for a
local resident that had served in the Civil War under General
Samuel Bell Maxey. But the name Nixon
had been taken (Gonzales County) so the would-be honoree Nixon and others chose
the name of Nixon’s commander (and U.S. Senator) Maxey.
The
town seemed to escape the familiar curse of being too close to the county seat
to grow. In the mid 1890s, it had a respectable population of 250.
But
by 1914 the population had fallen to a mere 50 residents. It had grown to 75 by
the mid 1920s, but with the onset of the Great Depression, the post office closed
and the population fell into the 40s in the 1960s.
It reported 55 for
both the 1990 census and the 2000 census. |
1940s
Lamar County map showing Maxey
(Left of "L" in "L-A-M-A-R")
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| Texas Escapes,
in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that
anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic photos of their
town, please contact
us. | |
|
