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PURDON, TEXASNavarro
County, North
Central Texas
FM 55
3 Miles S of State Highway 31
About
14 Miles SW of Corsicana
Population: 00133
(2000)
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Capt. J. A. Harrison is regarded as being the first settler here and is credited
with donating land for a church and school. Dates are scarce on the early history,
but it was first known as Belle Point.
It wasn’t until 1882 that
the railroad arrived. In this case it was the St. Louis Southwestern Railway,
also known by its famous nickname “The Cotton Belt Line.” A post office was granted
in 1881.
When lots were platted, the naming rights of the new community
went to a railroad official who at that time was enamored of a store cashier named
Ada Purdom. The incorrect spelling of her name was made permanent, and history
doesn’t record whether or not “the railroad man” made any headway by his beau
geste.
The first school shared space with the first church – both housed
in what was described as “an old seed house.” They town didn’t grow as fast as
others with a railroad connection, and by 1896 it had only eighty residents.
It peaked in 1914 with around 400 residents but the “triple whammy” of the Great
Depression, WWII and postwar
prosperity reduced the population to just 200 by the late 1950s.
The figure
of 133 has been used from the late 1970s through the 2000 census.- |
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Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us. |
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