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Phillips Cemetery (On Hwy 77)
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2008 |
History
in a Pecan ShellNot
named after the commandant of the Alamo,
this Travis was named after Travis Fleming Jones, a San Antonio and Aransas Pass
Railroad surveyor.
Although there had been families in the region, things
didn’t get started until the arrival of the railroad in 1891. A post office was
granted that same year when the town reported an estimated population of 75 (slightly
more than the 1990 census county).
By 1900 the population had increased
to 148. The community might today rival neighboring Lott
or Rosebud if it hadn’t been for two
devastating fires (1914 and 1925) that consumed most of Travis’ businesses.
The community peaked with a population of 300 in the late 1920s and early 1930s,
but the Great Depression sent it back to 100. It remained at that level through
WWII and into the post-war
years. The railroad discontinued passenger service in 1949.
Like many
communities across the state, what kept Travis alive was its school. In 1961 it
consolidated with Rosebud.
Commercial
rail disappeared in 1967 and as if to kick the community to the curb, the post
office closed in the mid 1970s. |
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Phillips
Cemetery historical marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2008 |
Historical
Marker TextPhillips
CemeteryEzekial
Thomas Phillips (1830-1905), a Civil War veteran, moved his family to Falls County
in 1869. His son Robert M. Phillips (b. 1857) died in a shooting accident on March
18, 1883, a short time before his wedding. He was buried on this tract, which
was to have been a wedding gift from his father. Requests for burials at this
site were so numerous that Phillips donated the land as a public cemetery in 1903.
There are 350 known graves, including those of Phillips and his wife Louise "Lucy"
Jane (Wade) (1836-1897). Phillips Cemetery has served residents of the area for
over a century. |
| 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. | |
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