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Turnersville
Community Church, now closed
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, March 2005 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Turnersville, aka Buchanan Springs was on the Chisholm Trail. In the
1860s, the appropriately named "Lone Tree" provided a landmark for
trail drivers taking their herds to Kansas. The tree was fed by a
spring and it was at this water source blacksmith Cal Turner set up
shop.
A Presbyterian church also served as a school in the late 1860s. The
post office opened in 1875 and was named for the blacksmith. Turnersville
had a population of 300 by 1885 - the year the Masons built a lodge.
Turnersville prospered as a cotton town from 1895 to around 1916.
The town had 162 residents by 1916 but a slow and steady decline set
in and by 1968 the school closed. The post office closed its doors
in 1987. In 1989 the town had a population of 155.
The Turnersville cemetery association sponsors an annual homecoming
on the last Sunday in May. |
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