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A
typical building in downtown Moulton
TE photo, 2003 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
The town was originally two miles NW of its present
location. It was founded in the mid-1850s and was either named for settler E.
L. Moulton or another town by that name in Alabama or Kentucky.
A post
office was open as early as 1855 and the community had a log cabin school (private).
In 1874 the Moulton Male and Female Institute was opened. By 1875 the community
had stores, a blacksmith and an Odd Fellows hall. The San Antonio and Aransas
Pass Railway built through the area in 1887 and the town moved for the advantages
a rail connection offered. The railroad named their station Topeka for
some reason, but in time Moulton won out.
The former town became known
as Old Moulton and retained an Anglo
population while "New" Moulton became primarily Czech and German. By the late
1890s Old Moulton was nearly forgotten and
the new location was, for all intents and purposes, Moulton, Texas.
By
1896 Moulton had a population over 500 and it's own school, Catholic church, and
hotel in addition to gins and gristmills. By 1900 the population was over 700,
declining a little to reach 643 in 1940. Moulton's population remained there for
years, but growth returned in the late 1960s. By 1970 there were nearly 1,000
residents and the population has remained between 900-1,000. |
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| | Moulton
Masonic Lodge and marker
TE photos, 2003 | |
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Zion
Lutheran Church in Moulton
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, August 2005 |
Moulton
school building
TE photos, 2002 |
Moulton
Personalities:
Thomas
Lenz by Murray Montgomery
"All three of the high-school pals saw
action in Vietnam – two survived and one, Tommy Lenz, would die a month after
his 21st birthday and just a week before he was due to come home. He had volunteered
to go on a mission to replace a man who was ill..."Richard
Gaertner's Story by Murray Montgomery | |
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