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Old
Moulton: The Queen of the Prairies
by Murray
Montgomery
In his book, The History of Lavaca County,
well-known local historian Paul C. Boethel has several pages describing some of
the towns in the county,
including a location known for years as Old Moulton.
Boethel wrote that
Moulton was founded before 1860 and probably sometime during the late 1850s. He
also indicated that the origin of the town’s name was in doubt, with most of the
early pioneers saying that the place was named for an old town in the States possibly
located in Kentucky or Alabama; the latter being the most likely because it still
had a town by that name.
Evidently the mystery as to how the town came
to be called Moulton was never really solved. In the old days there were differing
opinions on the name selection. Some folks said it was named for E.L. Moulton,
a pioneer settler in the area, and there were those who said it was named by a
visitor who said the live oak motts were so prevalent in the region that it should
be named after them – perhaps the word “mott” eventually became Moulton, no one
knows for sure.
Sometime before 1860, the town acquired the name “The
Queen of the Prairies” because of its location in what was considered a rich
prairie-land section of the county.
In 1855 the Moulton post office opened
and a private school operated out of a log cabin about the same time. In the 1860s
school was also taught in an old Christian church.
Boethel said that the
town didn’t make any great progress until 1874 when Professor M.H. Allis located
his school there. “The school flourished under his excellent management and direction
and won state-wide recognition for the settlement,” wrote Boethel. In 1875 the
community had a church, a wagon and blacksmith shop, several stores, and an Odd
Fellows Hall. This was Moulton up until the late 1880s – known today as
Old Moulton.
Then in 1887 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad
was constructed from Yoakum to Waco
with the rails passing within two miles of the town and school. This greatly enhanced
the economy of the community and when the railroad
built a station, named Topeka, the old town gradually moved to its present
location near the tracks.
Moulton
When
most of the citizens left the old town for the new location, the station inherited
the name, post office and business of Old Moulton. According to “The Handbook
of Texas Online,” by the late 1890s the old site was pretty much abandoned – the
community around the railroad station was now Moulton.
During the 1890s significant numbers of Czechs and Germans settled in
the community, and by 1896 the town had an estimated 550 citizens, a Catholic
church, a public school, a hotel, cotton gins, and gristmills. By 1900 Moulton
reached a population of 733, and by 1914 the town had both Lutheran and Catholic
churches, a bank, an opera house, telephone service and a weekly newspaper.
Since
1970 the population of Moulton has remained consistent
at around 900. The census of 2000 showed the number of inhabitants at 944. The
largest number of people living in the city occurred in 1980 when there were 1,009
residents.
Not much remains of Old Moulton these days. The historic Baptist
church being the predominate structure which has survived the years of change.
Down the road is the old cemetery, with its hallowed ground containing the remains
of early pioneers – some who were involved in the Texas Revolution.
Founded
in the 1850s, the place once known as “The Queen of the Prairies” is one of the
oldest settlements in Lavaca County and was a noteworthy contributor to the rich
history of this area.
© Murray
Montgomery
Lone
Star Diary
column |
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Old
Moulton Historical Marker
TE photo, August 2005 |
Historical
Marker TextOld MoultonAt
this point was center of original town of Moulton
(named, according to tradition, by a man from Moulton, Alabama).
First
postmaster was James Walker (1856). Town gained statewide fame for the Moulton
Institute operated 1874-1895 by Melvin H. Allis, M. A., and wife, Thankful ("Aunt
Thank"). On the faculty was an outstanding teacher of music, Miss Sallie McLean.
In 1887, San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad built its line two miles to the
east, so town gradually moved there.
Old Moulton Cemetery is one mile
to the southeast. |
| | Old
Moulton Historical Marker
TE photo, August 2005 |
Old
Moulton Baptist Church
Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark
TE photo, August 2005 |
Historical
Marker Text Old
Moulton Baptist ChurchOrganized
1873 by 25 former members of the Live Oak Church located near Nickel,
Texas. Two-story structure built 1873-74; cornerstone laid January 31, 1874.
Upper story used by Masonic Lodge until 1894; later served as schoolroom; removed
about turn of century. Braces placed in structure after 1886 storm. Lower floor
used continuously since 1874 as Baptist church. Congregation celebrated 75th anniversary
on October 24, 1948.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970 |
Old
Moulton Baptist Church Historical Marker
TE photo, August 2005 |
Historical
Marker
(On Old Moulton Cemetery Road, 1 mile S of
FM 1680) Old
Moulton CemeteryAlthough
local oral tradition holds that there may be older interments, the earliest documented
grave in this cemetery is that of Louisa Lattimer (1842-1857). Early settlers
Robert H. and Eliza J. McGinty deeded some land for cemetery use. Those interred
here include Lavaca County pioneers; former slaves; a large number of children;
victims of 19th-century diseases and epidemics; and veterans of the Texas Revolution,
the Civil War, World War I, World
War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Of the hundreds of graves in the Old Moulton Cemetery,
many remain unmarked. |
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