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ZULCH, TEXAS
Central Texas
Ghost Town
Madison County
FM 39 and FM 1372
11 miles SW of Madisonville
Population:
0
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North
Zulch Grocery sign
Photo by John Troesser, 2001 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Settlement began in the late 1830s when the first homestead was established
in what had been Grimes County. Sometime around 1850 Julius Zulch,
a German immigrant recognized the potential of this place that was
known as Willow Hole. It had spring water and was halfway between
Midway and Boonville
- the perfect place to open a store.
Zulch opened his store and in 1859 the Willow Hole post office operated
within the walls of Zulch's store. The settlers (mostly from southern
states) weren't settling fast enough for Julius, who wanted a broader
customer base. He started placing ads back in the old country - even
fronting interested immigrants their passage money.
In the early 1880s, "considerable numbers" of Germans arrived - either
sharecropping for Zulch or others in order to get a grubstake for
their own farms. Willow Hole soon had a respectable population of
150 - growing to around 500 by 1890.
Julius Zulch built a Lutheran school which doubled as a church. In
1893 the Bethlehem Lutheran Church was built on property donated by
Zulch. The town was renamed Zulch in 1906 and the postal authorities
authorized the change of the post office's name.
That same year the Houston and Texas Central Railroad on its way from
Navasota
to Mexia bypassed Zulch by building to the west. |
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West
Zulch sign
Photo by John Troesser, 2001 |
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East
Zulch sign
Photo by John Troesser, 2001 |
Then
in 1907, the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway built a spur parallel
to the Houston and Texas Central tracks. When people moved North to
the railroads - North Zulch came into existence and plain Zulch shrank.
The post office closed in 1920 and the school managed to hold on until
a consolidation in the early 1940s.
By 1949 Zulch was down to only 50 people and by the 60s, only the
Willow Hole Church and Cemetery remained.
A historical marker on Farm Road 39, (half a mile west) serves as
tombstone for the town. |
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Old gas station
in North Zulch
Photo by John Troesser, 2001 |
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