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History in
a Pecan Shell
The town had originally been named Douglass, Texas by officials of
the Texas and Pacific Railroad in the 1870s. The T & P was crossing
Red River County and there were so few people in the area that nobody
objected to the decision. A newspaperman from Clarksville
visited the site in 1881 and reported that residents were living in
a tent village. Things were about to change. Isaac Bradford opened
a store there the following year and in the custom of the day, the
store housed the post office. With postal service established, Douglass,
Texas became Isaca, Texas. The population, however, was less than
50 residents.
The name only lasted until 1902 when it was changed to honor Ed Avery,
the T & P station agent. Avery had a population of 176 by 1900 and
cotton was the town's lifeblood.
Gins opened and by 1914, Avery had two banks, a weekly paper and a
population of 500. At its peak (in the late 1920s) Avery had nearly
800 citizens which declined to a mere 300 during the onset of the
Great Depression. In 1940 it had a population of just under 500, and
it has remained between 430 and 500 ever since. |
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