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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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Old photo courtesy Jesse Suttles |
Avery First United Methodist
Church
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, 2010 |
Avery Farmers' Market
Photo
courtesy Jesse Suttles |
1940s Red River County map
showing Avery
(Near Bowie county line, below "R" in "RED
RIVER")
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us. |
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