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Beckville
library and museum
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2006 |
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History in
a Pecan Shell
Named after early settler Matthew W. Beck who arrived sometime around
1850, the community was once a mile east of the present location.
A post office opened in the late 1850s when the population was estimated
at 75. The Texas, Sabine Valley and Northwestern Railroad was headed
straight toward Beckville, but local landowners jacked up the price
of a right-of-way to the point where the railroad decided to build
a mile south where landowner Joe Biggs was more amenable.
The original townsite was deserted as people and businesses relocated
to the new townsite. In 1889 the first school was built. By 1914 the
population was up to 750. A fire in 1917 destroyed buildings in downtown
Beckville, and the region suffered a drought in 1927. The population
reached 880 people just as the Great Depression was beginning and
the population fell to just 453. The population remained at that level
for decades. It had increased to 783 in the early 1990s and has since
decreased to 752. |
Carthage
: Music from two country masters
(Excerpted from "THE EAST TEXAS SUNDAY DRIVE BOOK"
by Bob Bowman)
"... Back on Texas 43, return to Tatum,
take Texas 149 southeast to the settlement of Beckville, which was
founded before the l880s by Matthew W. Beck, who settled in the area
about l850. The town was originally established about a mile north
of its present site but was moved in l887 to be near the railroad.
At Beckville, take FM 124 and proceed in a southerly direction until
you come to the community of Fair Play
at the intersection with U.S. 79..."
more |
| 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, please contact
us. |
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