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BETHANY,
TEXASOn the
Texas/Louisiana State Line
Panola County, East Texas
Highway 79
22 miles
NE of Carthage
Population:
Unknown |
| | The
Texas marker in Bethany
Photo Courtesy Sam Bailey |
| | Marker
detail
Photo Courtesy Sam Bailey |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Once known by the name of Vernon, Bethany got its
current name with the opening of a post office in 1849. Vernon was a popular stop
with Southerners transmigrating into Texas. The post office moved to Caddo Parish
Louisiana for a short time before the Civil War.
In 1889 one of the local
storeowners took advantage of his store/ tavern's position straddling the state
line by restricting gambling and drinking to separate halves of the same building.
In the 1920s, a gas field was discovered which brought some prosperity to the
region in the 30s, but like most rural areas, the population declined after WWII.
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