| |
 |
Emory History
in a Pecan Shell
Originally known as Springville, it was changed to honor early settler
Emory Rains, when Rains County was organized in 1870. Emory became the county
seat and the first courthouse was a log building. A second courthouse was built
(1872) but soon burned (1879). A third (brick) courthouse, constructed in 1884,
burned in 1890.
See Rains
County Courthouse
The Denison and Southeastern Railway arrived
about 1880, establishing Emory as a shipping point for lumber. In 1885 the town's
population was 600.
By the end of 1929 the population reached 1,000 but
two years later it had declined to 750, and by 1936 it had dwindled further to
447.
After the construction of Lake Tawakoni in the late 1950s,
a number of retirees began settling in the area boosting the population back to
the 1929 population of 1,000. |
A Visit to EmoryThe
Courthouse Square, Emory City Cemetery and Emory Rains: |
Buildings
along N. Texas St. (TX-19) across from the courthouse.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, October 2009 |
| "Hall's
Pharmacy on N. Texas St. The red doors are the entrance to the local newspaper,
the Rains County Leader." - Terry
Jeanson |
| "The
Arrington Building on the north side of the square. Businesses failed to develop
on the north side of the courthouse square due to the lack of a north side entrance
on the courthouse." - Terry
Jeanson, October 2009 |
Emory Rains Grave
Marker (May 2,
1800 - Aug. 11, 1878)
Texas pioneer Emory Rains served as an alcalde under
Mexican rule and as a counselor in the East
Texas Regulator-Moderator
War of the 1840s. As a senator in the Republic of Texas Congress, he helped
pass the Homestead Act. Rains also served in the 1845 Constitutional Convention
and in the State Legislature, where he worked for the formation of this county,
which was named in his honor. The Rains County Seat, Emory, was also named for
him. |
| Gravesite
of county and county seat namesake Emory Rains at the Emory City Cemetery. - Terry
Jeanson, October 2009 |
Emory Texas Old
News:News
Bits by Mike Cox ("Texas
Tales" column)
... Those whirling
funnels of high wind Texans keep an eye out for each spring used to be known as
cyclones, not tornadoes.
Whatever they are called, they are capable not
only of wreaking terrible destruction, but doing things than can only be called
weird. Take, for example, what happened to John Zimmerman’s mule.
A farmer
who lived near Emory, in Rains County, told the Rains County Leader that a cycle
had hit his place, picking up one of his mules and carrying it whirling through
the air for a hundred yards.
After the tornado set the animal down, the
May 30, 1913 article continued, it “stood bewildered for a few minutes, then ran
to a wooden pasture nearby, braying loudly. Since then the animal has not been
seen.” | |
|
