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History in
a Pecan Shell
The area around Maydelle was settled as early as the 1840s, but the
town didn't form until the railroad was built. Camp Wright
had been a satellite prison that housed prisoners making charcoal
for the foundry at Rusk.
A group of local men saw the opportunity for development and bought
the land around the prison camp, platting a town in 1910.
The town was named after the daughter of Governor Thomas Mitchell
Campbell. Governor Mitchell is credited with helping extend the
railroad from Camp Wright to Palestine.
Palestine
already had a connection to Dallas
on the International & Great Northern, so this link was important
to the people of Cherokee
County since it connected them with the rest of the world.
There is no record of Maydelle Campbell's reaction to the town being
named after her, but she did sing at the opening of the townsite,
so we'll assume she was pleased.
Merchants and - especially merchants left their suddenly insufficient
homes in the smaller communities to move to Maydelle. The towns of
Gent, Java,
Mount Comfort, and Pine
Town can been seen on old county maps.
Maydelle was thriving in 1914 with a population of 150 and it reached
a high water mark of 450 in 1929.
The town flourished during the early twentieth century, reaching a
peak population of 450 in 1929. It was reduced to only 150 persons
during the Great Depression, but currently it's enjoying 250 inhabitants
thanks to the economic boost of being on the route of the Texas
State Railroad.
Photographer's Note:
"These still don't do Maydelle justice. Lots more there to see."
- Barclay
Gibson |
 |
Maydelle Railroad
Turntable
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, August 2013 |
Maydelle Depot
TE Photo, 2002 |
"Cushing
Hotel"
Glidden Grocery and Market in the 1940s, formerly a bank
TE
Photo, 2002 |
Maydelle,
Texas Forum
Subject:
Photo of "Cushing Hotel"
This building was never a hotel. My grandparents owned this building
beginning in the 1940's (Glidden Grocery and Market) and it is still
owned by my cousin. They used the bottom floor for their grocery
store and a kitchen, and the top floor was their residence. They
built out the bedrooms and living room on the top floor, which originally
was just one big room, and added an inside staircase.
Before that, the bottom floor was occupied by a bank and the vault,
which my grandparents used as a pantry, is still there, with an
inscription written in the vault dated 1919.
The Cushing Hotel sign was put on the building when the movie "The
Long Summer of George Adams" starring James Garner was filmed there
in 1981. The movie was about a town called "Cushing, Oklahoma" and
that is the reason for the sign. Thanks! - Margaret Haney, June
15, 2004
Book Hotel Here > Palestine
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