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ORE
CITY, TEXASUpshur
County, East Texas
US 259 and FM 450
10 miles S of Lone Star
6 miles N of Diana
14
miles NE of Gilmer
12 miles SW of Avinger
Population: 898 (1990)
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History
in a Pecan Shell
The name comes from the ore deposits found here prior to the Civil War. Various
small mining operations extracted small amounts of the ore from the 1860s through
1900 but it wasn’t until 1910 when large-scale mining was envisioned.
In 1911 the Santa Fe railroad signed an agreement to lay rails from (the freshly-platted)
Ore City to distant Port Bolivar. By 1914 the line had completed the first 30
miles, connecting Ore City with Longview.
(See Port Bolivar & Iron Ore Railroad Historical
Marker)
Growth was immediate and with a population of 400, the town
had most essential businesses although little work was done on extending the rails
due to the US entry into World War One.
The line was abandoned just short of the beginning of the Great Depression. Ore
City did survive the Depression and in 1935 it still retained 500 residents. After
WWII, the population had
decreased to less than 400 but the town incorporated by 1952. It added new residents
and from an estimated 800 people in the mid 1960s, it grew to 900 by the mid 1970s
making it Upshur County’s “second city.” |
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Upshur
County TX 1920s Map showing Ore City
(Above
"R" in "UPSHUR")
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
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