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TIMPSON,
TEXAS
Shelby County,
East Texas
US 59 and Hwys 87, 84
20 miles S of Carthage
15 miles NW of Center
29 miles NE of Nacogdoches
Population: 1,094 (2000) 1,029 (1990)
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Shady
Grove Church four miles SE of Timpson
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006 |
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Founded
with the arrival of the Houston, East and West Texas Railway in 1885,
the town was named for P. B. Timpson, a railroad engineer.
Timpson opened its post office that year and by 1890 the town had
1,200 people with two sawmills, a canning factory and a weekly newspaper. |
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World
War I marker in Timpson
Photo by John Troesser, July 2001 |
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1925 Timpson had become a lignite shipping point. The town population
swelled during the 1920s to an estimated population of 2,500, but
the boom was short lived due to the onsetr of the Great Depression.
The town declined over the years, reaching 1,050 in 1968 - a figure
that it has since become somewhat stable. |
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The
closed Fox Theater in Timpson
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006 |
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The First Methodist
Church in Timpson
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006 |
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A
ghost sign
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006 |
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Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair by
Archie P. McDonald, PhD
Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair are communities in Shelby County
whose names were appropriated for a plea by crapshooters for good
luck when seeking to roll double fives. Similarly, dice throwers hoping
for an "eight" would sing out, "Eighter from Decatur, the County Seat
of Wise." Later the alliteration in the sing-song phrase "Tenaha,
Timpson, Bobo, and Blair" helped a folk song recorded by Tex Ritter
popular.
How did the communities become involved with dice and popular music?
... more
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A
Timpson cafe ghost sign
Photo by John Troesser, July 2001 |
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Timpson Depot
Courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
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1908 Timpson Street Scene
Courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
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A
barber pole
Photo by John Troesser, July 2001 |
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Timpson
Texas Forum
Subject: The
History of Timpson
I was
wondering if [anyone] can help me. I understand there is a book, The
History of Timpson. Does anyone know who published it or how I could
go about getting a copy? There are pictures of my relatives in it
and I own a very old handmade quilt sewn by Mrs. Cozart who is also
featured in the book.
My mother was Helen Elizabeth Jennings who taught in the Timpson School
system. It was a time when the school was so short of funds they were
unable to pay their employees. I still have the chalk box she kept
on her desk.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you very much.-
Carolyn Carney, ccarney1@earthlink.net , Winnsboro, Texas, August
15, 2006
Anyone with history, stories or photos of Timpson, Texas, please contact
us.
More Photos by Barclay
Gibson |
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