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WASKOM,
TEXASHarrison County,
East Texas
I-20 at the Louisiana State Line
FM 134 and FM 9, Highway 80
12 miles
N of Panola
18 miles SE of Marshall
20 miles from Shreveport
Population: 1,975 (2000) |
A
closed gas station in Waskom
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2006 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Founded around 1850, the community had first
been known as Powell Town, after an early settler. From 1850 through 1872
it had a post office under the name Powellton. With the arrival of the
Southern Pacific, the name was changed to Waskom Station in after a railroad
official. The name was shortened to Waskom in 1881.
By 1884 the population
was estimated at 150 and by 1904 it had increased to 207.
The Missouri,
Kansas and Texas ran a branch line through Waskom about 1900. When oil was discovered
near Waskom in 1924, the population increased accordingly. From a few hundred
people it jumped to 1,000 and appears to have reached a peak in 1933 with 1,117
people.
The Great Depression thinned the population back to 564 by 1941.
It has since grown past the 1933 level - reaching 2,182 in 1988.
Waskom
is home to one of Texas' welcome stations. | |
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