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VENUS,
TEXAS Johnson
/ Ellis County, Central Texas North
Hwy 67 and FM 157
S of Fort
Worth via I-35
32 miles S of Dallas
on Hwy 67
Population: 910 (2000) |
Men
are from Mars, Groceries are from Venus
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January
2006 |
History
in a pecan shell
The
town was called Venus after the modestly named daughter of a local Doctor. The
town founder, a Mr. J. C. Smyth chose the name shortly after laying out
the town site on what had been a cornfield.
They got their post office
in 1888 and according to the Handbook of Texas, the population had shot up to
10 people just in time for the 1890 census.
Two
railroads met at Venus and that turned the town into a beehive of activity. Thirteen
businesses were reported in the mid 1890s. The railroads, or at least one of them,
continue to be a presence in Venus.
The town incorporated in 1903 and
the population swelled to 800 during the prosperous years following WWI.
During the Great Depression, Dallas
and Fort Worth drew off many
Venetians and by the early 40s, there was only one business left in Venus and
that was about to close. In a touching show of support, the townspeople chipped
in to save the business (a drugstore) from closing and turning Venus into a ghost.
A similar rescue was performed in Warda,
Texas in 1998, when the townsfolk bought the last business in town (a restaurant
called Wardaburger). |
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Downtown
Venus
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006 |
| Today,
the Venus city limits cross the county line and a single row of old brick buildings
from Venus' heyday comprise downtown. Efforts are being made to stabilize a two-story
building which may have been a bank.
The 1990 Census reported that just
under 1,000 people called Venus home.
See The
Iron Road Sorority: Penelope, May, Pearl, and Venus |
| Photo
courtesy Barclay Gibson, January 2006 |
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