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Texas Ghost
Town
COFFEEVILLE, TEXAS
Upshur County,
East Texas
Highway 155
5 miles W of Lake O' the Pines
N and NW of Longview,
Jefferson and
Marshall
Population:
0
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Despite colorful stories (like coffee trees growing from spilled beans),
Coffeeville is named after early settlers.
Coffeeville used to be considered the destination when people headed
west from the then-booming riverport of Jefferson. Wagon trains resupplied
there. Between 1845 and 1866 Coffeeville received an influx of plantation
owners from southern states who had decided to sell their expensive
land back east and buy new holdings in the much cheaper Texas. A post
office was opened by 1852 and during that decade, the town throve
with three doctors, a large hotel, four stores, a Masonic lodge and
even an academy.
During its heyday, Coffeeville had several blacksmiths and recreational
activities included a pool hall and more than one saloon. Governor
Edward Clark suggested that Coffeyville host a Confederate training
camp - which was done. But after the war when the railroad came through
Upshur County, the town was bypassed. From 200 people in 1887, it
has already shrunk to 153 by 1904. The Coffeyville post office closed
in1915.
During the Great Depression, fifty die-hard residents kept the town
on the map - it remained at that level (census figures are sometimes
reused for decades) through 1990. Today nothing resembling a town
remains - it is now considered a dispersed rural community. |
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