| |
Kimball
in the 1940s
"You can stand at the exact spot that this photo was taken and you will be
looking down Lubbock street ( which is now a park road) and see the three large
oaks and the first building to the right which is still standing."
Photo
Courtesy Mr. Ron Carlisle |
Kimball
ruins
What's left of "the first building to the right"
Photo Courtesy
Jeff Boutwell |
Editor's
Note - Our thanks to Jeff Boutwell, Recreation Specialist, Mid-Brazos
Project/ Waco Lake, for his photos and information on Kimball. We have included
his letter as text for this town page.
Kimball,
Texas
I would
like to make an addition to your Ghost
town list. It is the old town of Kimball, Texas located in Bosque County about
20 miles south of Cleburne
and 15 miles north of Meridian
on State Highway 174.
It is located on the Brazos River and is
the location of one of the major crossings of the river by the Chisholm Trail.
The town was established in 1853 by Judge John Kimball
from New York. He bought the property from Jacob DeCordova. The town was plated
by McLennan and Erath. It was a thriving town and a center of commerce during
the cattle drive years. It had a gin, numerous stores, several churches, two schools
and more saloons than could be counted. The town's cemetery had over 600 burials.
It slowly died after the Santa Fe Railroad chose to miss the town by three
miles for a narrower crossing of the river. The town existed until about 1910
and had several residences left when the federal government bought out the remaining
people in 1947 for the construction of Lake Whitney by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers.
The town is now located within Kimball Bend
Park. Several old concrete foundations dating back to the 1870s remain along
with the Academy. This was the school building and town meeting center. It is
constructed out of cut limestone with arched windows fitted with keystones. There
are even old town streets still discernable .
The park is immediately
off State Highway 174 where it crosses the Brazos River.
- Jeff Boutwell, Recreation Specialist, Mid-Brazos Project/ Waco Lake
February
08, 2001 |
 |
Vintage
photo of Kimball School
Photo Courtesy Mr. Ron Carlisle |
 |
Kimball,
Texas Forum/UpdateSubject:
Kimball Bend Ghost Town
Dear TE, I agree with Mr. Steve
Watkins letter, written July 4, 2009. Kimball Bend Ghost Town is not open to the
public, they don't even want you to see it, that is the Army Corps Of Engineers.
I live just up 174 a half a mile to the left at Chisholm Trail. My Great Grandfather
lived in this town in the 1890's and relocated to the town of Blum
when the Railroad came through. At the turn of the century he relocated to Denton
Texas where my father was born, as a result I was born there also. I moved
here 19 years ago and did not find out my family history until 2005. Find out
I didn't move into the area, I just came home. - Ernie A. Copeland USMC - Decorated
Vietnam Veteran, Blum, Texas, May 02, 2013
Dear
TE, After reading your article on Kimball ghost town, in Kimball bend park I decided
to take a trip out there. It is not open to the public, as such. It is
in a camp ground that requires a $20 dollar admission fee. Overnight camping only,
no day use. The man at the gate let us drive through only if we promised to go
right in and back out (he seemed perterbed we would even ask). The wall in the
photo on your site is now surrounded by a chain link fence ruining any photographs
or close examination. I was not able to get close enough to see the rest of the
ruins. I just thought I would let you know to warn people… I burned a lot of gas
getting out there only to have to turn right around and come back. - Steve
Watkins, Ft. Worth, July 4, 2009
Chisholm
Trail: Fording the Brazos at Kimball Bend Bosque County Texas by
Angela Blair
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic/contemporary
photos, please contact
us.
Related Topics:
Texas
Towns | Texas Ghost Towns
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