| History
in a Seashell
According to the Handbook of Texas, the town
was named "for Charles T. Clem, who in the early 1900s was instrumental in developing
several local oilfields." The Texas Historical Atlas shows a marker "5 miles west
of Markham on FM 1468 right-of-way" which states that the towns was named after
F. J. Clemenger who "had settled in the community, then known as Hardy." "The
community was renamed Clemville in his honor."
Both sources agree that
a post office was granted in 1911. The population held steady at 200 from about
1914 through 1933. Over the years it was dwindled to the current (estimated) population
of 54.
The full text of the historical marker follows:
"Originally
part of land granted to early colonist Henry Parker, this was a rural farming
and ranching area until 1908 when F. J. Hardy discovered oil and formed the Hardy
Oil Company. By 1911, and a post office was established in 1911. Clemville became
an oil boomtown, with schools, a church, residences, hotels, a general store and
machinist shops. As the economy slowed in the 1930s, Clemville's population began
to dwindle. By the end of the 20th century, little physical evidence remained
of the once booming oil town. (2001)" |
