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John Shaver home/hotel
Photo courtesy James E Bridges,
May 2010 |
Good old
New Corn Hill
by Clay Coppedge
Maybe you have
been to New Corn Hill and thought
you were in Corn Hill, or Cornhill depending on your spelling preference
and which map you're using. What some people think of as Corn Hill is really
New Corn Hill, the place on FM 1105
where rolling pasture and prairie converge at the beautiful and historic Holy
Trinity Catholic Church... more
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History
in a Pecan Shell
In 1855 a Judge named John E. King built his residence atop a topographical
feature called Corn Hill. The house served as a stop for the stage line connecting
Georgetown and Fort Gates and a post office
was granted the same year of 1855.
The town had an uneventful history
until the 1870s and 1880s. The first store was opened in 1869 and a gin two years
later. In 1884 Corn Hill the town had 250 people with two mills, a Masonic lodge,
three gins, a newspaper, and the Corn Hill Academy.
By 1896 the population
was 350 in 1896 and the town's high-water mark came around 1910 when an estimated
500 people lived here.
The Bartlett
and Western Railway bypassed Corn Hill, and the town of Jarrell
was established alongside the rails. Corn Hill received a death blow during the
period 1910 to 1920 when all the people and most of the buildings (including the
post office) moved to Jarrell.
Today only
a few buildings still stand. The old city cemetery is less than a mile east of
what had been the town. It offers a sweeping view of the countryside and a distant
view of the church at New Corn Hill.
See 1907
Postal Map |
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The
road to Corn Hill
TE Photo, 9-04 |
Historical
Marker TextCorn
Hill Community Settled
primarily by settlers from Texas and southern states, Corn Hill was one of the
earliest communities in Williamson County. John E. King, county judge from 1858
to 1860, named it for the home he built on a hill and nearby cornfield in 1852.
The dispersed agricultural community was the first stop on the stage line running
from Georgetown to Fort Gates (Coryell County).
A post office opened in
1855 and by the 1860s, an influx of new residents settled here. In 1878, George
G. Grant established corn Hill Academy Male and Female School, built on land donated
by Judge King. It thrived and in 1886 moved to a new two-story building with four
classrooms, a bell tower and an auditorium, which provided meeting space for local
church services. By 1893, a public school opened as part of Corn Hill Independent
School District.
By the end of the 19th century, Corn Hill had a saddle
club, several churches, two locl cotton gins, Corn Hill College, fraternal lodges
and school organizations. By the early 1900s, community residents became active
in Populist politics and in the Farmers’ Union. Industrial activity of the early
1900s included the Corn Hill and Gravis Telephone Company and a waterworks; a
planned interurban to Bartlett never materialized.
The settlement began
to decline in 1909 when the Bartlett Western Railway bypassed two miles to the
north, establishing the town of Jarrell. Steam engines helped move homes and businesses
to the new townsite, and other moved to the village of New Corn Hill, but many
residents chose to remain here. Today, the dispersed Corn Hill settlement survives
as a reminder of the area’s early agrarian heritage.
(2007)
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Corn
Hill Cemetery
TE Photo, 9-04 |
One
of a few remaining buildings in Corn Hill
TE Photo, 9-04 |
Corn
Hill Community historical marker
Photo courtesy Wayne Ware |
Corn Hill Area Hotels - Book Here & Save:
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Corn Hill,
Texas ForumSubject:
Old Corn Hill (Texas Ghost Towns)
As a direct descendant of John Shaver,
I have also photographed the deteriorating Shaver home/hotel (in the photo provided
by James Bridges) through the years. I am always relieved to find it still standing
on each return visit! My Corn Hill families (Shaver, Biles, Haralson, Buchanan,
Robbins and Frasier) all eventually lived in Jarrell
and Georgetown. I have visited the old Corn
Hill cemetery at least twice a year my entire life, and am glad to see that it
is still well maintained. I would very much like to see more stories and photos
from those with Corn Hill connections or interest. - Linda Petty, May 19, 2011
Subject: Corn Hill - Ghost Town
Just bit of additional information: B
F Bridges is my gGrandfather. B F is Benjamin Franklin. He was a confederate
soldier from Missouri, serving as a teamster and was captured and interned in
Arkansas. He moved to Texas and married Penelope Ake. The Akes lived in Willis
Creek, exact location unknown. I cannot find any records of a community by
that name although the creek obviously exists in the Corn Hill area. I know very
little about the old family as that was well before my time and I cannot remember
any conversations about those times. There is a small Ake Cemetery nearby
that I have not yet located. - James E Bridges Lt Col USAF (ret), Austin, Texas,
November 06, 2010
Subject:
Ghost Towns
Recently I was given a printout from your article relating
to the Corn Hill area of Central Texas. I am writing today, as after viewing some
of the pictures you provided, it brought back memories of my early days.
You see, I along with my sisters were reared in that Catholic Community, attended
parochial school there, as well as some of us married in the large Church that
still stands today, as well our Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles as well as many
other members of the family and friends, that now, lie buried in the very same
Cemetery you show in the pictures. I still have one surviving Uncle that lives
to this day, directly across from the large Catholic Church and would be directly
across from the few remaining buildings that you once again featured in your article.
Oh yes, many memories, of the first Grocery Store that was just off
the road, where I watched my first "World Series game between the Dodgers and
Yankees. That would have had to be somewhere around 1950's. I also remember going
to the Church activities as well as annual celebrations just below the hill at
a place called "Moravian Hall". It was a two story structure, with a stairway
leading upstairs to a wooden dance floor. Downstairs was reserved for Bohemian
Taroks, Dominoes as well as refresments and delicious cakes pies kolaches sauage
barbecue beer and much much more. Wonderful times, those ole days, and miss the
greatly. My sisters as well as myslef still make our trips to that erea as often
as we can, as most of our classmates and friends reside either in that area still,
or the Austin, Texas area. My Mother and Father were buried there on top of the
hill under the large oak trees just south of what use to be a ballpark. I playd
ball there when I was in school, but my Father also spoke of the "big games" they
had in a ballfield a bit farther down to the right. The school and most all, as
you mention, are almost all gone, but the memories of the Catholic Nuns that gave
us our early education and Christian way of life, still remains with us to this
day. I will attempt to visit my Uncle within the next couple of weeks, as he will
be celebrating his 103rd or 104th Birthday this year.. He has great knowledge
of that entire area and lives alone, with the help of his Son.
I hope
to share some other things, now that I know how to locate you, and thanks for
the great work you are doing to preserve all that is so precious to all of us,
as we age along with everyone else. Oh by the way, my one sister lives in Temple,
Texas, while the other lives in Houston,
Texas. Thanks again. - William (Bill) Knapek, Houston, Texas 77040, Age
63, May 02, 2006 |
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1907
Williamson County Postal map showing Corn Hill
(Above "A" in "WILLIAMSON",
East of Bartlett
Courtesy Texas General Land
Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
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