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East Sweden Presbyterian
Church
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2007
|
History in
a Pecan Shell
The town had its beginnings in 1885 when three Swedes
from Williamson
County each purchased a half-section of land in McCulloch
County. In the fall of the following year Swen L. Hurd and family
made the trip and they were joined two years later by four other families.
Evidently life was good and they wrote to friends back in the old
country who arrived before 1890. The town had a population of 63 in
1889. Church services were held in private residences at first and
in 1890 a minister from Mason
held services here once or twice per month. In 1891 the populace switched
from Lutheran to Presbyterian and they received a full-time pastor.
In 1892 three acres of land were donated by the three original landowners
for a church, school and cemetery.
The first church building was built in 1892. In 1903 the town was
bypassed by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad and nine years later
the town was bypassed by the Santa Fe Railroad.
Around 1905-1906 a Swedish Methodist from Travis
County organized another Swedish community west of Brady
and the towns became East Sweden and West
Sweden. West Sweden declined into a ghost town while East Sweden
hung on. In 1916 the town was hit by a tornado which destroyed the
church although it was rebuilt within four years. It wasn't the town's
last disaster. The school burned in 1933 but was rebuilt the following
year.
Residents raised cattle and sheep and East Sweden had not one but
two dairies. Cotton farming provided a cash crop as well as oak and
wheat crops. A man named Swen Hurd built the town's first cotton gin
which later relocated to Salt Gap.
A monument commemorating early Swedish settlers stands in front of
the former school and in 1976 a time capsule was buried nearby.
Annual Event
Residents and former residents gather each August for a homecoming. |
East Sweden,
Texas Landmarks
& Historical Markers
Photo Gallery |
East Sweden Presbyterian
Church
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2007
|
East Sweden Presbyterian
Church
historical marker
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2007
|
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. |
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