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The
Florence Police Station
Photo courtesy Hannalore Lyons, September, 2004 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Briefly called Brooksville, the community
dates from the early 1850s. The name change came about with the opening of the
post office in 1857. The first postmaster was from Florence, Alabama although
Florence Brooks, the daughter of the town's first merchant is also considered
to be the source of the name.
After the Civil War, wheat, cotton
and cattle were the town's economic
mainstays, and by the 1890s the town was prospering with the stores, mills, hotels,
and lodges typical of a central Texas town on the rise. Untypical businesses included
a stone quarry and a cheese factory.
A short line railroad (the Bartlett
and Western Railway) was in operation from 1912 until 1935.
Its population
reached 1,000 people - just before the Great Depression - when it fell below 500.
It has, in the last few years, surpassed the previous record. |
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