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History in
a Pecan shell
Founded in 1904 shortly after the arrival of the Fort Worth and
Rio Grande railroad when the stop became a cattle-shipping point.
Within ten years Mercury had a population of 550 (the highest it
would ever reach), two banks and two general stores.
Mercury suffered
two terrible fires. The first was in 1919 and the second ten years
later. The town might've recovered in time, but the Mercury post
office closed in the 30s and then in 1938 the town was by-passed
by the new Brownwood-Brady highway. The final nail was driven in
the town's coffin when Mercury's schools consolidated with Rochelle's
school district in the late 40s. The population declined accordingly.
From its peak
of 550 in 1914, it dropped to 489 in 1933 and then to166 residents
by 1988.
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