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Texas Ghost
Town
BENOIT, TEXAS
Runnels County,
Panhandle / West Texas
U.S. Highway 67
12 miles NE of Ballinger
Population:
Between 0 and Unknown
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The Benoit Schoolhouse
Photo courtesy Stephen & Elizabeth Taylor |
History on
a Pinhead
Originally called Norwood when it was started in 1886, it was renamed
after a local settler when the post office was granted in 1906. The
first store in the community opened in 1912. At its high-water mark
(no population figures available) the town had the school, a blacksmith,
a cotton gin and two stores. The population for 1940 is recorded as
100 but after WWII the community had evaporated. |
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Closed school in Benoit
Photo courtesy Jim and Lou Kinsey |
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Benoit,
Texas road sign
Photo courtesy Jim and Lou Kinsey |
Benoit Schoolhouse
Photographer's
Note: "All that is left are a few houses and the old school...pictured
here. I couldn't really see inside due to the configuration of the
rooms inside, but I suspect that it had two rooms. With the roof being
in fairly good shape, and the windows being sealed up...the building
should last for a very long time." - Stephen Taylor, December
27, 2005
See Also
"Eighteen
Ghost Towns of Runnels County" by Alton O'Neil Jr. |
Benoit,
Texas Forum
Subject: Salado
and Benoit Circa 1910
Dear TE, A web search for Benoit, Texas, led me to your excellent
site. My father, Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Rampy was born and reared in
Salado. He wrote a detailed account of those years (1898-1916) in
a book titled "Choice and Chance." I have posted it (PDF), including
many photos, on the web at: http://www.upamerica.org/family/trrbook.htm.
I believe those of your readers who are familiar with Salado
would find the first of the three sections to be a good account of
how things were on a Central Texas farm a hundred years ago.
The town of Benoit was featured in an incident recounted in my father's
book (above). He relates a tale of travel from his home to that tiny
village in Runnels County by train in 1910: A
RAILROAD ADVENTURE
Thanks for the great job you are doing to preserve our precious past.
- Gordon Rampy, Warrenton, Virginia, August 11, 2007
Anyone wishing to share history or photos of the former town of
Benoit, please contact
us
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