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History in a Pecan
Shell
The town was named after John Holliday, a member of the 1841
Santa Fe Expedition but in a most unconventional way. As Holliday passed through
the area he carved his name on a tree and when this carving was discovered many
years later, the nearby creek was called Holliday Creek. Later the town adopted
the name.
In the 1880s Holliday became a stagecoach stop and by 1890 the
railroad arrived, the town was platted and a post office opened even though there
were scarcely more than two dozen inhabitants. By the mid 1890s the population
had increased to 100 and the town had most essential businesses. Although the
date is unclear – a tornado hit the town in the first few years of the new (20th)
century. The town was still struggling when it was hit by a record-breaking winter
in 1905. Six years later a drought struck the region, depleting the population.
By 1914 the town had managed to retain the same number of people it had had 20
years previously but things got a shot in the arm with the discovery of oil in
1916.
From just over 200 people in 1925 it quintupled to 1,000 in two
short years. Oil production was good to Holliday and the decade closed with a
population estimated to be 1,500. Early into the Great Depression, Holliday was
down by nearly half. After WWII
there was a slight increase to 1,066 which slowly increased to 1,349 by 1986.
The census figures for 2000 showed a peak population of 1,632.
Visiting
Holliday, Texas Today |
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