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BARDWELL, TEXAS
Ellis
County, North
Central Texas
32°16'3"N 96°41'42"W (32.267602, -96.695028)
TX Hwy 34 and FM 984
15 miles SE of Waxahachie
the county seat
7 miles SW Ennis
13 miles NE Italy
2 miles W of Lake Bardwell
ZIP code 75101
Area code 972
Population: 625 (2020)
649 (2010) 583 (2000) 387 (1990) |
The 1912 Masonic
Lodge in Bardwell
Photo
courtesy Bob
Worley, August 2005 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
John W. Bardwell
constructed a cotton gin one mile SW of the present location in the
1880s and modestly named the town after himself. The community used
the nearby Bethany school for a church and and buried their dead in
the Bethany cemetery.
Bardwell built their own school in 1892 and Baptist and Methodist
churches in 1893. A post office branch was opened that same year.
In 1907 the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway came through Ellis
County and the community moved to be near it. Bardwell prospered
throughout the 1920s as a cotton
shipping point with three gins in operation and six grocery stores.
By 1914 Bardwell had electricity and telephone service from Ennis.
In 1929 the population was 650 - while declined drastically during
the Great Depression.
With the building of the Highway 34 in the early 1940s, the businesses
moved again. Bardwell's school consolidated with the Ennis
ISD in the late 1950s. In 1972 Bardwell had 277 which has since increased
to the present 649. |
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The 1912 Masonic
Lodge cornerstone.
Photo
courtesy Bob
Worley, August 2005 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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