BELCHERVILLE, TEXAS

History in a Pecan Shell

Originally named Belcher, after local ranchers John and Alex Belcher, it became known as Belcherville in the late 1850s even though there was no populace other than the cowboys on the Belcher Ranch. In 1887, the Gainesville, Henrietta and Western Railroad was expanding its routes and the Belchers platted a townsite on 27,000 acres they had purchased for the purpose. The town was granted a post office the same year the roadroad arrived. In 1890, nearby Red River Station was hit by a tornado, and the population abandoned that place in favor of Belcherville. The town incorporated three years later. There were just over 300 people living in Belcherville in 1900, supported by thirty businesses.

The town's incorporation was voided in a 1908 vote. Already in decline, Belcherville suffered two fires just after WWI, causing the population to move to greener pastures in Nocona, just as the residents of Red River Station had moved to Belcherville. The town still had 192 people in the mid-1920s, but declined to less than 100 a decade later. The post office closed in the 30s and by the mid 1950s it had reached a rock-bottom population of 31 people.

By the late 1960s, it had somehow risen to 90, only to decline again to the current 34 - the same estimate used for the last 40 years.

The Belcherville cemetery is just west of town north of Hwy 82.

Take a road trip