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The
Methodist Church in Pidcoke
Photos courtesy Richard Miller, October 2007 |
History
in a Pecan ShellThe
name is from the Revered Richard Pidcocke family, English immigrants who arrived
in the 1850s to form a colony.
Pidcocke sons Hartley and Reginald, bought
land in 1857 and began the Pidcock Ranch. A post office was granted under that
name in 1875.
The post office changed its name in 1882 to Pidcoe, and
in 1883 to Pidcoke. The first school and church were built on land donated by
W. H. Belcher.
In 1884 Pidcoke had a population of 150, the school, three
churches, two gristmills, and two cotton gins.
In 1914 it had a population
of sixty-five, and it peaked in 1940 with a population of 200.
The construction
of Fort Hood in 1942 caused many far-reaching changes. The post office closed
in 1944 and the last store closed in 1983. |
Pidcoke Baptist
Church on FM 116
Photos courtesy Richard Miller, October 2007 |
Historical
Marker - FM 116Pidcoke
Baptist ChurchOrganized
in 1884 as Harmony Baptist Church, this congregation began with four charter members.
Early worship services were held in the local schoolhouse. A sanctuary, erected
in 1907 was destroyed by fire two years later. A new church was built by 1911,
and in 1916 the name was changed to Pidcoke Baptist Church. In 1934, a new sanctuary
replaced the 1911 structure. Among the church's traditions are camp meetings and
baptisms in Cow House Creek. Active in community projects, the congregation led
in the restoration of Pidcoke Cemetery. |
Pidcoke Cemetery
- - CR 142, 0.7 miles west of FM 116
Photos courtesy Richard Miller, October
2007 |
Historical
MarkerPidcoke CemeteryServing
the rural Pidcoke and Harman communities, this cemetery dates to at least 1885,
the year six-year-old Mattie Jeter was buried here after dying in a fall from
a wagon. Local landowners H. S. (Tip) Perryman and W. H. Belcher formally deeded
portions of their land for a community graveyard in 1896, and members of both
the Perryman and Belcher families are interred here.
The Pidcoke community
was named for English colonist the Rev. Richard Burton Pidcocke's sons, Hartley
and Reginald, who began a successful ranching enterprise in the area in 1857.
Stock raising and other agricultural pursuits sustained the economy until the
acquisition of land for Camp Hood in 1942 resulted in the relocation of
many families.
Generations of families are buried in the Pidcoke Cemetery,
including that of H. S. Perryman, a native of Arkansas, who drove cattle
to Kansas and served as Coryell County tax assessor (1876-1886). Perryman died
in 1897, soon after donating land for the cemetery. Others interred here include
veterans of the Civil War, World War
I, World War II, Korea
and Vietnam.
The Pidcoke Cemetery Association, dating to at least 1936,
cares for the cemetery. The association has conducted a census of the cemetery,
worked to provide markers for unmarked graves and acquired additional land in
1985. The graveyard remains in use as a reminder of Pidcoke's settlement and heritage.
(2001) |
FM
116: In The Shadow of Fort Hood
by Clay Coppedge
PIDCOKE -
Driving north from Copperas
Cove to Gatesville on FM 116 you're never
far from Fort Hood. ... Copperas Cove is
ringed by five hills, a pattern drivers will see repeated on the way to Gatesville.
A few miles out of town you come to FM 580, and if you just feel like it you can
detour to the town of Topsey...
If, instead
of heading to Topsey you get on 116 you will drive
up on a green, bowl-shaped valley cut by scenic creeks. Nestled between the hills
and creeks is the community of Pidcoke,
named for the Pidcocke family, early English colonists to the area. It's not hard
to see what drew the Pidcockes here. The creeks would have been as good a reason
to settle here as anything. This is good ranch country; the best side of the grass
is already topside.
A detour in Pidcoke
to see the local cemetery is a good one, but follow the road past the cemetery
to catch some fine glimpses of Bee House Creek and a couple of panoramas
of the valley. Bee House was once the home of
a communal house called Bee House Hall. Residents wanted to name the community
Bee Hive but the post office decided it would be Bee House instead.
Pidcoke
was the home of NFL legend Clyde "Bulldog" Turner, who passed away in 1998 at
the age of 79. Turner was a member of the NFL Hall of Fame who played his college
ball art Hardin-Simmons University. He was the first draft pick of the Chicago
Bears in the 1940.
As a 20-year old rookie center for the Bears, he was
the highest paid rookie lineman in the league. He made $2,000 a year. Turner also
owns the distinction, if that's the word, of playing in the most lopsided NFL
game ever played, when his Bears delivered a 73-0 shellacking of the Washington
Redskins. He had 16 pass interceptions in his career (players played both offense
and defense in those days) and four of them came in NFL championship games. He
had eight interceptions in 1942, which led the league.
Six miles southeast
of Pidcoke used to be the community of Stampede... more |
Pidcoke, Texas
ForumSubject:
Pidcoke old rock school house
I was hoping to see a photo or a reference
to the old rock school house there on the NW side of town. During WWII
the class rooms were used as apartments for families working at Camp Hood.
Although I never attended school there I did attend some dances held in the gym
in the 40's. I spent many a hot day swimming in the Bee House Creek there as well.
- Ken Bates, September 30, 2010 |
1940s
Coryell County map showing Pidcoke by Cowhouse Creek
(Below "R"
in "CORYELL")
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
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