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The 1889
First National Bank of Stephenville
Photo courtesy
Sam Fenstermacher | |
History
in a Milk Bottle
1854 - John M. Stephen settles in the area - donates land for town
1856 - George Bernard Erath, lays out the town when county was organized
1857 - Town gets approved for post office - John Stephens is postmaster
1858 - population reaches 766 people - but Indian attacks and the
Civil War reduce it to 300 by 1871
1870 - First newspaper - The Texas
Pacific is printed for Erath county
1889 - Ft. Worth and Rio Grande
Railroad arrives
1890s - Second newspaper appears - John Tarleton
Agricultural College opens
1892 - Erath
County courthouse is built. Designed by J. Riely Gordon.
The 20th
Century History of Erath County is rather quiet. The growth has been slow and
steady with John Tarleton College becoming Tarleton University.
Erath County became the top producing dairy county in the state - as
proclaimed on the square by Moola the cow. |
Stephenville
ChroniclesStrange
News by Mike
Cox -
Meteor, killer pachyderm, nine lives, dog ghost ...
The
McDow Hole
by Bob Hopkins
"The story
of the McDow ghost became very popular by the end of the 19th century ... many
people would come to the water hole hoping to get a glimpse of the specter."
Stephenville
Hotels
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Stephenville
Tourist Information Stephenville
Chamber of Commerce:
187 West Washington, Texas 76401
Phone: 254-965-5313,
1-800-658-6490.
website: http://www.stephenvilletexas.org/
The chamber
of commerce has a good walking / windshield tour of 21 of the towns interesting
buildings complete with background information. Want to know how much the fiberglass
cow cost? It's provided.
The
Historical House Museum Complex at 525 E. Washington St. has seven more buildings
on display.
Nearby Destinations - A
Sunday drive
Stephenville
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