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History
in a Pecan Shell
Settled in the early 1870s, one L.W. Lee platted
his land for development and named it after the view of the Spring Creek Valley.
In 1872 an estimated 18 families moved in and a post office opened.
The
following year a school (sharing space with the town’s blacksmith) opened.
The population was a respectable 250 people by 1884 and the town could boast most
essential businesses, including multiple stores, cotton gins and gristmills.
Two years later the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway arrived and a hotel was
added. After 1902, Valley View created a “fireproof” downtown consisting of brick
buildings and proudly built a brick two-story schoolhouse. Shortly thereafter
the town received telephone service and a newspaper started publication.
By 1914 the town had a population estimated at 600 and the town’s future seemed
secure. Things were going well until late 1924 when Valley View was struck by
two fires. The first destroyed the town’s east side and the second (started by
bank robbers) burned an additional two blocks.
Valley View's population
reached 700 and remained there for the next four decades. It briefly broke 800
in 1970. In 1980, it was estimated at around 500 and it has increased slowly but
steadily to the present 737.
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First
Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, 2008 |
Valley View ForumSubject:
Valley View, Texas 76272
[Here is] a photo of the now closed Nichols Motor
Company that once sold Chevrolet Automobiles, gas, oil, tires, batteries, TVs,
refrigerators and several other hardware items. It was about 1979 or 1980 before
the Chevrolet Dealership closed and I still own a 1975 Chevrolet Nova purchased
there. I’m also attaching a few aerial photos of the town, one taken in August
31, 2008 that shows the subject Chevrolet Dealership to the left of the water
tower. The other aerial photo was taken Nov. 16, 2007. The building’s tenant now
is Riley Performance Motors, a company that restores the older/antique autos,
specializing in restoration of the Ford Mustang Cobra’s. They have a website that
more fully describes their services http://www.rileyrpm.com - Bill Maughan,
December 20, 2012 |
The
now closed Nichols Motor Company
Photo
circa 1979 courtesy Bill Maughan |
Valley
View aerial photo showing the Chevrolet Dealership to the left of the water tower
Photo
courtesy Bill Maughan, August 2008 |
Valley
View aerial photo
Photo
courtesy Bill Maughan, November 2007 | |
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