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History
in a Pecan Shell
Dating from a settlement called
Bould Springs (after founding settler Carey Boulds) in 1852, a post office opened
that same year. Four years later the Bennett family relocated here – becoming
the town’s first permanent residents. The town reported an estimated population
of just over 300 for 1860.
West (as it appears today) came to life in
1881 with the arrival of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. It was
platted on a quarter section of land belonging to Thos. M. West, landowner, storekeeper
and postmaster. The West post office opened in 1852 and was followed by the store
(a reversal of how most post offices were opened in Texas) the following year.
The town incorporated in 1892 and by 1900 the population was estimated at
2,000. The town had duplicates of all essential businesses and became a stop on
the Texas Electric Traction Railway – an Interurban line that once connected
Waco with Dallas.
Primarily an Anglo community during it’s early years, Czech and German immigrants
began arriving around 1900. Cotton and cattle
ranching were the regions economic engines, supplemented by a textile mill
and a sausage factory. The West ISD was formed in 1923.
Over the years
West has become established as the center for Texas-Czech culture despite the
fact that it is on the northern extreme of Czech settlement which stretches from
west of Austin to Colorado
County to the east and as far south as DeWitt
County. |
Photographer's
Note:
St. Mary's
Cemetery
Speaking on graveyards, I came across the one just south of West,
off I-35. St Mary's Cemetery took my breath away. It was so peaceful, well attended
too, and beautifully layed out that I really did not want to leave. That is saying
something about a cemetery. I don't know if it was because of the early morning
mist, the quietness or just the overall feeling of being in a place that so respected
their dead. I just can't explain how I felt. I even went out of my way to go back
again, later. - Barclay
Gibson | |
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