| |
"U.S.
Post Office - Speaks, TX 77985"
Photo
Courtesy Cheryl Thompson-Draper, June 2006 |
History in
a Pecan Shell Speaks
dates from 1828 when Jesse H. Cartwright received a land grant from the Mexican
government. The grant was near the crossing of the Atascosito road at the Navidad
River. A few years later Archibald White received a grant that surrounded Cartwright's
grant and it was part of White's land that became Speaks.
By 1866 the
time had come for the community to apply for a post office. The submitted name
was Speaksville. It was granted and the post office operated under that
name until it closed in 1876. The community was thereafter called Boxville.
The Boxville post office stays open until 1882 when the store / post office closed.
J. W. Koonce reopened the store in 1928 and the post office was renamed
Speaks. Population figures for the thirties and forties aren't available but in
1950 Speaks had fifty people living there, served by two stores. Oil was discovered
nearby on two new fields, but with the days of boomtowns long gone, the oil merely
increased property values.
Speaks
Texas TodayPhotographer's
Note:
"My
husband and I have a ranch near Speaks, Texas...which lies between Lavaca County
Road 18 and Lavaca County Road 14 on FM 530 ( which runs from Edna
to Hallettsville).
I did not see anything about Speaks so on our way out to the ranch today I photographed
the only structures in Speaks. I have attached them to this email. Speaks "city"
sign, Speaks Community Center building, Speaks Cemetery and Mrs. Bradbury's store
and (former) Post Office." - Cheryl Thompson-Draper, June 10, 2006
|
 |
Speaks
Community Center, former schoolhouse
Photo
Courtesy Cheryl Thompson-Draper, June 2006
More Texas
Schoolhouses |
Store
and former Post Office
Photo
Courtesy Cheryl Thompson-Draper, June 2006
More Texas
Post Offices |
Speaks
Cemetery
Photo
Courtesy Cheryl Thompson-Draper, June 2006 |
Tombstones
"My
Dad was a WW II Vet, a member
of the "Greatest Generation." He was already in the National Guard when the Japanese
attacked Pearl
Harbor. His young life drastically changed and he was in the army for five
years. I was born in 1943 and he only got to see me one time before he shipped
out. He fought in Belgium and Germany. Like most combat vets, he was very reluctant
to talk about the war. He was in charge of five tank retrievers which were large
flatbed trucks with armored cabs and a .50 machine gun on top. Their job was to
chase Gen. Patton's 3rd Army, bringing him new tanks and picking up damage ones,
the ones that could be repaired. He was just behind the battle lines and was shot
at and bombed by German planes.
I found the Civil War stone also in the
Speaks Cemetery where Dad is buried. I'm going to try to do some research on that
Confederate soldier. If my math is correct, he was 16 when that war started and
was 89 when he passed away.
My Dad was just two months short of his 88th
birthday when he passed. Also, my brother is a veteran of Vietnam - a door gunner
on a helicopter, he was shot down three times and nearly captured once. He has
the Purple Heart and numerous other medals - he won't talk about it much either.
He was in the 101st Airborne Div." - Murray
Montgomery, 2012 |
 |
Speaks
city limit
Photo
Courtesy Cheryl Thompson-Draper, June 2006 |
Speaks
Texas ForumI
was putting together a list of government (national, state and local) website
links for my website and stumbled onto yours... I have "gotten lost" for two days
now reading about my home state of Texas. This is wonderful and I do understand
it's a labor of LOVE!!!!! Thank you for all the wonderful memories you are preserving
for the future (and for us today). God Bless you. Thanks for the good work you
do. - Cheryl Thompson-Draper, June 10, 2006
Hallettsville
Hotels > Book Here
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic,
endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local
history and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. | |
| Book Hotel Here
- Expedia
Affiliate Network | |
