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History in a
Pecan Shell
Settlement began in the early 1850s. During the Civil
War a Confederate training post (Camp Edward Clark) was in operation here.
In 1867 a water-powered cotton gin was set up which later served as a grist mill
and sawmill.
Col. John Douglas Staples established a store here in 1871
and in 1879, a post office was granted. The community was named Staples Store
until 1891, when the word “store” was discarded. In 1890 the Staples Water Power
Company began construction of a wooden water tower. From a population of about
40 residents in the mid 1880s, Staples grew to 125 residents by 1892. Four years
later it had risen to 150. In 1896 the community had 150 people and its own cemetery
In 1913 both a new schoolhouse and a new metal water tower were completed.
The
Handbook of Texas in their town history of Staples tells of the goring of Mrs.
Tom Anderson by her cow. The woman, who was forty-nine when the unfortunate incident
took place in 1912, was totally disemboweled. She was taken to the doctor who
cleaned the wound with tap water, rearranged her entrails, stitched her up, and
told her family to get her affairs in order. “Granny” Anderson outlived her doctor
by 20 years and died at the age of 105 in 1968.
Staples’ elementary school
merged with San
Marcos in 1949. The 1993 population of 75 has increased to 350 for the 2000
Census. |
Camp Clark Historical Marker. Click on photo for close-up
Photo courtesy Sarah
Reveley, October 2007 | |
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