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Downtown
Wallis
TE photo, 2006 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Settlement by Anglos began in the late 1830s. The town was first called
Bovine Bend. In 1873 a post office under that name opened but with
the arrival of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway the name was
later changed to Wallis Station after the railroad director J. E.
Wallis. In 1911 the station was dropped and the community simply became
Wallis.
In 1887 the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway reached Wallis Station
and the town now had two railroad connections. In 1890 a number of
Czech immigrants started arriving about 1890 and by 1904 the town
had a healthy population over 600. By the mid 1920s Wallis had 800
citizens although it wasn't until 1943 when the population rose to
900. The post war population declined to less than 700 but by the
mid 60s it was over 1,000. In 1991 Wallis' population was estimated
at 1,411. It has since declined to 1,311. |
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