|
History in
a Pecan Shell
The name is said to have come from a suggestion over dinner in New
Orleans. In 1817, Capt. Edward Smith, was describing the area (that
he had just visited) to dinner guests and someone suggested the
mythological name. (One of New Orleans' oldest boulevards is also
named Elysian Fields.) The original Caddo Indians started moving
out of the region when white settlers started moving in in the late
1830s. Smith brought his family here in 1837 and opened a store.
A post office was applied for and was granted in the mid to late
1840s.
From a population
of 60 in 1884, Elysian Fields had grown to 160 by the mid 1890s.
The twin industies of cotton and lumber fueled the local economy
and when the Marshall and East Texas Railroad came through in 1910,
the community moved a mile to the west to be connected with the
outside world. The population had grown to 500 by 1929 but declined
with the onset of the Great Depression.
Cotton and timber gave way to oil and gas (in the 1950s) and today
farming and cattle raising are the primary businesses.
|
