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GARDEN VALLEY,
TEXAS
Smith
County, East Texas
32° 31' 34" N, 95° 32' 33" W (32.526111, -95.5425)
State Hwy 110 and FM 16
9 miles W of Lindale
23 miles NW of Tyler
the county seat
SW of Mineola
W of Canton
79 miles E of Dallas
Population: 150 Est. (2010, 2000)
Garden Valley, Texas Area Hotels ›Tyler
Hotels
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History in
a Pecan Shell
A post office
was in operation here before the Civil War (1852). By 1858 the town
had a Masonic Lodge, a church and (before public schools) an academy.
But in 1860 a “common school system” was in place.
The post office was closed after the Civil War but reopened in 1870.
In the 1880s, with a population of 100, the community shipped produce
and cotton (through the neighboring town of Lindale).
The population hit 300 by 1914 and by then the town was wired for
telephone service. During the 1930s the post office closed its doors
and the population had fallen to 150 in the mid 1940s where it remained
for decades.
The community’s school merged with one in neighboring Van Zandt
County in the early 1950s and by the end of that decade, there was
little more than scattered farms with a church and cemetery.
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share Garden Valley history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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