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NECHES,
TEXASAnderson County,
East Texas
Highway 79 and FMs 321 and 2574
11 miles NE of Palestine
14 miles SW of Jacksonville
40 miles
SW of Tyler
4 miles from Neches River
Population:
276 Est. (2000) 114 (1990)
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Downtown
Neches. Notice the sign of "J.B. McDonald & Son"
Photo Courtesy
Lori Martin |
History in a Pecan
shell
J.
J. Davis and Murdock McDonald, local landowners, donated the land for a townsite
and depot when the International-Great Northern Railroad arrived in 1872.
A
post office was opened about the same time - listed on the post office department
rolls as "Nechesville."
Neches had a population of 100 by 1884 with a
school and all essential businesses (including two steam sawmills and a Masonic
lodge).
Just after the Civil War, the nearby Stovall Academy moved into
town and was renamed the Neches Normal Institute. This later became Neches High
School.
By 1890 Neches had an estimated population of 400 people. The
town officially changed its name from Nechesville to Neches in 1892. |
Neches
Methodist Church
2000 Photo Courtesy Lori Martin |
A
former gas station in Neches.
2000 Photo Courtesy Lori Martin |
A
former store
2000 Photo Courtesy Lori Martin |
Neches
had a population of 261 in 1900, reaching 400 in the 1920s and 1930s. By 1939
it had reached its zenith at 900 townspeople (estimate).
Increased mobility
after WWII took a toll on the population. By 1949 it was down to just 280 and
it has declined further to a mere 111 in 1970. |
Neches
Texas ForumSubject:
Colorful Days of Old
Neches
...
During the early '30's, a fire broke out across the tracks from what is now downtown
Neches. Neches used to be twice as large, but the fire burned half the town...
more - Roxanna
Posey, Canton, TX, September 06, 2006
Anyone wishing to share history,
stories or photos of old Neches, Texas, please contact
us.
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