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History in a
Pecan Shell
Settled
in the early 1830s, the town wasn’t named for the Massachusetts city, but for
storekeeper W. J. Boston. When Bowie County was organized in 1841, Boston (as
it was then called) became the county seat. A post office was granted in 1846.
The
town’s population on the eve of the Civil War was estimated to be between 300
to 400 people. In 1876 the Texas and Pacific Railroad was heading toward Dallas
but the surveyors took a northern route, bypassing Boston by about four miles.
Businessmen asked the railroad if they would consider building their depot directly
north of the existing town and they complied with the request. The new town was
given the name of New Boston.
Despite
the new town, the community of Boston remained the county seat, even though it
shrank to a population of just 75 people by the early 1880s. Texarkana
yearned to be county seat, even though it wasn’t anywhere near the center of the
county. Boston’s population fell to a mere 50 people as Texarkana
won county seat status.
But the competition wasn’t over. Angry at having
to go all the way to Texarkana for
courthouse business, central Bowie County citizens complained and their complaints
were heard.
A new courthouse was built 2.5 miles north of the original
town of Boston and the post office was moved there in 1890.
The designation
of Old Boston was used more frequently, until it became official and today
the county seat of Boston sits equidistant between
the Old and New Bostons.
See
Old
Boston Historical Marker
Bowie
County Courthouse |
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Old Boston Historical Marker
Photo
courtesy Gerald
Massey, August 2010 |
Old Boston Methodist Church
Photo
courtesy Gerald
Massey, August 2010 |
Shady Grove Baptist Church
Photo
courtesy Gerald
Massey, August 2010 |
1907
Bowie County postal map showing Boston and New
Boston
(Above
"W" in "BOWIE")
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
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