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Anyone
who knew how the community of Prairie Mount came to be called Roxton
is long buried in Roxton's cemetery, a resting place graced by lighted
Texas and U.S. flags that fly around the clock.
Unless you're from Lamar
County, chances are you haven't even heard of Roxton, much less
how its name evolved.
Only 18 miles from Paris (Texas,
not France), it seems much farther. No straight road connects Roxton
to Paris or any other place, for that matter. The farm to market roads
leading to town twist and turn with the contours and drainage of the
land.
Settlement in the area began in 1837, with the establishment near
Cane Creek of Fort Shelton, a privately owned blockhouse built by
Jesse Shelton as a safe place in the event of an Indian attack . The
next community in the area was Prairie Mount, about two and a half
miles from the fort. It's post office was opened in 1853 with James
H. Stevenson as the first postmaster.
In 1869, for whatever the reason, the post office at Prairie Mount
was renamed Roxton. The name is believed to an abbreviation of Rockstown
or maybe Rockston. If that's the case, there are even two versions
of the inspiration behind that name: An outcropping of limestone in
the area or the rock gate and posts that made William Klyce's place
something of a local landmark. A creek that flows on the edge of town
is known as Rock Creek.
Roxton rocked along until 1887, when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa
Fe Railroad put down tracks to tie in with the Paris
and Great Northern Railroad in Paris.
Surveyors laid out a route about a half-mile west of Roxton,
so what could be called New Roxton (at least then) grew adjacent
to the tracks. The buildings left behind became Old Roxton.
In time, the "New" and the "Old" faded away. |
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Former Roxton
Depot
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, April 2008 |
Several
well-to-do Paris families built
summer homes in Roxton, perhaps attracted by wading and swimming possibilities
offered by the clear waters of Rock Creek. Some of these Victorian
structures have been lost to fire and time, but quite a few still
stand.
The railroad brought economic vitality to the town. Between 1890 and
1914, it grew in population from 226 to its peak size of 1,200. To
provide for the needs of those residents, Roxton had 30 businesses.
Three of those businesses were gins, since cotton
was the big cash crop. After the first
world war, and even more so following the next
world war, Roxton weathered to more of a pebble town.
Today, Roxton's down to around 650 residents. In addition to the businesses
needed to support a community of its size, Roxton
may be the smallest town in Texas with three museums. One is in the
old City Drug Store, one is the Chaparral Rails to Trails Museum and
the other is a taxidermy studio.
Of course, the railroad is long gone and even the tracks have been
removed. But the wooden depot has survived and on FM 38, just north
of town, is a relatively unique stone and brick, triple arch railroad
bridge built by the Works Progress Administration during the Great
Depression. Supposedly, Texas has only two other WPA railroad bridges. |
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WPA railroad
bridge over Cane Creek on FM 38 as you enter Roxton
from the north
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, April 2008 |
City Drug Store
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, April 2008 |
The best place
to eat is an all-you-can eat catfish restaurant in nearby Pecan
Gap, a town even smaller than Roxton.
How small is it? The restaurant is so popular that on weekend nights
there's usually a waiting list for a table. But when a table becomes
available, it's only necessary to call out the person's first and
middle name. No need bothering with someone's last name.
© Mike
Cox
"Texas Tales" March
30, 2017 column
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