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| | Cologne
Cemetery
TE Photo February 2006 |
Not shown on County
or State Maps
Look for green TxDoT sign
According to newly installed
signs along highway 59 this section of highway will be expanded to form Interstate
69. In February of 2006, work is already underway. Trees have already been cut
and removed. Several houses and at least one defunct business will soon be bulldozed.
|
| | Sims
Tire Shop
TE Photo February 2006 |
History in a Pecan
Shell
Cologne
would seem to fit in with many towns (Oldenburg,
New Berlin and Westphalia)
settled by German immigrants and named after cities back in the old country. But
in this case the town was facetiously named for the stench of slaughterhouses
that formed the economic core of the community.
Former slaves Jim Smith
and George Washington are credited with founding the town. Smith and Washington
were freighters operating out of the lost port of Indianola.
They bought 500 acres here at Perdido Creek and by 1870, families began arriving.
First called "The Colony" and then Perdido, the name was changed
yet again to Centerville when resident Jim Hall called attention to the
fact that "Perdido" was equidistant from Goliad
and Victoria. |
| | Tombstone
of Joseph Smith
TE Photo February 2006 |
Founders
were adamant about the community being for freemen and for years white settlers
were excluded. The Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway arrived in 1889 and
the village became a stop known as "Ira Station." Jim Hall donated land
to the railroad to construct the depot. In exchange he asked for a lifetime position
as station manager. More importantly, Hall demanded that the railroad keep the
community as a stop.
The town developed as a shipping point and later
a slaughterhouse and hog rendering plant was built. The stench of these businesses
could be smelled in Goliad or Victoria
(depending on wind direction) so when it became time for a post office to be opened,
William Young light-heartedly submitted the application for Cologne. The humor
may have been lost on the postal authorities, but to the delight of residents,
the name was granted. In 1898 the town that had been known as The Colony, Perdido,
Centerville, and Ira Station became Cologne, Texas. |
| | Tombstone
of Elnott Washington, PVT US Army, World War I
TE Photo February 2006
|
Methodists
and Baptists had congregations in the community as early as the 1880s, but both
lost their churches during the 1930s. The Methodists rebuilt their church while
Baptists started attending services in nearby Fannin.
By 1914 Cologne
had only 35 residents and the post office closed in 1925. It dropped to its record
low of 25 people by 1940. From 1970 through 1986 it had rebounded to 35, but the
depot, cattle pens and railroad were all gone by this time. |
| | Tombstone
of Willie E. Walls, SGT US Army, World War I
TE Photo February 2006 |
| In
an all-but-forgotten historical footnote - John F. Kennedy once mentioned Cologne,
Texas. The occasion was a speech at Cologne, Germany in 1963. Kennedy began by
saying "I bring you greetings from the cities of America, including Cologne, Minnesota,
Cologne, New Jersey, and even Cologne, Texas." |
| | Tombstone
of Altha Washington
TE Photo February 2006 |
The
town cemetery is on the north side of highway 59 on a dirt road.
Founders
Smith and Washington are buried in the far northwest corner and the Washington
family is well represented by many headstones.
The largest tombstone
in the cemetery is for the Young Family - the plot belonging to the man who gave
the town its fragrant name. |
| | WM
Young Family Tombstone
TE Photo February 2006 | |
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