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History in
a Pecan Shell
Like several Texas
towns we could name, Coolidge was misspelled for awhile. It went by
the name Cooledge for 27 years - from 1903 to 1930. President
Calvin Coolidge was president from 1923 to 1929 - and seeing his name
in print so often may have led someone to investigate. But like Lincoln,
Texas, Coolidge was not named after a president, but someone else.
In this case it was a mere stockholder in the Trinity and Brazos
Valley Railroad. We are happy to report that Roosevelt,
Texas was named after Teddy Roosevelt, and while we're mentioning
Teddy - his son Kermit had the County
Seat of Winkler County named after him.
Back to Limestone County - Coolidge was born because of the railroad
and nearly died because of the railroad.
The railroad abandoned its rails through Coolidge in 1942, but it
managed to hang on, even though it never again reached its high water
mark of 1,150 that it held in the 1930s.
It's a nice little place to visit.
Story
about Coolidge, Texas ›
Coolidge,
Texas Forum ›
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Early 1900s Coolidge
Street Scene
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
Story about
Coolidge, Texas
The following
is an excerpt from the writings of Archibald Flint Watkins,
younger brother of my husband’s grandfather. (This unpublished manuscript
was written in 1956, two years before Flint’s death.) He moved to
Tehuacana,
Texas, from a farm six miles east of Wildcat Crossing and one
mile south of Crossroads in Henderson
County, when he was about 7 years old:
It was not many months after my visit to Mrs. Yarborough’s home
at Concord that the Trinity and Brazos Valley (T&BV) railroad was
built and missed both Armour and Concord - about half way between
on a high hill in what was known as the Bob Bell Pasture. There
a town was built which was named Coolidge - for one of the
Railroad officials. The first building in Coolidge was a railroad
passenger depot - then followed the cotton gin, the blacksmith shop
and chili joint. The Robbins family - grandfather, son and grandson
- ran the Blacksmith shop. They were recent immigrants from Norway
and brought the trade to Texas direct from their homeland. Grandfather
Robbins was especially noted for his handmade pocket knives and
rather fine cutlery in general.
After several months of feverish preparation of streets and building
of the Blacksmith shop and other necessary buildings, the town site
promoters took unlimited space in the newspapers of the neighboring
towns to advertise a “Grand Opening and a Lot sale in the Bonny
New Town of Coolidge."
One Monday morning the T. and B. V. R.R. ran a special train and
picked up passengers at each station along the line to attend and
participate in the sale of business and dwelling lots When that
train passed through Tehuacana Station a friend and I boarded it
and really took in the big celebration. We were about fourteen or
fifteen - just the right age to be impressed with such an affair.
Within a year or so Coolidge had 40 or 50 residences, 2 or 3 churches,
6 or 8 stores a brick school building and a bank - it was really
a town, not just a community center.
- From Wanda Watkins, November 20, 2005
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One of the former
banks in Coolidge
TE Photo |
Street scene
and water tower
Photo courtesy Jonnie England, December 2018 |
Coolidge Store
Ruins
Photo courtesy Jonnie England, December 2018 |
| Photo
courtesy Jonnie England, December 2018 |
A closed gas
station in 2006
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2006 |
The gas station
in 2018
Photo courtesy Jonnie England, December 2018
More Texas
Gas Stations |
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Subject:
Coolidge, Texas
I've run across your site in the process of researching for a book
I'm working on based on my mother's life. She was born in 1917 and
grew up in Coolidge. Her parents were Jesse and Ruth Beckham. Although
I was raised on the Gulf Coast and Alvarado,
I was born in Mexia while my mom and sister were visiting my grandparents
in Coolidge.
I remember spending a lot of weekends in Coolidge in the 1950s and
early 1960s at my grandparents' house on the main street--Bell?--only
a couple of blocks from town. My grandmother had a trellis covered
in roses--pink was her favorite color-- that led to her garden on
one side of the house. We always had to go to church--First Baptist--when
we visited. I am sending a picture of my grandparents, my mom &
her sister, and me on the front porch of my grandparents' house,
a picture of all of us standing in front of my grandmothers' trellis,
and a picture of my grandmother standing in front of her house.
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I only remember
snippets of my visits there. My grandfather watching baseball on
television; my grandmother's cherry cokes with real cherries; getting
car sick on the way and throwing up in the fields of bluebonnets
on the side of the road; playing chase in my grandmother's garden
with my grandfather, and getting claustrophobic trying to sleep
on my grandmother's feather mattresses!
I would also very much appreciate it if anyone who reads this and
remembers can tell me if Coolidge ever had a movie theater? I know
that my mother loved movies but I cannot remember if she told me
that she saw those movies in Coolidge or Mexia. I do remember her
telling me about riding the train sometimes to Mexia. I can be contacted
at morrowmick (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks - Gayle Morrow, October
13, 2013
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Subject:
Coolidge, Texas
I was born at home in Coolidge in 1934. My Grandmother Etta Mae
Robbins was a mid-wife. She delivered me and my oldest brother Jimmy
Charles Robbins. My mother was Annie Sue (Armstrong) Robbins. My
fathers James Alexander Robbins. His father was Burton Alexander
Robbins. Burton was a blacksmith. He taught his sons Jay and Raymond
Robbins how to blacksmith. The blacksmith shop in Coolidge was called
J.E and J.I Robbins Blacksmith. I was born in the Monger Cotton
Gin Co. house across the dirt street from the blacksmith shop. I
would say that the first few years of my life were spent in that
shop. My Grand Pa turned over the blacksmith business to his sons
and he worked for Munger Gin Company.
I moved to Houston
with my parent in 1941. In my early teen years mom would take us
boys (two brothers...Jerry and Jimmy) to Coolidge for a week or
so visit. My uncle was a cotton farmer. My mother picked cotton
in the summer for Uncle Burl. Mom would take us home for a couple
of weeks during the summer.
Jay Thorpe Robbins is a World
War II fighter pilot in the South Pacific (8th Fighter Group,
5th Air Force). He is the son of Jay Robbins, the blacksmith.
My Grand Pa died in 1941. He, Grandma, my mother and my father are
buried in Coolidge Cemetery. We visited Coolidge often over many
year. Visiting Aunt and Uncles and cousins. I slowly watched the
town shrink in size and business move out. Yet it is home to many
of my relatives to this day. - Joe Robbins, January 15, 2011
Subject:
Coolidge, Texas
I just queried Coolidge, Texas and got your website story and pictures.
I can't tell you what grand memories that brought back. My grandparents
and many of their siblings and children lived in Coolidge. The "Hancock
Appliance" sign hung over the store that belonged to my great uncle...Joe
Wallace Hancock. My grandparents lived (for as long as I knew them)
at the NW corner of 3rd and Jester. Their house is long since gone.
My great-grandparents, grandparents and my father are buried in
the Coolidge cemetery. I spent many happy times in Coolidge (and
lived there for 1.5 years as a child). Thank you for the article
and pictures. I remember how Coolidge was in the late 40's and on
into the early 60's. I still have kinfolk who live there. Thanks
for the memories. - Brenda Sutterfield, Tulsa, Oklahoma, January
20, 2009
Subject:
Coolidge, Tx
My dad's family are from there. We lived there until I turned 6yrs
old and I can remember walking down main street to the ice house
with my sisters pulling a wagon to get a block of ice to take back
home to make home made ice cream. All the kids in town walked everywhere
that they needed to go. We even had a man that had candy in his
garage that you could buy. It sure was good. We didn't get candy
a lot like you can now adays. I loved staying with my grandma because
i could stay up late and listen to all of the old folk talk about
the old days while they were playing dominoes and eating grandma's
fried pies and tea cakes. Boy I sure do miss those days.
I have a cousin that has written a book on the history of Limestone
county. You can only view it at the McLennan Library and it can
not be checked out. His name is Ray Waters and it is the
History of Limestone County. - Denise (Miles) Krumnow, June
27, 2005
Subject:
Coolidge, Texas Update
There have been a few improvements to the city since your initial
webpage...
[Note] the progress in the historical restoration of the railroad
depot as a museum which will house a late 19th century
linotype and hand operated printing press as well as the annual
Mesquite Tree Festival. It would certainly help remove such
a negative portrayal of my home town.
They did repaint the water tower from that un-Godly yellow and black.
- Former Coolidge resident, David Webb, Angleton, TX, January 17,
2004
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The Coolidge
water tower now...
Photo courtesy Jonnie England, December 2018 |
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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