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"She was only
the Railroad President's daughter…"
TE Photo |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Penelope would
be our choice for a black-prairie, cotton
town study. Many artifacts remain from its cotton producing heyday,
including not one, but two cotton scales.
The first settlers in the area owned a ranch that was about ˝ mile
from present Penelope.
Penelope Trice was the town's namesake and although she sounds like
a character in a Dickens novel, she was the daughter of the president
of the International-Great Northern Railroad.
The railroad came through the town 1902, the same year they got
a post office. Penelope's history is nearly a repeat of the history
of Venus, Texas up in Johnson
County. The same railroad featured in the lives of both.
The town incorporated
in 1913 and many Penelopeans were Czech immigrants.
During the
brief period of prosperity, Penelope had 20 business and 400 people.
Today it is about half that.
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The closed &
roofless Penelope Grocery
"Clean-up on aisles 1 to 6"
TE Photo, December 2000 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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