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History
in a Pecan ShellDespite
colorful stories (like coffee
trees growing from spilled beans), Coffeeville is named after early settlers.
Coffeeville used to be considered the destination when people headed west
from the then-booming riverport of Jefferson.
Wagon trains resupplied there. Between 1845 and 1866 Coffeeville received an influx
of plantation owners from southern states who had decided to sell their expensive
land back east and buy new holdings in the much cheaper area. A post office was
opened by 1852 and during that decade, the town throve with three doctors, a large
hotel, four stores, a Masonic lodge and even an academy.
During its heyday,
Coffeeville had several blacksmiths and recreational activities included a pool
hall and more than one saloon. Governor Edward Clark suggested that Coffeeville
host a Confederate training camp - which
was done. But after the war when the railroad came through Upshur County, the
town was bypassed. From 200 people in 1887, it has already shrunk to 153 by 1904.
The Coffeyville post office closed in1915.
During the Great Depression,
fifty die-hard residents kept the town on the map - it remained at that level
(census figures are sometimes reused for decades) through 1990. Today nothing
resembling a town remains - it is now considered a dispersed rural community.
Jefferson
Hotels |
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Coffeeville
Historical Marker TextOld
Coffeeville, C. S. A.Ferry
point near this site on Big Cypress. Important town of 1850's, with an academy,
2 dry goods stores, 2 groceries, drug store, 3 doctors, Methodist and Presbyterian
churches, a hotel and Masonic lodge.
During Civil War, lived up to its
name, selling coffee
when other towns had none.
Had a Confederate
camp of instruction, one of three in Upshur County, established in response
to June 8, 1861, call of Governor Edward Clark for such camps to be set up at
expense of local citizens. Trained infantry and cavalry. |
Camp
Talley - Civil War Recruiting Camp
Photo
courtesy Barcaly
Gibson, 2007 |
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