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Kimball
in the 1940s
"You can stand at the exact spot that this photo was taken
and you will be looking down Lubbock street ( which is now a park road) and see
the three large oaks and the first building to the right which is still standing."
Photo Courtesy Mr. Ron Carlisle |
Kimball
ruins
What's left of "the first building to the right"
Photo
Courtesy Jeff Boutwell |
| Editor's
Note -
Our thanks to Jeff Boutwell, Recreation Specialist, Mid-Brazos Project/
Waco Lake, for his photos and information on Kimball. We have included his letter
as text for this town page.
I would like to make an addition to
your Ghost town list. It is the
old town of Kimball, Texas located in Bosque County about 20 miles south of Cleburne
and 15 miles north of Meridian
on State Highway 174.
It is located on the Brazos River and is the location of one of the major
crossings of the river by the Chisholm Trail.
The town was established in 1853 by Judge John Kimball from
New York. He bought the property from Jacob DeCordova. The town was plated by
McLennan and Erath. It was a thriving town and a center of commerce during the
cattle drive years. It had a gin, numerous stores, several churches, two schools
and more saloons than could be counted. The town's cemetery had over 600 burials.
It slowly died after the
Santa Fe Railroad chose to miss the town by three miles for a narrower
crossing of the river. The town existed until about 1910 and had several residences
left when the federal government bought out the remaining people in 1947
for the construction of Lake Whitney by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
|
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Vintage
photo of Kimball School
Photo Courtesy Mr. Ron Carlisle |
| The town is now
located within Kimball Bend Park. Several old concrete foundations dating
back to the 1870s remain along with the Academy. This was the school building
and town meeting center. It is constructed out of cut limestone with arched windows
fitted with keystones. There are even old town streets still discernable .
Access is open to the public. The park is immediately off State Highway 174
where it crosses the Brazos River.
- Jeff Boutwell
Recreation Specialist
Mid-Brazos Project/ Waco Lake
February 08, 2001 |
Kimball
Texas UpdateDear
TE, After reading your article on Kimball ghost town, in Kimball bend park I decided
to take a trip out there. It is not open to the public, as such. It is
in a camp ground that requires a $20 dollar admission fee. Overnight camping only,
no day use. The man at the gate let us drive through only if we promised to go
right in and back out (he seemed perterbed we would even ask). The wall in the
photo on your site is now surrounded by a chain link fence ruining any photographs
or close examination. I was not able to get close enough to see the rest of the
ruins. I just thought I would let you know to warn people… I burned a lot of gas
getting out there only to have to turn right around and come back. - Steve
Watkins, Ft. Worth, July 4, 2009
Cleburne
Hotels
Kimball
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