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CORN HILL,
TEXAS Texas Ghost
Town
Williamson County, Hill Country
Willis Creek near Interstate 35
1 mile S of Jarrell, N of Georgetown
and Austin
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The
road to Old Corn Hill
Photo by John Troesser, 9-04 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
In 1855 a Judge named John E. King built his residence atop a topographical
feature called Corn Hill. The house served as a stop for the stage
line connecting Georgetown and Fort Gates and a post office was granted
the same year of 1855.
The town had an uneventful history until the 1870s and 1880s. The
first store was opened in 1869 and a gin two years later. In 1884
Corn Hill the town had 250 people with two mills, a Masonic lodge,
three gins, a newspaper, and the Corn Hill Academy.
By 1896 the population was 350 in 1896 and the town's high-water mark
came around 1910 when an estimated 500 people lived here.
The Bartlett and Western Railway bypassed Corn Hill, and the town
of Jarrell was established alongside the rails. Corn Hill received
a death blow during the period 1910 to 1920 when all the people and
most of the buildings (including the post office) moved to Jarrell.
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One
of a few remaining buildings in Corn Hill
Photo by John Troesser, 9-04 |
| Today
only a few buildings still stand. The old city cemetery is less than
a mile east of what had been the town. It offers a sweeping view of
the countryside and a diustant view of the church at New
Corn Hill. |
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Corn Hill Cemetery Marker
Photo by John Troesser, 9-04 |
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Corn
Hill Cemetery
Photo by John Troesser, 9-04 |
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© John Troesser
Corn Hill
Texas Forum
Subject: Ghost
Towns
Recently I was given a printout from your article relating to the
Corn Hill area of Central Texas. I am writing today, as after viewing
some of the pictures you provided, it brought back memories of my
early days.
You see, I along with my sisters were reared in that Catholic Community,
attended parochial school there, as well as some of us married in
the large Church that still stands today, as well our Grandparents,
Aunts and Uncles as well as many other members of the family and friends,
that now, lie buried in the very same Cemetery you show in the pictures.
I still have one surviving Uncle that lives to this day, directly
across from the large Catholic Church and would be directly across
from the few remaining buildings that you once again featured in your
article.
Oh yes, many memories, of the first Grocery Store that was just off
the road, where I watched my first "World Series game between the
Dodgers and Yankees. That would have had to be somewhere around 1950's.
I also remember going to the Church activities as well as annual celebrations
just below the hill at a place called "Moravian Hall". It was a two
story structure, with a stairway leading upstairs to a wooden dance
floor. Downstairs was reserved for Bohemian Taroks, Dominoes as well
as refresments and delicious cakes pies kolaches sauage barbecue beer
and much much more. Wonderful times, those ole days, and miss the
greatly. My sisters as well as myslef still make our trips to that
erea as often as we can, as most of our classmates and friends reside
either in that area still, or the Austin, Texas area. My Mother and
Father were buried there on top of the hill under the large oak trees
just south of what use to be a ballpark. I playd ball there when I
was in school, but my Father also spoke of the "big games" they had
in a ballfield a bit farther down to the right. The school and most
all, as you mention, are almost all gone, but the memories of the
Catholic Nuns that gave us our early education and Christian way of
life, still remains with us to this day. I will attempt to visit my
Uncle within the next couple of weeks, as he will be celebrating his
103rd or 104th Birthday this year.. He has great knowledge of that
entire area and lives alone, with the help of his Son.
I hope to share some other things, now that I know how to locate you,
and thanks for the great work you are doing to preserve all that is
so precious to all of us, as we age along with everyone else. Oh by
the way, my one sister lives in Temple,
Texas, while the other lives in Houston,
Texas. Thanks again. - William (Bill) Knapek, Houston, Texas
77040, Age 63, May 02, 2006
Anyone with stories, memories or photos of Corn Hill, Texas, please
contact
us.
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