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"Not
much here, but here is some of it."
Ken Rudine, photographer, July 2006 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Another town established by the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway,
Ashtola began life as a simple railroad section house in 1906. The
site was known as Southard and a post office was applied for and was
granted that same year. Within two years the community had a school
and two stores.
Southard may have caused some confusion with similarly spelled towns
and in 1916 a change of name was requested by the post office department.
A man named W. A. Poovey was asked for a new name. After he modestly
suggested Poovieville, the postal authorities chose Ashtola - a name
with no known origin, but with considerable more dignity than Poovieville.
The population was still estimated at a mere 25 people when the Great
Depression hit. A home demonstration club was formed which later evolved
into the Ashtola Needle Club. Ashtola had a gristmill which remained
in operation until the early 1970s, but the post office closed in
the mid-1950s. When the Ashtola school merged with Clarendon's
schools in 1958, the former school was made into a community center.
From 1949 through the mid-1960s the estimated population was 50 -
dropping to 25 in the late 1960s. From 1970 to 1990 the population
was given as 20 and what it is today is anybody's guess. |
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