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History in a Pecan
Shell
The name was cobbled together from Ora Reese and Anna ("Annie")
Patterson, daughters of Will Reese and J. D. Patterson, local landowners who donated
land for the railroad right-of-way. The community was granted a post office in
the Spring of 1901. Other businesses in the fledgling community were a gin and
a store.
Another nearby community named Antioch saw the advantage of having
a railroad connection, so they merged with Oriana, however both populations eventually
moved to Peacock. The post office
moved to Peacock in early 1918 and
the town's school merged sometime around 1930. By the mid-1930s, only four people
were left, however, the 1945 population of Oriana was listed as 20 - with one
business hanging on.
The railroad (originally the Stamford and Northwestern
and after 1952 as the Fort Worth and Denver Railway) pulled up tracks in the late
1960s. It was said the railroad had a bridge running alongside the one shown above.
The Oriana Cemetery is shown on TxDoT maps of Stonewall County - one mile west
of the Salt Fork of the Brazos River. | |
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