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History
in a Pecan Shell
The town is believed to have been named to
honor Governor James Allred. Allred (the town) got off to a late start. Walter
E. Young and M. A. Shields are credited with founding the 40-acre townsite in
1937, soon after oil was discovered in the vicinity. A water well was dug and
construction of buildings began in January of 1938.
The first lot was sold
in February and the post office opened in May of '38. Being the Depression and
knowing what had happened to other boom towns, city fathers quickly acquired 120
additional acres to accommodate a population estimated to eventually reach 3,000.
Walter
Young sold his interest in the townsite to one Pat Malone in January of 1939;
under Malone's leadership, the light plant was enlarged and a telephone system
was installed. Allred reached a population of 1,200 in 1939, making it the largest
town in the county. Allred got it's first newspaper - the Allred Times
on May 25, 1939. Publisher Roy Royal published one issue of the newspaper and
it folded for reasons not known. By 1940 the population of Allred started a decline
without coming near the projected 3,000. After WWII
it was down to only 750 residents.
During the school consolidations, Allred's
school district merged with that of Sligo.
The Allred school was later put to use as a community building.
In the
late 50s there were only five households left and the Yoakum County Gas Company
cut off their service - saying that it wasn't worth the cost of supplying them.
In 1957 church, post office, and grocery closed and the last time it was recorded
(1964) Allred's population was 50.
Photographer's Note:
This is Allred.
Honest. I drove around looking for something to take a picture of besides houses.
- Barclay
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