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History in a Pecan
Shell
Begun as a Quaker Colony in 1879 by Indianan Paris Cox, the
town was first named Marietta for Cox’s wife Mary. Cox had traded his sawmill
back home in Indiana for land in Crosby and Lubbock counties and built a sod house
here. Other settlers endured their first Texas winter in tents and it turned out
to be their last Texas winter as well. The Cox family remained and brought in
a crop, which enabled them to recruit more settlers. The town had a primitive
school taught in a dugout in 1882 and two years later the town was granted a post
office. At this time the name was changed to Estacado. The residents built a meeting
house in 1884 and classes were moved there.
From its inauspicious beginning,
Estacado became Crosby County’s first seat of government in 1886 despite it’s
off center location. The number of residents was given as 200 by 1890 but when
Emma, Texas took the county
seat status of Estacado in 1891, the writing was on the wall. Paris Cox had died
in 1888 and no one shared his vision or attempted to steer the community through
the hard times.
The final straw came in a plague of locusts combined with
a drought. Only a handful of people remained. The Society of Friends had left
the town but things improved slightly as the 20th century made its appearance.
The post office shut its doors in 1918 and mail was routed through Petersburg.
The 1930 census reported just under 70 people living in Estacado and ten years
later it was 80. That same number has been in use through the year 2000.A
Drive Around Estacado: |
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Photographer's
Note:
T. Lindsay Baker has Estacado listed in one of his Ghost Town books.
There are a few occupied dwellings. The Gin looks operative. - Barclay
Gibson, July 2009 |
Estacado,
Texas ForumSubject:
Conway and Estacado
Town dried up after Interstate 40 routed a half mile north. My distant cousins'
family operated the motel, er, tourist court, there as well as a cafe. Cousin
Johnny made spare change at the filling station running a wrecker service on Route
66. He chargesd rich folks plenty, but a family in need he didn't charge at all.
I missed Estacado. It's still there on the Crosby/Lubbock county line, and
was once a county seat for many counties back when. Gin still operating with maybe
5 or 6 homes still occupied. Once a quaker settlement named Marietta.
Thanks for an interesting [magazine]. Keep up the good work. - Benny Poulson,
Ralls, Texas, September 12, 2006 | |
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