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History in
a Pecan Shell
Around 1909 J.
C. (Jim) Bowles and partner Bob Crump formed a townsite company, hoping
to lure a railroad.
Land was bought and a school was built. A railroad (the Santa Fe)
did get interested – after a bonus was paid to them by George
Littlefield, of the famed Yellow House Ranch.
To lure settlers, the townsite company named the town Shallowater.
It wasn’t until June of 1913 when the railroad was completed and Shallowater
declared itself officially founded.
Ranching in the area was declining and farmers were moving in. Cotton
took the place of cattle.
Shallowater was thriving in the 1920s with new businesses blossoming
every month. Gas stations, blacksmiths, hotels, drugstores and barbers
flourished.
A park was built as well as a public well.
In the early 1920s, the railroad designation for its depot at Shallowater
had been Pacita.
By 1928 the population had increased to 250 residents – a respectable
figure for that time. The town weathered the Great Depression and
the rural exodus of the post war period. First population figures
after WWII showed
just over 1,000 residents in 1960 and 1,339 ten years later.
By the late 1980s, the population was just over 2,000, declining to
1,708 for the 1990 census – the same number used for 2000. |
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Freight train
near Shallowater
Photo
courtesy Leaflet, wikipedia
See Texas Railroads |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
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