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| "This
may have been a post office (notice the centered flag pole)"
- Sam & Donna Hayes, 2007 photo |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The
town was named for Chief Engineer Eugene E. Dryden of the Galveston,
Harrisburg and San Antonio railroad when it arrived at this site in
1882. Although it was first only a section house, within two years
Dryden was the headquarters for the Pecos Land and Cattle Company.
Dryden became an important cattle-shipping point through the early
1900s. The community had a post office by 1888.
The Pecos L & C Company drilled a well that supplied the entire town
with water. In 1908 the town had a hotel and four years later a school
was built which did triple duty as a church, school and community
center. U.S, Troops were stationed at Dryden during the "Border Unrest"
brought about by the 1913 - 1917 Mexican Revolution. Despite the border
troubles, Mexican ranchers continued to bring their cattle to Dryden
to have them shipped on to San
Antonio.
The
Block Y Ranch started shipping cattle from Dryden in 1917 and relocated
some of their employees to Dryden. Housing for the families and a
headquarters building were built. By 1929 the population was 100 people
but during the Great Depression the railroad closed its Dryden depot
and the population was reduced by half. The area's ranches broke up
and sold out. The population increased back to 100 in the 1940s but
declined back to 50 by the mid-1960s.
By 1988 Dryden's population was a mere 13 people and the post office
was still in use. |
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An old
Mercantile store, "you can barely make out the words Mercantile
and Prop." Photo courtesy Erik
Whetstone, August 2005
More Texas Stores
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