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Distant view
of Blue Ridge
2003 photo courtesy of George Lester
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History in
a Pecan Shell
According
to information from the Handbook of Texas Online, the name
is derived from "low hills in the area." There were two other Blue
Ridge communities in Texas - one in
Collin County and one that had been in Fort
Bend County.
Residents of the area objected to the boundaries planned for the newly-formed
Falls County around
1850 and thought that Blue Ridge should be the county seat. All that
they managed to accomplish was a one year delay in the organization
of Falls County.
The community had a post office for a few years before the Civil War
and it may have developed into a sizeable town had it not been bypassed
by the railroad in the 1870s.
During the period of intense school-consolidation following WWII,
Blue Ridge's school merged with the Marlin Independent School District
in 1948. |
George
Lester, who once lived in neighboring Spunky
Flat in the 1930s, wrote of his childhood disappointment when
first "experiencing" Blue Ridge:
"For what seemed like years I used to look at the rise to the south
of our farm that was called Blue Ridge. It impressed me as a place
you could go and look down at the beautiful view of the valley below.
Then one day my dad said he had to go see somebody about some business
at Blue Ridge and I was allowed to go with him.
With every mile I anticipated the thrill of reaching that Shangri-La
in the clouds. After a while dad stopped the car and conversed with
a man for a few minutes and then got back in the car preparing to
return home. I asked him why we didn't go to Blue Ridge and my dreams
were shattered by his answer, "Son, this is Blue Ridge". I got out
of the car and looked around and it didn't look any different than
Spunky Flat....no panoramic scene, no breathtaking view.
I told my wife this story and she looked surprised.
She had the same thing happened to her when she lived in Spunky
Flat." |
| 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
us. |
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