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Approaching
Clinton
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
In 1887 the St.
Louis Southwestern Railroad bought the land for a token of five dollars.
The seller, one J. M. Massey made it conditional upon the railroad
building a depot here. The railroad complied, naming it after one
of their own officers that same year. The following year a post office
was granted and continued for decades, although no one is certain
of when it closed.
The earliest recorded population was in 1904 when 138 citizens were
counted. By 1910 it had fallen to right around 100 and by the time
the Great Depression arrived it was down to just 88. The last official
count was in the mid 1960s when 30 people considered Clinton home.
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A Visit to
Clinton, Texas
Photographer's
Note:
A crossroads, a few homes on dirt streets, cemetery, and a large influx
of new homes on acre + sized lots is about all that's left of whatever
was here. - Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Clinton
scene
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
The 1859 Clinton
Cemetery
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
Historical Marker:
3.4 miles N of Caddo Mills on
S Hwy 36; .4 miles W on CR 2720
Clinton Cemetery
According to local
legend, this graveyard originated when an unknown cowboy was buried
near this site with the permission of landowner James Massay, who
designated the spot as a community cemetery. Massay also gave the
land for a railroad right-of-way along which the town of Clinton
was built. The earliest marked grave in the cemetery is that of R.
J. McAdams (1836-1859), wife of J. E. McAdams. The village was named
Massayville in 1899, but was later renamed Clinton for Charles
S. Clinton, an official of the Cotton Belt Railway. More than 500
graves in this cemetery and a few scattered homes in the vicinity
were all that remained of the Clinton community in 1998. The cemetery
is a record of the pioneers of Hunt
County.
(1998) |
Clinton
Cemetery Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, September 2009 |
| 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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