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DECATUR, TEXAS
"Eighter from Decatur,
County Seat of Wise"
- gambling epithet
Wise County Seat,
Central
Texas North
33°13'40"N 97°35'24"W (33.227633, -97.589871)
Highways 287 and 380
27 miles SE of Bowie
27 miles W of Denton
25 miles NW of Fort
Worth
45 miles NW of Dallas
Population: 6,989 Est. (2018)
6,042 (2010) 5,201 (2000) 4,245 (1990)
Book Hotel Here › Decatur
Hotels |
Decatur
main street & courthouse
square
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Wise County was
established in 1856 and named after Virginian Henry A. Wise who supported
Texas annexation.
The town was originally called Taylorsville after The Mexican
War Hero Gen. Zachary Taylor, but was changed in 1858 to honor Stephen
Decatur, Revolutionary War naval hero. The town was platted by early
settler Absalom Bishop who became a member of the Texas Legislature.
A post office was opened in 1857 and the first school was opened that
same year. Decatur was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail.
During the Civil War, 5 members of the Unionist Peace party were tried
and executed in Decatur in 1862.
The last Indian raids occurred around 1874 and by 1882 the Fort Worth
and Denver Railway laid tracks to town. The population tripled from
579 in 1880 to 1,746 in 1890.
Decatur's population high-water mark was in 1928 when 3,200 lived
there, but commuters from Fort
Worth have recently boosted the growth to where it now stands
at over 6,000. |
Decatur, Texas
Landmarks/Attractions
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Wise
County Courthouse ›
National Register of Historic Places
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
by Sam Fenstermacher |
Wise County
Heritage Museum
(Former Decatur Baptist College Administration Building)
1602 S. Trinity St.
National Register of Historic Places
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Another view
of the Wise County Heritage Museum
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Decatur Baptist
College plaque
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Decatur Baptist
College
World's Oldest Junior College
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Decatur Post
Office, TX 76234
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Episcopal Mission
of the Ascension
S. Church and Hale St.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Historical Marker:
Episcopal
Mission of the Ascension
Oldest original
church building in Decatur. Consecrated by great missionary bishop,
the Rt. Rev. A. C. Garrett. Erected facing Main Street (2 blks. W.
of square) in 1889.
Known as "The Little Church with the Crosses", by 1912 it had deteriorated,
but was restored and moved, facing Walnut Street.
In 1940 building was sold, used as mattress factory, but rescued same
year and moved here, with sanctuary placed symbolically to east, toward
Jerusalem.
1968 |
Episcopal Mission
of the Ascension Historical Marker
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
 |
Decatur Masonic Building and Water Tower
On the northwest corner of the square. This is one of two water towers
that're set behind the Masonic Building. - SF
Photo
courtesy Sam Fenstermacher, 2004 |
McMurray-Gettys
Building
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Former Waggoner
Mansion
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Old gas station
Photo
courtesy Mike
Price, December 2007 |
Decatur, Texas
Old Photos
|
Decatur Depot
Postcard
courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
More Texas
Depots |
Rogers
Hospital
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Eighter
from Decatur
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/ |
Growing up
in Decatur in the 1930s
Excerpts from
"I
Was a Teen in the 1930s and Some More Stuff" by Harold Bell
Miss
Bell
Nobody in the world, dead or alive, knew how long Miss Bell taught
the fourth grade in and around Decatur, Texas...
The
Sheriff
"You never know when somebody says something, or does something,
that it may have a big effect on you the rest of your life."
The
Tight-Wire Walker
"She's very daring. They put her wire up to the very tiptop
of the tent thirty-five feet above the ground, and she does exciting
maneuvers without using a net."
My
Date with Mary
Mary was the cause of the most exciting week of my young life.
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Recommended
Books on Decatur, Texas
Two excellent books
of stories of growing up in Wise
County during the first half of the 20th century are:
I
Was A Teen in the 1930s by Harold Bell, 2002 - book review
Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned by Listening to Old Men
On My Paper Route in Decatur, Texas
or
What They Didn't Tell Me Was Supplemented By Selling Magazine Subscriptions
Around the Southern United States During the Great Depression.
Joe
B. Frantz on Small Towns
From the Foreword to Eighter from Decaur: Growing Up in North Texas
by Jim Tom Barton, Texas A&M University Press, 1980
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Nearby
Destinations
Wise
County Towns
Lake Bridgeport
-
Off US Highway 380 west of Decatur. On the West Fork Trinity River
in Jack and Wise counties.
Decatur Tourist
Information
Decatur Chamber
of Commerce - (940) 627-3107
P.O. Box 474, 1200-C S. FM 51, Decatur, Texas 76234
http://www.decaturtx.com/
City of Decatur
- http://www.decaturtx.org/
Book Hotel Here > Decatur
Hotels
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| 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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