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Historical
Marker (on Main Street) Text:
Gustine
Settlers began
arriving in this area of Comanche
County in the 1870s. Among the pioneers were members of the Blankenship
family, who inherited land granted to brothers Christopher and A.
K. Clark for Republic
of Texas military service.
The first settlement, located about three-fourths of a mile northeast
of this site, was named Evergreen. It included homes, a store,
blacksmith shop, cotton gin, and school. In the 1880s, when a new
road opened between Comanche
and Hamilton, the
citizens of Evergreen moved their town to this site to be on the route
of the new road. A U.S. post office opened in January 1888, and was
named for postmaster Samuel Gustine.
By the early 20th century, the town of Gustine boasted homes, churches,
and businesses, including two cotton gins, three poultry companies,
a grist mill, retail stores, telephone and electric utilities, a newspaper,
and a bank. The Cotton Belt Railway built a line through the area
in 1910, causing an economic boom until it was discontinued in the
1930s. State Highway 36 was built on the railroad right-of-way, however,
maintaining the town's most important transportation route.
(1992) |
Former Sinclair
gas station
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2008
More Texas
Gas Stations |
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