HUBBARD, TEXAS

Hill County, Central Texas North

31°50'51"N 96°47'50"W (31.847593, -96.797352)

Highway 171 and Highway 31
24 Miles SE of Hillsboro the county seat
77 Miles SE of Fort Worth
27 Miles SW of Corsicana
30 Miles NE of Waco
Population: 1,376 Est. (2016)
1,423 (2010) 1,586 (2000) 1,589 (1990)

Hubbard, Texas Area Hotels › Hillsboro Hotels

Downtown Hubbard
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

History in a Pecan Shell

Once known as Slap-out, Texas or McLainsboro, Texas, the town was established around 1860. It was renamed after former Governor Richard B. Hubbard around 1881 when the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad of Texas built a depot. The post office was granted, the first newspaper published and a bank (private) opened all in the year 1881. The town was later added to the route of the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad, making it a two-railroad town.

In 1895 while drilling for drinking water, the city hit hoit mineral water - making the town a (minor) resort town. (See Dog Drinks Water - Saves Town by Mike Cox.) From its earliest reported population of 250 (1884), it had doubled by the early 1890s and was 2,700 by the mid-1920s.

The Great Depression, WWII and the decline of water resorts took its toll on Hubbard. The population was only 1,772 by the early 1950s - increasing to 1,872 by the late 1980s and then declining to the current 1,586. Hubbard lost some downtown buildings to a 1973 tornado but still retains some picturesque residental streets and is worth a visit.

Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006
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Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006
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Hubbard Chronicles

Dog Drinks Water - Saves Town by Mike Cox
Just about everyone has heard the expression “sick as a dog,” and most people have occasionally felt that way, but folks in the town of Hubbard once credited their economic heyday to a sick pooch.

Hubbard (Hill County) Tornado - 1973 by Marlene Bradford

Watertower
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

Hubbard, Texas water tower & volunteer fire department

Volunteer Fire Department and water tower
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006
More Texas Water Towers

Take a road trip

Central Texas North

Hubbard, Texas Nearby Towns:
Hillsboro the county seat
Corsicana | Waco | Fort Worth
See Hill County

Book Hotel Here:
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