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History in
a Pecan Shell
If you are from
Minnesota and the name sounds familiar to you, it is indeed named
after Minnesota's Lake Itasca, at the head of the Mississippi.
Katy Railroad agent, G. M. Dodge purchased 100 acres of land here
in 1881 and lots were offered to the public later that year. The first
structure was a store and the town had a Presbyterian Church organized
in 1884. Incorporated in 1885, Itasca had a healthy population of
548 by 1890. The Masons built a two-story schoolhouse in 1887.
Infrastructure
An artesian well dug in 1893 became the towns water supply. Streets
were paved in 1920 and residents had natural gas in 1923. In 1937
Hill County Electric Cooperative was founded - the third such
cooperative to be established under the Rural Electrification Act.
Industry
Itasca's industy began in 1901 with the operation of the Itasca
Cotton Manufacturing Company. The company annually bought 10,000
bales of locally produced cotton.
The company employed 350 people, was closed briefly during the onset
of the Great Depression but reopened in 1933. A make-work industry
called the Itasca Weavers Guild was established in 1935 to
utilize left over cloth. An early factory outlet store was opened
in Dallas in 1949. Eleven
more such stores were spread around the state by the mid-1950s. The
Itasca Cotton Manufacturing Company was sold in 1962 and the
town began a serious decline.
In 1906 the town population was 2,500 - nearly double the 2000 figure
of 1,523. |
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Itasca Cotton
Oil Mill, 1932
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
Cotton Factory
in Itasca, 1908
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
| Photo
courtesy Jen Basham, November 2017 |
Files
Cemetery ›
Cemetery Entrance:
5.3 miles E of the intersection of FM 66 and I35W at Itasca
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Worthy
of a Movie
The Itasca Mail was the town's first newspaper.
Renamed the Item in 1900, the paper continued publishing for
over 100 years when a rival paper came to town. The rival paper underestimated
potential revenues and it pulled out a short time later, leaving the
town without news. The local high school took up the slack and took
on the responsibility of providing residents with local news. This
unusual story reached the New Yorker magazine in 2003 and plans
were made for a movie. The experience gained at the newspaper has
caused several graduates to enter journalism programs in various universities
- and the fruits of this inventive program will continue to are yet
to be seen. It is a program that would serve many communities without
newspapers.
© John Troesser
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1940 Hill
County map showing Itasca N of Hillsboro
(From Texas state map #4335)
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
| 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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