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Oglesby Depot
TE photo, 2001 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Name to honor William Oglesby, who donated the land for the townsite,
the community had been known as Hilltop until the railroad
arrived in 1882. First settlers had been in the area as early as the
mid 1850s.
In 1883 a post office under the new name was granted and a year later
Oglesby had gristmills, gins, churches, school, and just about every
essential business for a town whose star was rising. Oglesby had just
one hundred citizens, but with the railroad, bountiful crops of corn
and cotton - things looked bright.
By the late 1920s the population had reached 500. Oglesby suffered
as did most of the state during the Great Depression, but rebounded
when a naval ordnance plant opened between Oglesby and McGregor.
Oglesby incorporated in the early 1950s.
From the 1949 population of 400. it reached a high-water mark in the
late 1980s with 515 people, declining to the current 484. |
Ogelsby abandoned
railroad station in 1964
Photo courtesy Mike Larro |
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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