|
|
Eugene Sandow,
with fellow performers circa 1893.
Wikipedia commons |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Once called Freezeout, Texas by mule-driving freighters who
passed through the area from the coast, it seemed to cater to them
with an abundance of saloons and a racetrack.
The community was granted a post office in 1873 and the name submitted
was that of solid citzen Emil Miller. Miller had donated a lot for
the town’s first school and in his honor, the community was called
Millerton. The post office closed, reopened and finally closed
for good in 1891. Mail for the town came through Rockdale.
In 1918 a six-mile spur was run from the International Great Morthern
mainline to the lignite mine owned by the Federal Fuel Company. Bankruptcy
left the siding unfinished. McAlester Fuel Company bought out Federal
Fuel’s holdings in 1922. Since they “owned’ the town, the executives
felt that a renaming was in order. Times being what they were, the
company chose the name of a Prussian-born strongman that was being
promoted in New York by Florenz Ziegfeld (later famous for the Ziegfeld
Follies). The namesake, Eugene Sandow, was considered to be the father
of body-builders.
The abandoned railroad line was completed and the Rockdale, Sandow
and Southern Railroad was doing business by 1923.
Lignite from the mine supplied the University of Texas and Texas A&M
University, as well as other electric-power producers.
Natural gas, was cheaper than coal and in time the mine closed. After
WWII a process
was invented for carbonizing lignite and the Aluminum Company of America
(Alcoa) built a plant.
The town evolved into a plant, but did not survive as a town. Most
Alcoa employees live in nearby Rockdale
and today the plant is ringed by a large fence that stretches for
miles. A huge shovel can sometimes be seen mining the lignite from
a huge open pit.
Update:
The Alcoa plant closed in January 2018. |
 |
The town's namesake
Eugene Sandow
1889 portrait by Henry Van der Weyde
Wikipedia commons |
| 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. |
|
|
HOME
Texas
Gulf Coast
East
Texas
Central
Texas North
Central
Texas South
Texas
Panhandle
South
Texas
Texas
Hill Country
West
Texas
Texas
Ghost Towns
Texas
Counties
