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History
in a Pecan Shell
The original town was a mile east of the present site. The Lewis family
of Georgia settled here around 1849. The original site being a mile
east of present-day Minden.
A post office was granted in 1850, with the name suggested by H. W.
Watson, after his hometown in Louisiana. Minden was on the old Nacogdoches
to Marshall stageline,
so success seemed assured. In 1860 the community had a store, school
and church.
In the 1880s G. I. Watkins opened a private school (The Rock Hill
Institute) and by the middle of that decade the population was estimated
to be 50 residents.
In the 1890s, Minden had a respectable 155 citizens as well as its
own newspaper. The population was close to doubling in the 1890s but
the 1900 census recorded only 223 residents.
It briefly rose to 250 residents in the mid 1940s, but fell to just
125 Mindenites for the 50s and 60s. In the late 60s it reached 350
people – which continues through the year 2010. |
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Minden
TX Voting Box 316
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, April 2011 |
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos, please contact
us. |
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