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NEW BOSTON,
TEXAS
Bowie
County,
East Texas
33°27'38"N 94°25'2"W (33.460551, -94.417246)
I-30 and Hwy 8
7 miles S of the Red River
2 Miles N of Boston the county seat
4 Miles N of Old Boston
40 Miles NE of Mount Pleasant
22 Miles W of Texarkana
38 Miles E of Clarksville
70 Miles SE of Paris
ZIP code 75570
Area code 903
Population: 4,609 Est. (2019)
4,550 (2010) 4,808 (2000) 5,057 (1990)
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New Boston cotton
scene in the 1900s
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
History in
a Pecan Shell
A timeline of significant
and selected historical events in Bowie
County:
1876: City of Boston negotiates with railroad for a new townsite to
be on the railroad - New Boston and Old
Boston coexist four miles apart without creating a ghost town
from displaced businesses.
1884: Population reaches 400
1887: Post office was granted
1900: Population reaches 762
A short-lived boom increased the population from just over 800 (1925)
to 1,300 by 1929.
By 1931 it was back under 1,000 people.
The Star Army Ammunition Plant and the Red River Army Depot were built
just SE of New Boston during WWII,
bolstering the economy and providing new residents. They remain the
county's major employers. |
New
Boston Pioneer Days Festival
Photo courtesy Gerald
Massey, August 2010 |
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New
Boston, Texas Chronicles
Richard
Ellis
Namesake of Ellis County
by Mike Cox ("Texas Tales" Column)
"... His family buried him on the plantation about three miles
north of present New Boston. With the passage of time, the
location of his grave was forgotten. But on Sept. 26, 1929, the Dallas
Morning News reported that Ellis' "long lost grave" had been found.
"A dense forest of huge pine trees grew up in the family cemetery
and the tombstone placed on the grave was dislodged and fell," the
newspaper reported. "Rep. R.M. Hubbard of New Boston…employed laborers
to remove the surface of the earth in the old cemetery, resulting
in the discovery of the footstone marked with the initials 'R.E.'
The base of the headstone also was found intact."
Workers exhumed Ellis' remains for reburial in the State
Cemetery in Austin that
October.
In the spring of 1935, one year shy of a century since Ellis steered
the Declaration of Independence and the republic's Constitution through
the parliamentary process, the Legislature appropriated $15,000 for
a statue in his honor...." more
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1907 Bowie
County postal map showing Boston
and New Boston
From Texas state map #2090
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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