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History in
a Pecan Shell
It’s unclear exactly
when Nell was established, but it’s been narrowed down to “between
1910 and 1930.” That is when the land was subdivided into lots. In
the mid 1930s the town reportedly had three businesses and a school.
By the mid 1960s nearly everything had shut down, including the school.
Photographer’s Notes:
If you look at a county map you will think the community of Nell insisted
on being in Live Oak
County as the northern boundary ells at the northern tip to keep
Nell away from nearby Bee
and Karnes Counties.
This ranching community is a quiet place now with a handful of residences. The
local tavern / pool hall was the last remaining business and now even
that is silent. A local resident who works in Three
Rivers told me there’s a famous cookie company in the community
that ships worldwide. I wish I could have found it when I was passing
through. - Will
Beauchamp, May 2009 |
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Panthers
in the Moonlight
One of my favorite
hunting stories I like to tell is my “Big Cat Call” which took place
in Nell. In the early 1980's a hunting friend of mine asked me to
come over and pick him up to do some hunting. He lived across from
the pool hall in Nell, so after a couple of games of pool we went
south of town a short distance and set up in a field about 30 yards
from a brushy draw or shallow creek bottom. It was a crystal clear
night and so still you could hear someone talking half-a-mile away. I
started using my rabbit-in-distress hand call and after just a minute
or so we heard exactly what had been described to me by my grandmother:
a lady screaming at the top of her voice! Believe me, it will certainly
make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. The scream was so
close that it echoed down the creek bottom.
My grandmother’s description of the panther screams she heard growing
up in the country – I finally heard for myself. The big cat didn’t
scream again, but we could hear it walking in the leaves under the
oak trees. We spotlighted the creek with no results as the cat would
never look into the red beam of the spotlight. After a couple of minutes
I'm sure the big cat was too smart for us and moved on. My friend
moved away from Nell a couple years thereafter, but whenever we visit
we recall the scream we will always remember. - Will
Beauchamp
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