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History in
a Pecan Shell
There is evidence
that Karankawa Indians used the site as a campground before settlement.
The Handbook of Texas states that a church may have been in use as
early as 1869, although it wasn’t until 1890 when the community was
granted a post office. Storekeeper, postmaster and Civil War veteran
Capt. William Erastus Moore is said to have named the post office
after his former commander in the 8th Texas Cavalry. Moore’s store,
being on the Tres Palacios River (which was then navigable) had boat
traffic for people going upriver to visit Deming’s
Bridge. Ashby was a community-minded man and donated land for
both a Methodist church and cemetery. The church burned in 1902.
By 1892, Ashby had a daily stage to El
Campo, its own doctor and a respectable population of 100. Rice
and cotton were the staples of
the region and they filled the warehouses of Ashby, waiting for transport
to Galveston or New
Orleans.
In 1899 Ashby had a one teacher school with 28 pupils and by 1904
it had 40. Classes were held in private homes until a school was constructed
in 1911.
The population grew to 150 by 1914 but it’s post office closed in
1919. Mail was then routed through Blessing.
Modernization arrived in the 1930s with paved roads and a two-room
school for elementary school. Shortly after WWII,
Ashby’s schools were merged with larger districts.
A Baptist church built in 1948 was donated to the Black Baptist congregation
ten years later.
In the early 1970s, the Tres Palacios Oaks development appeared opposite
the old Hawley cemetery. |
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Ashby Store
Courtesy Staches Vacek Family Collection
More Texas Stores |
| Ashby, Texas
was suggested for inclusion by Fayette County Historian Carolyn
Heinsohn who furnished these photos. Ms. Heinsohn had relatives
in the Ashby area. She states that Otylia and Staches Vacek’s children
attended the Asby school and the Vaceks family were members of the
Catholic mission parish in [nearby] Blessing,
Texas. –Ed. |
Matagorda
County map showing Ashby
Modification of Texas General Land Office 1920s map |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. |
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