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History in
a Pecan Shell
Named after early
settlers Samuel Losson CARAway and DAN Bush, the community dates from
the 1880s.* The name was submitted for a post office which was granted
in 1889 when only fifteeen people lived here. By 1930 the population
had (nearly) doubled to twenty-nine. It reached its high-water mark
in 1950 with seventy-five Caradanians but twenty years later the town
had only eighteen people left.
The post office closed its doors in the mid-1970s.
The cemetery is all that is
left of Caradan. |
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Click on image
to enlarge
Photo
courtesy Cockrum/Marable Family Collection
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"My
Great Grandfather Daniel Thornton Bush homesteaded land in what was
to become Mills County.
Along with a fellow named Caraway he donated land in the 1880s for
the community of Caradan that was named in their honor (Caradan).
The attached images are: the first page of the original patented deed
for 160 acres of his initial filing still in the records of the Texas
General Land Office; the Bush's home; a studio portrait of the family
made in Goldthwaite;
and an image of his and his wife's tombstone in the Goldthwaite Memorial
Cemetery.
All the photographic images are copies of Cockrum family photographs
in my possession and you have my permission to consider them for posting
on your website." - Dan Cockrum, November 24, 2017
"As mentioned in Texas Escapes, Caradan was named in recognition
of early settlers Samuel CARAway and Great Grandfather DAN Bush, as
submitted for a post office in 1889. My other Great Grandfather John
Wharton Cockrum is buried in the Caradan
Cemetery.
Photos are from the Cockrum/Marable family collection. - Dan Cockrum,
San Antonio, TX, March 08, 2018 |
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Daniel Thornton
Bush and wife Nancy J. Bush Tombstone
in the Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery
Photo courtesy Dan Cockrum |
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Daniel Thornton
Bush's Homestead 1873 Patent for 160 Acres
Courtesy Cockrum/Marable Family Collection
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Jot M Down Store
& owner James Richard Wilcox prior to 1959
Photo
courtesy John Poulsen
More Texas Stores
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Historical
Marker (FM 575 N, near Goldthwaite)
Caradan Cemetery
After the Civil
War families settled in this area, originally called Lookout. A.F.
Smith deeded two acres of land in 1889 for a public school. Arthur
Nixon, the infant son of W.J. Nixon and N.E. Nixon, died later that
year and was buried on school land. When the school burned in the
early 1900s, it was rebuilt in another location, leaving two acres
for the cemetery. Among the more than 150 graves here are veterans
of the Civil War, World War
I, and World
War II. The cemetery is one of the few physical remnants of the
once thriving town of Caradan and still serves the community.
(1996) |
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Caradan, Texas
Forum
Subject: The
church in Caradan
My family, at one time long ago, lived in Caradan and some of my siblings
attended school there (I did not). This was a little before my time,
probably in the mid to late thirties. I do not know much about Caradan
but am seeking information. I am sending the photo [above] of a church
building that my dad built there in 1932. I understand that this building
was, at some time later on, sold to a farmer and was moved to a location
several miles north of Caradan and that was used for storage of feed
for cattle. Do you have any information on this or tell me where I
may go to find info. My dad's name was Knox E. Reed and my mother's
name was Lillie Belle. - Jimmy Reed, Pflugerville,
Texas, March 22, 2007 |
Mills
County 1940s Map showing Caradan
From Texas state map #4335
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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