DOWNING, TEXAS

History in a Pecan Shell

Downing belongs on the short list of postal errors or poor penmanship. What had been submitted as poetic “Dawning, Texas” was misread in Washington and the mistake was approved.

It was in the Fall of 1888 when the post office opened with William C. Davis as postmaster. It remained open until the Spring of 1911 when it merged with Comanche’s post office.

The town’s location – between the County Seat and another sizable town (De Leon) limited Downing’s chances of growth. From just over 100 people in 1940, Downing declined to just 20 residents for the 1990 and 1990 census although it swelled to 30 for the 2000 count.

Downing

From "One Man Two Graves" Mike Cox

"The Downing Cemetery is near a small community of the same name about nine miles north of Comanche off State Highway 16. Just when the rural graveyard saw its first burial is not known, but the earliest marked grave is that of one Mary Carnes, who died on April 15, 1866. The authors noted that the cemetery also contains several unmarked graves of people who died “on the way to other places” and that there are also some graves of Indians, presumably killed by settlers... The Downing Cemetery even predates the community for which it was named, which did not get its start until the early 1880s...

A one-room country school house used to stand near the cemetery, but it has long since disappeared from the landscape. All that remains is the school’s old bell, which now hangs in the cemetery." - more

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