|
|
US Post
Office Desdemona TX 76445
Photo by John Troesser, 2004 |
|
"even from
my boyish days…
…wherein I spake of most disastrous chances,
Of moving accidents by flood and field,
of hair-breadth escapes in the imminent deadly breach.."
Othello - The Wooing of Desdemona
History in a Pecan Shell
Settlement of Desdemona began around 1857, making one of the earliest
communities west of the Brazos River. Settlers built a small fort
to protect themselves from Indian attack and in 1875 the Funderburg
brothers acquired the land that had once been old fort and began
to develop.
Originally the town had been called Hogtown, for it's location on
Hog Creek. A post office was granted in 1877 under the name Desdemona
(not the heroine of Othello, but for the daughter of the community's
JP. The town has been shown on maps and on records as Desdemonia
or Desdimonia, but the unusual name spared the town confusion with
other post offices.
Peanut farming
became an important part of the economy early on and Desdemona's
population went from 100 in 1892 to over 300 by 1904. In September
1918, a driller named Tom Dees, struck oil and Desdemona was catapulted
(for better or worse) into a bona-fide Texas boomtown. Population
estimates of the period suggest that there may have been as many
as 16,000 citizens, speculators, workers and camp followers during
the zenith of the 1919-1922 boom.
Those smart enough to have invested in Tom Dee's Hog Creek Oil Company
were able to sell $100 shares for over $10,000, but aside from these
new fortunes, Desdemona had some huge problems. Rains flooded the
town and overflowed pools of standing oil. Influenza and typhoid
fever broke out. Sanitation and public health were enough to strain
the town to its breaking point, but on top of this they also had
to combat the lawless element.
|
|
|
A
former business from boom times?
Photo by John Troesser, 2004 |
| |
The
well-used Desdemona Jail - built of Thurber
Brick
Photo by John Troesser, 2004 |
| Citizens banded
into a group called The Law and Order League. But when one of their
leaders (Pastor J. A. Kidd of the Rockdale Baptist Church) became
too vocal - the church was set afire on the night of November 27,
1920. The blaze was soon extinguished, but now all Desdemonites were
united in outrage. The church was a beloved landmark and even the
non-Baptists were furious at the act and especially the perpetrators.
Texas Rangers who had been conducting roving patrols of the boomtowns
of Eastland, Ranger
and Cisco now descended
on Desdemona, arresting 125 men and expelling at least that many prostitutes.
|
The
Desdemona School (grades 1-12) was built in 1922 and expanded as a
WPA project completed in 1937. It finally closed in 1969.
Photo by John Troesser, 2004 |
|
|
The
school's cornerstone now lies horizontal in the school yard
Photo by John Troesser, 2004
|
| |
|
Oil production fell from over seven million barrels of oil in 1919
to less than three million in 1921. By 1922 the boom was over and
Desdemona had experienced one of the most drastic population fluctuations
in Texas boomtown history. Fires in 1920 and 1921 destroyed entire
blocks, leaving the town today where it may have naturally evolved
had oil not been discovered. In 1936 Desdemona dissolved their city
government. |
Desdemona
Photo courtesy Kim Carter April 2007 |
|
|
"My grandfather
Joe Duke was at one time known as Texas' youngest millionaire. A few
years later he had no money left and was a pauper at the time of his
death." - John Keith |
Desdemona Texas Forum
Subject:
Desdemona
Dear TE, I recently drove to Desdemona after visiting a friend who
attends Baylor. I had once played a character named "Desdemona"
in a play, so when I saw signs for a town of the same name, I jumped
at it! I saw no businesses, but I saw some cute little houses, and
I took a picture of the town marker sign. I really enjoyed the detour!
Cute Little Town! - Kim Carter, April 19, 2007
Subject:
Desdemona Oil Boom
My Grandfather, John Robert Palmer was a farmer and teaching school
in Hogtown prior to the discovery of the Duke Well in 1918 and was
instrumental in organizing the mineral leases prior to the well.
My father (John Derwin Palmer) wrote a Thesis for a Master of Arts
Degree from Hardin-Simmons University, August 1938, entitled "The
History of the Desdemona Oil Boom". I assume copies are available
from the University. There is a stone marker just outside of town
for the location of the first school building in Hog Creek where
my grandfather taught school. As I recall my maternal grandfather
Charles Thomas Moorman and family also lived in the area and was
instrumental in establishing the first school. - CR Palmer, November
17, 2005
I've enjoyed
reading about Desdemona on the TexasEscapes website. My Great-Great-Grandfather,
Christian Bowman (originally Bohrman or Borman) was one of the 42
Army Dragoons that Captain Ripley Arnold brought to the Clear Fork
of the Trinity in 1849 to build the fort that later became the City
of Fort Worth. Christian pre-empted land in Denton County after
leaving the Army and settled his family in Little Elm. In about
1865, Christian was killed in an explosion near Desdemona, referred
to as Hogtown in our family, while digging a well. We have no documentation
of the date or the event, but it has been passed down as fact by
several of his children. How would I research this? Would there
have been a newspaper publishing in any of the nearby towns? Or
any surviving records from the town? - Thank you, Linda Culbertson,
StormCnter@aol.com , Pound Colleyville, Texas, October 21, 2005
I am writing
an article about an event that occurred in May, 1945 in Desdemona
where one or perhaps two Japanese Balloon Bombs landed harmlessly.
Thousands of these balloon bombs were launched from mainland Japan
in the closing months of the war as a desperate effort to achieve
victory. Two of them landed in Desdemona or that vicinity. Do you
know about this event and perhaps you could steer me to someone
who could. What is the name of the local newspaper in that area
if you know? I would like to place an ad for people who may have
remembered the event. Thanks. - Michael Phillips, September 02,
2004
Subject: Desdemona, Texas (WW II Japanese balloon bombs)
In regards to the inquiry about two Japanese balloon bombs landing
in Desdemona in May 1945, I can provide the following. Two balloon
bombs landed at Desdemona on March 23, 1945. Another balloon bomb
landed in Woodson, Texas (approx. 75 miles NNW of Desdemona) the
next day. None caused any damage. - Steve Allen Goen, Wichita
Falls, December 23, 2007
To share history or historic photos of this Desdemona, Texas, please
contact
us.
|
©
John Troesser
Sources:
The Handbook of Texas Online
Brownson Malsch, "Lone Wolf" Gonzaullas, Texas Ranger, 1998, U. of
Oklahoma Press
T. Linday Baker, More Ghost Towns of Texas, 2003, University of Oklahoma
Press
Interview with Desdemona native Joe Grimshaw, February 2004
|
| More
Ghost Towns of Texas |
|
|
|
