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DAYTON,
TEXAS
Liberty County,
Texas Gulf Coast
US 90, Hwys 146 and 321
6 miles W of Liberty
23 miles E of Humble
36 miles NE of Houston
50 miles W of Beaumont
Population 5,709 (2000)
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Dayton
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Downtown
Dayton
Photo by John Troesser, 9-04-04 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Back at the time of its founding in 1831, Liberty was consider divided
by the Trinity River. Present day Dayton was considered "West Liberty
- the official name of until the mid-1880s. The name of Liberty comes
from the capital of the old Mexican municipality of Santísima Trinidad
de la Libertad.
Liberty and West Liberty were connected by a ferry.
The West Liberty post office was apparently discontinued after a few
years. Land was designated for a school in 1847 and the schoolhouse
was accepted on December 31, 1853. The town was platted and surveyed
that same year.
West Liberty became known as Day's Town, sometime after 1854. I. C.
Day, was a wealthy landowner who lived south of West Liberty.
The Texas and New Orleans Railroad arrivied in 1860 and made the town
a flag stop. It was known as either West Liberty, Days Station, or
Dayton Station. In 1877 the name Dayton was applied to the post office
made the name permanent. |
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Dayton Schoolhouse
Photo by John Troesser, 9-04-04 |
In
1885 the population was a mere 60 people
By 1890 it had risen to 239 residents.
By 1910 it had reached a population of 2,500
By 1940 it had declined to 1,207 residents
By 1965 it had 3,367 people
Lumbering and cattle raising were the economic engines until rice
production was introduced. Dayton was recorded as an incorporated
municipality on May 3, 1911 and Texas governor Marion Price Daniel,
Sr., was born in Dayton the year before. Oil development during the
1920s brought new industries.
Dayton
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A grain elevator just south of downtown
Photo by John Troesser, 9-04-04 |
Native
Sons
Price Daniel
by Archie P. McDonald
"... Daniel was born in Dayton, Texas, in 1910, and attended
Baylor University. He opened a law practice in Liberty and became
a prominent attorney in Southeast Texas. I once heard him say that
he had taken an oath of office pledging loyalty to the Constitution
of the United States eight times. Let’s see if we can reconstruct
that career..." more |
Liberty-Dayton
Chamber of Commerce
936-336-5736
1801 Trinity Street
P.O. Box 1270, Liberty, Texas 77575
http://www.libertydaytonchamber.com/
Dayton
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