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Mills County TX
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CARADAN, TEXAS

Mills County, Texas Hill Country

31° 33' 14" N, 98° 28' 38" W (31.553889, -98.477222)

9 miles NE of Goldthwaite the county seat
Just down the road from Mount Olive
Area code 325
Population: 20 (2000, 1990)

Book Hotel Here Brownwood Hotels

Caradan TX, Mills County -Daniel Thornton Bush and Family Home
Town's namesake Daniel Thornton Bush's family home in or near Caradan
Click on image to enlarge

Photo courtesy Cockrum/Marable Family Collection

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.



Caradan, Texas Namesake


Caradan TX, Mills County -Daniel Thornton Bush  family, 1891

Click on image to enlarge
Photo courtesy Cockrum/Marable Family Collection


"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

Caradan TX, Mills County -Daniel Daniel Thornton tombstone
Daniel Thornton Bush and wife Nancy J. Bush Tombstone
in the Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery

Photo courtesy Dan Cockrum


Caradan TX - Daniel Thornton Bush's Homestead 1873 Patent in Mills County,

Daniel Thornton Bush's Homestead 1873 Patent for 160 Acres
Courtesy Cockrum/Marable Family Collection




Caradan TX Jot M Down Store, before 1959
Jot M Down Store & owner James Richard Wilcox prior to 1959
Photo courtesy John Poulsen
More Texas Stores

Caradan Cemetery


Mills County, TX - Caradan Cemetery  sign
Caradan Cemetery
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, May 2003

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)

TX - Caradan Cemetery historical marker
Caradan Cemetery historical marker
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, May 2003


Caradan, Texas cemetery
Caradan Cemetery
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, May 2003
More Texas Cemeteries


Caradan Texas 1932 church and windmill
The church built by Knox E. Reed in 1932
Photo courtesy Jimmy Reed
More Texas Churches | Windmills in Texas

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



Caradan TX - Mills County 1950 Postmark
Caradan TX - Mills County 1950 Postmark
Postcard canceled with Caradan TX 1950 postmark
Courtesy The John J. Germann Collection


TX Mills  County 1940s Map
Mills County 1940s Map showing Caradan
From Texas state map #4335
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

Take a road trip
Texas Hill Country

Caradan, Texas Nearby Towns:
Goldthwaite tlhe county seat
Brownwood | Comanche | San Saba | Lampasas
See Mills County

Book Hotel Here:
Brownwood Hotels | More Hotels
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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