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The
road to Old Corn Hill
TE Photo, 9-04 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
In 1855 a Judge named John E. King built his residence
atop a topographical feature called Corn Hill. The house served as a stop for
the stage line connecting Georgetown and Fort
Gates and a post office was granted the same year of 1855.
The town had
an uneventful history until the 1870s and 1880s. The first store was opened in
1869 and a gin two years later. In 1884 Corn Hill the town had 250 people with
two mills, a Masonic lodge, three gins, a newspaper, and the Corn Hill Academy.
By 1896 the population was 350 in 1896 and the town's high-water mark came
around 1910 when an estimated 500 people lived here.
The Bartlett
and Western Railway bypassed Corn Hill, and the town of Jarrell
was established alongside the rails. Corn Hill received a death blow during the
period 1910 to 1920 when all the people and most of the buildings (including the
post office) moved to Jarrell.
Today only
a few buildings still stand. The old city cemetery is less than a mile east of
what had been the town. It offers a sweeping view of the countryside and a distant
view of the church at New Corn Hill.
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Corn
Hill Cemetery
TE Photo, 9-04 |
Corn
Hill Community historical marker
Photo courtesy Wayne Ware |
One
of a few remaining buildings in Corn Hill
TE Photo, 9-04 |
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© John Troesser
Corn Hill Texas
ForumSubject:
Ghost Towns
Recently I was given a printout from your article relating
to the Corn Hill area of Central Texas. I am writing today, as after viewing some
of the pictures you provided, it brought back memories of my early days.
You see, I along with my sisters were reared in that Catholic Community, attended
parochial school there, as well as some of us married in the large Church that
still stands today, as well our Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles as well as many
other members of the family and friends, that now, lie buried in the very same
Cemetery you show in the pictures. I still have one surviving Uncle that lives
to this day, directly across from the large Catholic Church and would be directly
across from the few remaining buildings that you once again featured in your article.
Oh yes, many memories, of the first Grocery Store that was just off
the road, where I watched my first "World Series game between the Dodgers and
Yankees. That would have had to be somewhere around 1950's. I also remember going
to the Church activities as well as annual celebrations just below the hill at
a place called "Moravian Hall". It was a two story structure, with a stairway
leading upstairs to a wooden dance floor. Downstairs was reserved for Bohemian
Taroks, Dominoes as well as refresments and delicious cakes pies kolaches sauage
barbecue beer and much much more. Wonderful times, those ole days, and miss the
greatly. My sisters as well as myslef still make our trips to that erea as often
as we can, as most of our classmates and friends reside either in that area still,
or the Austin, Texas area. My Mother and Father were buried there on top of the
hill under the large oak trees just south of what use to be a ballpark. I playd
ball there when I was in school, but my Father also spoke of the "big games" they
had in a ballfield a bit farther down to the right. The school and most all, as
you mention, are almost all gone, but the memories of the Catholic Nuns that gave
us our early education and Christian way of life, still remains with us to this
day. I will attempt to visit my Uncle within the next couple of weeks, as he will
be celebrating his 103rd or 104th Birthday this year.. He has great knowledge
of that entire area and lives alone, with the help of his Son.
I hope
to share some other things, now that I know how to locate you, and thanks for
the great work you are doing to preserve all that is so precious to all of us,
as we age along with everyone else. Oh by the way, my one sister lives in Temple,
Texas, while the other lives in Houston,
Texas. Thanks again. - William (Bill) Knapek, Houston, Texas 77040, Age
63, May 02, 2006
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