Ben Wheeler, Texas, Van Zandt County. (original) (raw)

"Moon Pie and Royal Crown Cola"
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, October 2011

History in a Pecan Shell

Originally, the land that is now Ben Wheeler was once in Henderson County. Settled in the 1840s, the town was first called Clough after George W. Clough, the first postmaster whose house was used as the post office. The office opened in1876 but was renamed two years later after Ben Wheeler who was the mail carrier for the Tyler to Buffalo mail route.

George Clough decided to build another community which included the post office, a store, church and school. This was to be known as Georgetown, but Williamson County had already claimed that name. The post office was granted permission to move, but the old name had to be retained.

The new town of Ben Wheeler had most essential businesses and was off to a good start. But a devastating fire burned most of the community�s commercial structures.

By the mid-1890s the town had a respectable population of 500 but a smallpox epidemic reduced that number by half. A grocery store opened in 1905. Ben Wheeler continued to prosper and by 1933 was headed back to its old population figures. For 1933 the county was 375 residents.

As the cotton crop was reduced by the boll weevil and prices fell, desperate farmers experimented with vegetable farming. This wasn�t as successful as first thought, so local farmers started raising livestock in the mid 1950s.

Texas Escapes' 2800th Town

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