Terrell Texas, Kaufman County; Terrell Hotels. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

George Paschall is considered one of the first settlers when he arrived in the area in 1848. In 1873 the Texas and Pacific Railway crossed the region and 230 acres were purchased with the intention of platting a town. The post office opened that same year and was named after an early settler in honor named Robert A. Terrell.

The town incorporated in 1875. Terrell had 3,000 citizens by the mid 1880s along with three weekly newspapers, three flour mills, three gins, and nine churches. The State Hospital (mental institution) in Austin opened a second location in Terrell in 1885 to relieve overcrowding at the capital facility.

By 1890 Terrell had an iron foundry, a canning factory, and a creamery. In 1892 Terrell became the headquarters for the Texas Midland Railroad. During World War II, British pilots trained at Terrell on an airfield that later became the present municipal airport.

Robert Terrell's son-in-law, W. B. Toon, established Toon College in 1897. In 1901 the name was changed into Terrell University School. TUS became North Texas University School in 1904, which in turn became Wesley College in 1909. In 1912 the school moved to Greenville.

From 1914 to 1949, Terrell was home to the Texas Military College. A branch campus of Trinity Valley Junior College was in Terrell in the 1980s.

The population of Terrell was 10,481 in 1941, reaching a peak in 1970 with 15,500.

Terrells population was 12,500 in 1990 and has increased to the present 16,021 (2010).

"Supper for 2000 Patients" - North Texas Hospital
1920s postcard courtesy rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/

Episcopal Church
1908 postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/

Presbyterian Church
1912 postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/

Artesia Hotel in Terrell
1916 postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/

People

Ned Green by Clay Coppedge

"Ned Green was one of the first and most colorful of Texas� 20th Century millionaires. Though he wasn�t born in Texas, and his wealth was an accident of birth as much as anything else, Texas has always been quick to claim E.H.R. �Ned� Green as its own. Green, for his part, usually managed to keep a leg in Texas, even when he was away...
Green came to Texas when he was 25 to take over the Texas Midland Railway, which his mother owned. The railroad was faring poorly but Ned Green promised to turn the �two streaks of rust� into �one of the best railroads in the Southwest.� He deposited $500,000 in a Terrell Bank, more than doubling the bank�s resources, and bought uniforms for the local baseball team and started a brass band.

In the meantime, Green commenced to enjoy himself with lavish parties and an interest in the opposite sex that attracted scornful local attention in his adopted hometown of Terrell. But even his detractors had to admit that Green was doing some good things for the local community. While vastly improving the status of the Texas Midland Railway, which boasted the state�s first electrically lighted coach, Green also invested in experimental crops and demonstration farms to help local farmers. He was an early supporter of research aimed at eliminating the boll weevil and owned the largest stamp collection in the world....." Read full article ›

Terrell Chronicles

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