Turnersville, Texas. (original) (raw)

Turnersville Community Church, now closed
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, March 2005

History in a Pecan Shell

Turnersville, aka Buchanan Springs was on the Chisholm Trail. In the 1860s, the appropriately named "Lone Tree" provided a landmark for trail drivers taking their herds to Kansas. The tree was fed by a spring and it was at this water source blacksmith Cal Turner set up shop.

A Presbyterian church also served as a school in the late 1860s. The post office opened in 1875 and was named for the blacksmith. Turnersville had a population of 300 by 1885 - the year the Masons built a lodge. Turnersville prospered as a cotton town from 1895 to around 1916.

The town had 162 residents by 1916 but a slow and steady decline set in and by 1968 the school closed. The post office closed its doors in 1987. In 1989 the town had a population of 155.

The Turnersville cemetery association sponsors an annual homecoming on the last Sunday in May.

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