Old Dime Box, Texas, Lee County's second oldest community. (original) (raw)

Old Dime Box sign
Photo courtesy Stephen Danesi, 2005

History in a Pecan Shell

The settlement had originally been called Brown's Mill and then Dime Box. In 1913 with the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad (three miles SE of present-day Old Dime Box), residents and businesses moved to be alongside the tracks. The desire of the railroad village to retain the name resulted in the creation of a "New Dime Box" and �Old Dime Box."

The Old Dime Box Cemetery is also known as the Hannes Cemetery. The community had a historical marker erected in 1968 in recognition of it being the second-oldest in Lee County.

The 1990 and 2000 census reported the population at 200.

Historical marker:

Old Dime Box

County's second oldest community. Located in Texas founder Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colony. First known as Brown's Mills. Present name derived from practice of leaving dimes in box at Joseph S. Browne's Mill so that postman John W. Ratliff would bring items from Giddings to community members.
1968

Lee County 1907 postal map showing Dime Box before the arrival of the railroad
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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