Bobo, Texas, a town in Shelby County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Bobo was a stop on the Houston, East and West Texas Railway. Bobo has no official date of birth, but sources say it was sometime around 1885. They were granted a post office in 1893 and it managed to stay open until 1898. In 1896 Bobo had a general store and a population of ten Boboans.

During the Great Depression Bobo had a church, a sawmill, and a store to supply the sawyers. The rural-urban exodus after World War II left Bobo with almost the same population as they had in the 1890s.

Today a few houses and a church remain along with two signs that announce that it was once a town.

George Washington Green historical marker
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, April 2011

Historical Marker: US 59/US 84, N side between CR 4657 and CR 4653, 4.4 mi. E of Timpson

George Washington Green

(December 22, 1858 - December 14, 1937)
Georgia native George Washington Green grew up in Tennessee and in 1878 set out for Texas. He married Tempie Ann Fowler in Logansport, Louisiana, that year, and they settled in this part of Texas. Green worked first as a sharecropper, growing cotton and corn, before purchasing his first parcel of land in 1883. Two years later, as the Houston East & West Texas Railroad began to build its line through Shelby County, G. W. Green purchased more land on both sides of the rail line and soon became a prominent landowner in the area, operating a general store and cotton gin.

The Bobo community, primarily a train stop, was established on Green's land and operated a post office from 1893 until 1898. The phrase "Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo and Blair," used by the railroad conductor to announce stops along the rail line, became very popular and was used as a cadence during World War I.

In 1905, George Washington Green made a lasting contribution to the area when he developed Green's Lake as a recreational spot and water source for the railroad. From 1905 through the 1940s, families came to picnic, swim and fish, and churches held baptismal services in the lake.

George and Tempie Green reared four children: Luther (1880-1956), R. H. "Cooter" (1889-1969), Inez (M. Drewery) (1895-1965) and Nubern (1900-1959). George died in 1937 and is buried in the Buena Vista Cemetery. His contributions to the development of the rail line and to the Bobo community remain a significant part of the history of Shelby County.

(2001)

Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair

by Archie P. McDonald, PhD

Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair are communities in Shelby County whose names were appropriated for a plea by crapshooters for good luck when seeking to roll double fives. Similarly, dice throwers hoping for an "eight" would sing out, "Eighter from Decatur, the County Seat of Wise." Later the alliteration in the sing-song phrase "Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo, and Blair" helped a folk song recorded by Tex Ritter popular.

How did the communities become involved with dice and popular music? ... more

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