Dacus, Texas, Montgomery County. (original) (raw)

Dacus' Center of Activity
Photo courtesy Ken Rudine, October 2007

History in a Pecan Shell

French explorer Ren� Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (whose statue and marble bust stand in nearby Navasota (Grimes County) reportedly camped in the area as early as 1687. La Salle reported a cluster of Indian huts on the site that would eventually be named for settler J. B. Dacus. In the early 1820s, settler Francis A. B. Wheeler homesteaded here. Wheeler was lonely and in order to have neighbors to talk to he offered plots of land to newly-arrived families.

Dacus was granted a post office in 1889 although the mail was only received semi-weekly. Things were quiet in Dacus but around 1907 the railroad arrived. In this case it was the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad. In the mid-teens Dacus had a respectable population of 100 with two stores and a blacksmith.

There was little to report from the 20s through the 40s, but after WWII the railroad became part of the Burlington Northern and Rock Island. Dacus was already in decline by that time - with just the depot, a church, and a few houses. Another change of ownership occurred in 1962 the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific absorbed the railroad. It has since become the Burlington Northern - Santa Fe (BNSF). (See also Texas Railroads.)

The population was reported as 161 in the early 1970s - a figure that the census felt comfortable with since they've been using it to the present).

Dacus has kept its store, church and the town's two highway nameplates are both mounted on the same pole.

Dacus, Texas Today

Memorial Cross in Dacus
TE photo, May 2006

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