Elysian Fields, Texas, Harrison County. (original) (raw)

	Golden Rule Presbyterian Church in Elysian Fields Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

History in a Pecan Shell

The name is said to have come from a suggestion over dinner in New Orleans. In 1817, Capt. Edward Smith, was describing the area (that he had just visited) to dinner guests and someone suggested the mythological name. (One of New Orleans' oldest boulevards is also named Elysian Fields.) The original Caddo Indians started moving out of the region when white settlers started moving in in the late 1830s. Smith brought his family here in 1837 and opened a store. A post office was applied for and was granted in the mid to late 1840s.

From a population of 60 in 1884, Elysian Fields had grown to 160 by the mid 1890s. The twin industies of cotton and lumber fueled the local economy and when the Marshall and East Texas Railroad came through in 1910, the community moved a mile to the west to be connected with the outside world. The population had grown to 500 by 1929 but declined with the onset of the Great Depression.

Cotton and timber gave way to oil and gas (in the 1950s) and today farming and cattle raising are the primary businesses.

A Sunday Drive

Carthage : Music from two country masters

(Excerpted from "THE EAST TEXAS SUNDAY DRIVE BOOK" by Bob Bowman)

"... At DeBerry, turn north on Farm Road 31, go through the settlement of Elysian Fields (which means "a heavenly place"), and continue until the highway intersects with Farm Road 2625. Follow it in a westerly direction until you arrive at the intersection with Texas 43. Turn south here and proceed through the town of Tatum..." more

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