Fulbright, Texas, Red River County. (original) (raw)

Fulbright Community Center
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, August 2010

History in a Pecan Shell

First known by the bucolic name of Possum Trot, the town's first structure was a store built in the 1870s. Settlement had been decades earlier. A cotton gin was next.

Possum Trot didn't sound dignified enough when a post office application was filed, so the name was changed in 1882 to honor local judge David Fulbright.

In the mid 1880s the town had a mere 25 people although there were three churches.

The 1890 population rose to 200 and by 1914 it had 500 residents. Progress shone on the forward-moving town as evidenced by its own bank. The Great Depression hit the town like an earthquake, cutting the population by half and closing the bank. From a population of 500 it fell to less than 250 in 1931, regained part of that by 1933 (300) and remained there for decades. In the early 1970s it had been reduced to 200 and the estimate of the 2000 census reported 150.

Photographer's Note:
"Fulbright is a very nice little village very easy to get to and with the old bank building there seems to have a good history. There are now two churches, quite a number of residences and what looks like an old cotton gin with a satellite dish." - Gerald Massey

Fulbright bank building
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, August 2010

Fulbright Church of Christ
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, August 2010

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