Hot, Texas. (original) (raw)

History on a Pinhead

The community was large enough to warrant post office which was in operation from 1897 until 1908 (as shown on the postal map below).

Although population figures are unavailable, it maintained a church (St. James Basptist) and school, which shared the same roof. 1938 saw the consolidation of the school with other regional schools and the community, without a single anchor business, soon declined to the point of non-existence.

The name wasn�t exactly a draw for residents, but there�s no proof to the rumor that former residents of Hot moved to Parker County�s Cool, Texas.

Hot, Texas Forum

Subject: Naming of Hot, Texas
I was reading the article on Hot, Texas today and thought I would share a bit of family lore with you. The original post master for Hot was Thomas J. (Jefferson) Killen who is my 2nd great grandfather. A few years ago at a family reunion in the McClelland community near the site of Hot a family legend concerning it's name was shared with me by a distant cousin. It seems as though the application for a post office required a 1st and 2nd choice for the name of the post office. Tom Killen listed the first choice as Killen, Texas never thinking it wouldn't be granted and as a spoof he listed the second choice as Hot since it was a particularly hot season that year. Apparently the U.S. Post Office deemed Killen too close to Killeen which had already been granted a post office and granted the new post office in Shelby County the name of Hot. I'm not really sure how true or accurate this is but it certainly makes a good story. - Tom Tinsley, January 15, 2016

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