Naples, Texas, Morris County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Naples came into being with the arrival of the Texas and St. Louis Railroad in 1880. The small town of Wheatville had been bypassed by the railroad and moved the three miles south, providing the new town with its first residents.

But it wasn�t called Naples at first. It was called Belden. In 1882, the Wheatville post office was one of the businesses moved to the tracks, but because of feared confusion with Belton, Texas, the postal authorities named it Station Belden.

By the mid 1880s, Station Belden had a population of 350 with most essential businesses. In 1890, the population had increased to 750 and the town acquired a newspaper.

The name Naples was chosen from a list submitted by residents in 1895. The following year the population had reached 1,200. Naples incorporated in 1919.

The Great Depression hit Naples hard and in 1933 the population had fallen to 843. For the 1950 census, Naples increased to 1,346.

In the mid 1960s, nearly half of the population worked at Lone Star, Daingerfield, or the Red River Army Depot in neighboring Bowie County. The 1980 population of 1,908 had decreased to just 1,410 by the year 2,000.

See Historical Markers:
Naples
Naples Cemetery

The annual Naples Watermelon Festival
Last weekend of July
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, July 2010

Historical Marker - 3rd Street and Pine Ave.

Naples Cemetery

The earliest recorded burial on this site was that of Elizabeth A. Baker, who died on April 26, 1883. Pattie D. Baker, who died in October of that year, is one of several people reported to have been reinterred here from the local school grounds. In 1892, J. H. Mathews sold about an acre including this site to trustees of the Belden Public School for $12.50 for use as a cemetery. In 1895 when the town of Belden was renamed Naples, the Belden Cemetery was renamed accordingly. Among those interred here are a Texas state representative, as well as Amanda Sheppard, the mother and grandmother of two U. S. congressmen. Members of the Watts family were reinterred here from the Wheatville graveyard northeast of Naples. Now encompassing two acres, Naples Cemetery is a chronicle of Morris County.
(2000)

Historical Marker on US 67 and Walnut St.

Naples

When railroad by-passed prosperous town of Wheatville (3 mi. N), this rival town emerged at railroad. Post office moved here Jan. 1882, and was called Station Belden. Name was changed to Naples by U. S. Post Office Department, Feb. 1895. With depletion of hardwood forests, economy returned to cattle and agriculture.
1968

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