Pearl, Texas � The Sound of Music. (original) (raw)

The home-style food, served out of the old school cafeteria, is as good as it gets and reasonably priced. Ladies in the community make brown beans, cornbread, black-eyed peas, sandwiches, hamburgers, soup, stew, chili, bar-be-que, and the best pies in Central Texas. The kitchen closes at 6 � or earlier if it sells out.The Bluegrass Jamboree has put Pearl on the map, but the town dates back to Civil War days. It was originally known as Swayback, after Swayback Mountain, but when Swayback applied for a post office in 1884, the federal government made a clerical error � a common occurrence in those days � and named the post office Wayback. That name never sat well so in March 1889 citizens renamed their post office and their community Pearl after Pearl Davenport, the son of the local store operator.

Pearl was once a bustling community. At the turn of the twentieth century there were three doctors in Pearl. Competition for patients was fierce. Fees for bone settings were negotiable. Babies were delivered for $2.50. In 1908 the �Price System� telephone came to Pearl. Customers had to buy their own telephone boxes, wire, and posts, then string and maintain their own line. Cost for the service was 40 cents a month. As late as the 1920s all the churches in Pearl - Methodist, Baptist, Church of Christ, and Church of the Nazarene- held ten-day revival meetings every July and August. Families came by wagon and horseback from Evant, Beehouse, Purmela, Levita, Izoro, Ireland, and Adamsville. They brought bedding and food and camped out under the stars. A camp meeting was the social event of the year.

Then after World War II, Pearl was caught in an unfavorable economic cycle. Creeping inflation drove up the cost of necessary goods and services while the prices farmers and ranchers received for their products remained stagnant or slipped slowly downward. Large operators could hang on, especially if they were debt free, but a little guy with a mortgage had a hard time making ends meet.

The exodus began in the 1950s when many farmers and ranchers sold their places for what they could get, left Pearl, and moved to town. They left for factory jobs with steady paychecks, company benefits, and 40-hour work weeks. Young people found good jobs in the city. The population of Pearl declined. The school consolidated with Evant in 1958. The post office shut its doors. The last business closed in the 1960s. Pearl, Texas almost died of neglect.

But there is a revival in Pearl � thanks to hard working volunteers and a unique form of American music. Pearl may be miles off the beaten path, but you and your GPS can find it on FM 183 twenty miles west of Gatesville.

If you lose your way, don�t be discouraged. Just follow the sound of music.

�

Michael Barr
"Hindsights" November 3, 2015 Column

Sources:

Interview with Ronald Medart, Pearl, Texas
Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association, Austin Texas
Unbroken: The Pearl Bluegrass Circle, a film by Mystic Films, LLC, produced and directed by Winston Hall