Afton, Texas, Dickens County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

First known as Patton Springs (after a hunter who had camped at the springs) prior to the 1890s, a post office was granted under the name of Beckton (after the first postmaster). The post office soon closed and the community started using the name Cottonwood. When the time came to open a new post office, the name was already in use by another post office and so Patton Springs/Beckton/Cottonwood was in a quandary. Enter citizen and romantic Myra Kelly who suggested the name from the English song "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton." The new post office opened in 1900 when the town was populated by Myna Kelly and nine of her friends. The town was so poor that the grocer (Afton's sole business) operated out of a tent. Other businesses opened and by the time the 20s had arrived people were (perhaps facetiously) calling Afton "Little Fort Worth."

Afton kept an estimated population of 100 for the 1970 and 1990 censuses, but by 2000 there were only 15 people remaining.

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