Texla, Texas, Orange County ghost town. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

In 1905 the community had a post office operating under the name of Bruce (after the surname of the postmaster Chas. G. Bruce).

It was around this time that the Harrell-Votaw Lumber Company built a sawmill here. The mill was sold the following year (1906) to the R. W. Wier Lumber Company. It was this company that requested the change of name to something more geographical (Texla is an amalgam of letters from Texas and Louisiana).

Several other mills had operations here between 1910 and 1929. The community peaked with about 600 people when the air was filled with sawdust. But the depletion of the forest seemed to come as a surprise and one by one the plants closed or moved operations.

Peavy-Moore sold the last of its buildings in 1929 just as the Great Depression was gaining momentum. The post office read the writing on the wall and closed its doors as well.

No population figures are available after that and today it�s a dispersed community.

Orange County 1907 Postal Map showing Texla
Near Orange / Jasper county line
NW of Orange the county seat
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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