Eckert, TX, Gillespie County ghost town history, photos, vintage map. (original) (raw)

"My grandfather, Ira W. Lee and my daddy, Willis N. Lee opened the store in 1912. It was closed in 1969 after the death of Willis Lee.
The store building and property belongs to me. I was raised on the property." - Allie Kuhlmann
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, June 2009

History on a Pinhead

Once named Nebo, Texas after the local topogrphic feature called Mount Nebo, the town came into being when several families built around their Mount Zion church in the mid 1870s. When Wilhelm Rudolph Eckert applied for a post office, he modestly requested the name Eckert, Texas. His request was granted in 1903 and in just twenty-two years the population skyrocketed to 100. By 1933 it was down to a mere 15 people, but still the town held its ground. By the mid 1960s Eckert had a population of seven.

Photographer's Notes:
"The one pic I'm sending is of an old store that sits at the intersection. It still had a little feed advertising on the north side of it confirming it was a business. The other is of the Eckert Cemetery just north of the intersection. I didn't see the little building with horses. Maybe it was torn down." - William Beauchamp, June 2009

Horses in Oxford on Hwy 16 N of Eckert
TE photo, 2006

Eckert, Texas Forum

Subject: Eckert, Texas ghost town history
The white building is in Oxford, Texas, fifteen to twenty miles north on Hwy 16.

The rock front "closed store" —
I am well acquainted with the rock front "closed store" in the article. My grandfather, Ira W. Lee and my daddy, Willis N. Lee opened the store in 1912. It was closed in 1969 after the death of Willis Lee.

The store building and property belongs to me. I was raised on the property.

Also on the article of Willow City, Texas, cotton gin explosion on September 2, 1924. One of the men killed was my grandfather, Phillip Edgar Smith. Thank you. - Allie Kuhlmann, Universal City, TX, February 28, 2019

Subject: Ghost towns Eckert & Click, Texas
I just found your site and it is very cool. We have a saloon in what used to be Eckert, Texas.

There is another ghost town near us called Click. In the early part of the twentieth century it was the site of a dispute over cotton (?) and 4 people were shot in the general store. The old general store and post office are still there but abandoned.

If you are in the area please stop in and I will show you the [way] to Click. Thanks for the great site. - Robin Nichols, Willow City, Texas, November 13, 2006

Gillespie County 1907 postal map showing Eckert
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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