Benoit, Texas, Runnels County ghost town. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Originally called Norwood when it was started in 1886, it was renamed after a local settler when the post office was granted in 1906. The first store in the community opened in 1912. At its high-water mark (no population figures available) the town had the school, a blacksmith, a cotton gin and two stores. The population for 1940 is recorded as 100 but after WWII the community had evaporated.

Benoit Schoolhouse

• Photographer's Note:
  "All that is left are a few houses and the old school...pictured here. I couldn't really see inside due to the configuration of the rooms inside, but I suspect that it had two rooms. With the roof being in fairly good shape, and the windows being sealed up...the building should last for a very long time." - Stephen Taylor, December 27, 2005
• My father, Arnold B. Werner, was one of eight children raised on a small ranch near Benoit. They all attended grades one through eight in the Benoit schoolhouse.
  My father was born in 1913, and would have attended the school about 1919 through 1927. He said it was a two room school. One for grades one through four, and the other room was for grades five through eight. There was a fireplace in the middle wall which heated both rooms in the winter. He and his brothers and sisters rode a wagon pulled by horses or mules to the school. The boys would chop wood for the fireplace before school.
  The school was closed sometime in the 1930's or 40's, and served as a community center after that. I visited the schoolhouse with my nearby relatives a couple of times in the 1960's, and it was still in good condition. Mrs Robinson, a very nice lady, still lived in the house across the street. There were also several other vacant houses. - Clint Werner, February 01, 2017

Benoit, Texas Forum

• Subject: Salado and Benoit Circa 1910
  A web search for Benoit, Texas, led me to your excellent site. My father, Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Rampy was born and reared in Salado. He wrote a detailed account of those years (1898-1916) in a book titled "Choice and Chance." I have posted it (PDF), including many photos, on the web at: http://www.upamerica.org/family/trrbook.htm. I believe those of your readers who are familiar with Salado would find the first of the three sections to be a good account of how things were on a Central Texas farm a hundred years ago.
  The town of Benoit was featured in an incident recounted in my father's book (above). He relates a tale of travel from his home to that tiny village in Runnels County by train in 1910: A RAILROAD ADVENTURE
  Thanks for the great job you are doing to preserve our precious past. - Gordon Rampy, Warrenton, Virginia, August 11, 2007

Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact us.