Cashion, Texas, a city in Wichita County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

The town dates to 1897 when a man named Hi Willis bought land here. In 1902 there were enough children in the area (12 to be exact) to require a school - which was named after Wichita County commissioner T. J. Cashion.

In 1913 a Baptist church was organized and a new building was dedicated in 1918 - the year that oil was discovered. Cashion became something of a boom town. Wells were drilled everywhere - including the church yard.

The elevated status of the town drew other regional schools into Cashion's academic orbit and a new school was built to accommodate the influx. The 1930-31 school year had 286 students.

But production in the oil field declined - and workers sought work elsewhere - taking their children out of school. The high school closed in 1936 and students transferred to Burkburnett. After WWII, the school was auctioned off. The population dropped to the point where the census enumerators passed Cashion by.

But by 2000, Cashion had 550 people residing there and the old school was remembered on a Texas Historical Commission marker.

Historical Marker (Tica Rd at Hwy 240, 6 miles N of Wichita Falls):

Cashion School

In 1902 Wichita County built a one-room schoolhouse here on land donated by H. F. Knippenberg. The school, named for County Commissioner T. J. Cashion, opened with one teacher, Mrs. Lou (White) Dodson, and 12 students. The original school building was destroyed by fire in 1915 and replaced with a new structure in 1916. Cashion's student enrollment increased significantly as a result of large numbers of people moving to this area following the discovery of oil in nearby Burkburnett in 1918. The school was expanded in 1923 and in 1924 E. F. Gaston donated 3 adjoining acres to the school. A brick high school and gymnasium were built in front of the existing schoolhouse in 1926. The nearby Cooper and Bacon Switch schools merged with Cashion School in 1926-27 and in the 1930-31 school year Cashion reached its highest recorded student enrollment of 286. During this time Cashion School buildings also served the community as a site for social, recreational and political activities. By the mid-1930s nearby oil production dropped dramatically and the community as well as Cashion School declined. The high school closed in 1936 and the elementary school in 1943. The school buildings were auctioned in 1945 and moved off this site.
(1993)

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