Cheapside, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cheapside, Texas
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 Cheapside, Texas
Location in Texas
Cheapside, Texas
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Gonzales |
| Elevation | 299 ft (91 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1354334 |
Cheapside is a ghost town located in Gonzales County, Texas, United States. It's about 21 miles (34 km) south of the city of Gonzales.
Once, Cheapside was a busy community and a center for growing cotton. Today, only a church and a few old buildings remain, slowly being taken over by nature.
Contents
Cheapside: A Texas Ghost Town
Early Days and Growth
The first person to settle in the Cheapside area was Thomas Baker, who built a log cabin there in 1857. The settlement was named after Cheapside Street in London, England. It might have gotten its name through a place called Cheapside, Virginia.
A post office, which is where mail is handled, opened in Cheapside in 1882.
Life in Cheapside
Cheapside's economy, or how people made money, was mostly based on farming. They grew a lot of cotton, and also raised chickens, other animals, and grain.
The town had many businesses and services:
- Three grocery and general stores
- A drugstore
- A factory that made brooms
- A blacksmith shop, where metal items were made
- A hotel
- A butcher shop
- A barbershop
- A confectionery, which sold sweets
- Several doctors
- Two social groups: a Masonic lodge and a Woodmen lodge
- A daily stagecoach, which was like an old-fashioned bus
- At least two saloons, which were places to drink and socialize
To keep order, there was a deputy sheriff, a type of police officer. Cheapside even had its own baseball team that played on weekends, and they held rodeo events between games!
In 1889, a special mill was built that could process cotton and grind grain. From about 1890 to 1913, there was also a private school in Cheapside. The Cheapside Community Church was built in 1897 and moved to its current spot in Cheapside in 1949.
The town got a small power plant in 1925, and by 1939, electricity from the county's main power lines reached Cheapside. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, a time when many people lost their jobs and money, Cheapside's population reached its highest point, with about 500 people living there.
Why Cheapside Declined
Several things caused Cheapside to shrink and become a ghost town:
- Falling Cotton Prices: During the Great Depression, the price of cotton, which was very important to Cheapside's economy, dropped a lot.
- Worn-Out Soil: The farmland around Cheapside had been used too much, and the soil lost its ability to grow good crops.
- Gin Closure: The cotton gin, where cotton was processed, closed in the 1940s. Much of the nearby farmland turned back into open pasture.
- World War II: During World War II, many people moved to cities to work in factories that supported the war. After the war, soldiers returning home often preferred to live in bigger cities rather than small communities.
- Changing Lifestyles: As people started buying more goods and wanting more modern things, small towns like Cheapside struggled to keep up.
In 1949, Cheapside's school had very few students, so it joined with the Cuero Independent School District. By 1960, the only business left in Cheapside was a small grocery store that also had the post office. This last business closed in 1989.
In 2012, a newspaper called the Victoria Advocate described Cheapside as having "a few buildings teetering on collapse" that were becoming harder to see because of the trees and weeds growing around them.
A Famous Traveler
One notable person from Cheapside was Keyes Fawcett Carson Jr. In 1936, when he was a student at Texas A&M University, Carson became very good at hitchhiking. He traveled an amazing 251,000 miles (404,000 km) in 6,680 different vehicles, and he even brought his pet turkey along for the ride!
