Cuthbert, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cuthbert, Texas
|
|
|---|---|
Cuthbert Cemetery
|
|
 Cuthbert, Texas
Location in Texas
|
|
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Texas |
| County | Mitchell |
| Region | Llano Estacado |
| Established | 1890 |
| Founded by | D. T. Bozeman |
| Elevation | 2,251 ft (686 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| Website | Cuthbert, TX from the Handbook of Texas Online |
Cuthbert was a small town in Mitchell County, Texas, that doesn't exist anymore. It's known as a ghost town. This means it was once a lively community but is now mostly empty. Cuthbert started in 1890 and grew for a while, but eventually, people moved away, and it slowly disappeared. Today, only a cemetery remains to show where Cuthbert once stood.
Contents
What Was Cuthbert?
Cuthbert was a small settlement located in Mitchell County, Texas. It was founded in the late 1800s and was once a busy place for people living in the area. Like many small towns, it provided important services to local farmers and families.
How Cuthbert Began
Cuthbert was established in 1890 by a person named D. T. Bozeman. He started the town by building a wagon yard and a store. These were important places where travelers could rest and buy supplies. The community and its post office were named after Thomas Cuthbertson, who was a friend of the Bozeman family.
Growing Up in Cuthbert
By the early 1920s, Cuthbert had become a small but active community. It had several important buildings and services for its residents. These included:
- A church, where people could gather for worship.
- Two stores, offering goods and supplies.
- A blacksmith shop, for repairing tools and making metal items.
- A cotton gin, which was used to separate cotton fibers from their seeds.
- A telephone office, connecting people to others far away.
- A school, where children could get an education.
The Oil Boom and Changes
In 1920, something big happened near Cuthbert. The T. and P. Abrams No. 1 oil well was drilled just over a mile north of the town. This was one of the first successful oil wells in the Permian Basin, a huge area known for its oil. This discovery brought some excitement and activity to the region.
Why Cuthbert Disappeared
Even with the oil discovery, Cuthbert began to decline over time. In 1936, the town still had a post office, two businesses, and about twenty-five people. However, its school was combined with the school in a larger town called Colorado City.
After World War II, roads in the countryside got much better. This made it easier for people to travel to bigger towns like Colorado City to do their shopping and business. Because of this, Cuthbert started to lose its customers and importance.
By around 1960, the Cuthbert post office closed down. At that time, the town only had one business left and still about twenty-five people. By 1974, most people had moved away. All that remained in the area were a cemetery and a few scattered farms. Cuthbert had become a true ghost town.
