Merit, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Merit, Texas
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United States Post Office in Merit
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 Merit, Texas
Location in Texas
Merit, Texas
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Hunt |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes |
75458
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| Area code(s) | 903, 430 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1341384 |
Merit is a small community in Hunt County, Texas, United States. It is not a city with its own government, but it is a place where people live and work. Merit is located about 15 miles northwest of a larger town called Greenville. The community has its own post office with the ZIP code 75458. Students in the area attend schools that are part of the Bland Independent School District.
Contents
The History of Merit
Early Beginnings
People started settling in the Merit area in the late 1860s or early 1870s. A doctor named Alexander Murchison [1] moved there from Georgia. He helped start a Methodist church in April 1871.
How Merit Got Its Name
In the 1870s, a judge named William Wallace Meritt [2] visited the community. He gave a speech that really impressed the people living there. Because they liked his speech so much, they decided to name their town "Merit" after him.
Growth and Development
Merit got its own post office in 1884. Two years later, train tracks from the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway reached the community. This was a big deal! It helped farmers ship their cotton, boosted local stores, and even led to a newspaper starting up.
By the early 1890s, Merit was an important place for farmers to send their goods by train. The town had a steam-powered machine for separating cotton, a mill for grinding grain, and about 20 other businesses. Around 300 people lived there at that time. Just before World War I, the community grew even more, with about 500 residents and more than 25 businesses, including two banks.
Challenges and Changes
In 1912, robbers used explosives to break into a bank vault and stole $4,500. Later, a big fire in 1921, the Great Depression (a time of economic hardship), and World War II caused the population to shrink.
However, in recent years, more people have moved to the area because of suburban growth. In 1945, Merit had about 300 residents and six businesses. A few years later, in 1948, the Merit and Floyd school districts joined together. They formed a new district called Bland, named after Fletcher B. Bland [3]. By the early 1950s, the number of people living in Merit dropped to 185. But in the 1970s, the population started to grow again. From 1988 to 2000, the town reported having 215 residents.
Climate in Merit
The weather in Merit is usually hot and humid during the summer months. Winters are generally mild to cool. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Merit has a humid subtropical climate. This type of climate is often shown as Cfa on climate maps.
Notable People from Merit
- Clint Lorance (born 1984), an Army officer.
