Sylvester, Texas facts for kids
Sylvester is a small community in Fisher County, Texas, United States. It is an unincorporated community, which means it does not have its own local government like a city does. In 2020, about 52 people lived in Sylvester.
Where is Sylvester?
Sylvester is located in the middle-eastern part of Fisher County, Texas. You can find it where two roads, Farm Roads 57 and 1085, meet. It is about 10 miles southeast of Roby and 43 miles northwest of Abilene.
A Look at Sylvester's Past
Sylvester was started in 1903 by the Compere brothers from Abilene. They bought land because they expected a railroad to come through the area. They named the community after W.W. Sylvester, who was a manager for the Kansas, Mexico and Orient Railway.
The railroad tracks reached Sylvester in 1905, and soon after, more businesses opened. By 1909, about 600 people lived in the community. Sylvester officially became a town in 1927. In 1930, 382 people lived there, and this number grew to 405 by 1940.
However, over time, other nearby towns grew larger and more popular. This caused Sylvester to become smaller. By 1950, it was no longer an official town. In the 1980s, fewer than 100 people lived there. Even so, the community still had a grocery store called Sylvester Mercantile, a cotton gin, a gas station, and a place to store grain during harvest season.
Today, Sylvester still has a post office that serves the community with the zip code 79560. The only non-farming business in the area is the Sylvester McCaulley Water Supply.
Sylvester's School History
Sylvester once had its own school building, which taught both elementary and high school students. The first high school class graduated in 1914. The school closed in the summer of 1953. After that, students from Sylvester began attending schools in the Roby Consolidated Independent School District.
