Tilden (Texas)
| Tilden | |
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 McMullen County Courthouse |
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| Location of Tilden in Texas | |
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| Basic data | |
| State : | United States |
| State : | Texas |
| County : | McMullen County |
| Coordinates : | 28 ° 28 ′ N , 98 ° 33 ′ W |
| Time zone : | Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 ) |
| Residents : | 450 (status: 2000) |
| Height : | 76 m |
| FIPS : | 48- |
| GNIS ID : | 1348565 |
Tilden is a city in the US state of Texas and the seat of the county seat of McMullen County . It is located in the central north of the county, an hour's drive from San Antonio . In 2000 the city had around 600 inhabitants.
history
Tilden was one of the first two settlements in McMullen County when it was founded in 1858 at the confluence of Leoncita Creek and Frio River . The settlement, which was initially known as Rio Frio, consisted of eight to ten simple dwellings in which around 30 people lived in the autumn of the year it was founded. Shortly thereafter, the residents built a connecting road between their settlement and the old San Antonio-Laredo Road , which was to the west of the city. The town grew slowly in the early 1860s and it was not until 1862 that Levi J. Edwards built the town's first shop and opened the first pub shortly thereafter. The city's first school was built during this time. During this time the city also became known as the dog town of the USA . One explanation for this name is the widespread story in town that drunk cowboys left more than 15 killed dogs on the street after a wild street shootout. The other popular explanation is that many ranchers used the dogs for cattle chores. In 1870 the "dog city" had 190 citizens and in 1871 it was given a post office.
In 1871 a court was established in the city and the city name was officially changed to Colfax . The court lasted for five months, but was dissolved because residents of the district refused to use it. By 1876, all legal matters in Oakville were resolved. In 1873, a petition signed by 153 citizens of Colfax City called for the county to be reorganized, but this did not happen until 1877. As part of the reorganization, Colfax was renamed Tilden in memory of Democratic presidential candidate Samuel Tilden and declared a county seat .
In 1876 there were four shops, a grocery market, two bars, a drugstore and a hotel in the city. When the ferry service across the Rio Frio began in Tilden in 1879, the number of visitors continued to rise and many people who drove on San Antonio-Laredo Road made a stopover here.
After the first church was built in Tilden in 1878, the house of God was initially shared by the Methodists and the Baptists. Soon after, a Catholic church was also built and Tilden got McMullen College, the city's first university, where John Van Epps Covey taught for some time. Camper meetings were held in the city during the late 1880s and early 1890s. In 1884 there were 250 houses in the city, including the two churches, the college, a cabinet maker, two drug stores and a blacksmith. There was also a regional weekly newspaper, the Tilden Ledger .
In 1896 the population of Tilden had grown to 450 people and by the beginning of the next century it exceeded the 500 population limit. In 1897, surprisingly, McMullen College was officially dissolved. The population remained constant at 500 during the 1940s and there were ten shops in the city by 1947. As of 2000, the city has around 600 inhabitants today.
Web links
- Tilden in the Handbook of Texas , engl.