howeenterprise.com
Monday, August 1, 2016
Howe students earn honors in Grayson County Historical Society essay contest
Page #5
Dixie, Grayson County, Texas By Ryan Hough, Howe Middle School, Age 11
Dixie was founded soon after the Civil War. Thee was really no reason, they just founded the town really just to have a a place to live. It used to be called Theodore until 1886 when it was changed to Dixie. It had a post office in 1886-1902. The town was still doing well, in 1908, they had established three churches, a gin, school, grist mill, and a store. It was in the Whitesboro school district in the 1940s, when the school closed down. The first school was a one room log building. They also had to L-R: Kirstyn Wheeler, Judge Bill Magers, Neva Pinkston, County Commissioner Jeff Whitmire (background), Arturo Lowder, Ryan use split logs for benches. It also had a big fireplace in the building. Hough, and Grayson County Historical Commission Chairman, People had to pay for short term at Teddie Ann Salmon. Courtesy photo the school. Later, they created a new frame building on the other The Grayson County Historical also included the specific geographic side of the road. The community Commission issued a historical location of the said establishment. grew to support three teachers. essay contest recently that received Furthermore, these 45 entries. Howe was wellhistories centered on the community They also had outstanding boys and represented in the outcomes with rather than the individuals who may girls basketball teams. The favorite thing to do outside of school was three of the four winners being have lived in the area. The town-ball. They were really Howe Middle School students. mentioning of an individual should be stated only as a supporting factor unmodern they had a running The theme being, Forgotten Towns to the community or establishments blacksmith in 1965! and Communities of Grayson therein. County, Texas was done in an The three churches were called effort to create documentation and The winners were Ryan Hough, who Missionary Baptist and Primitive research on some of Grayson wrote about Dixie, Arturo Lowder, Baptist, but the third didn't last County’s lesser-known history. who wrote about Luella, Kirstyn long. It's about 10 miles north of A town or community that is Wheeler, who rote about Ambrose, Lake Texoma and it's along worthy of being considered lost or and 90-year-old Neva Pinkston, who Highway 377 also near another forgotten must be an establishment wrote about Munger. ghost town called Dexter. There is in which there is currently no post also a slave cemetery in an old office or no active school serving Each winner was presented essay pasture. There are few things left of only the community in question. certificated from Grayson County the community there is only the two The completed project included a Judge Bill Magers and given $50. detailed history of the community The received the recognition during cemeteries slave and normal, in the cemetery three of the graves still from its beginning to its end and last week's Commissioner's Court.
Ryan Hough with Grayson County Historical Chairman Teddy Ann Salmon. have the third Confederate flag on the graves of the Confederate veterans. There is also the remains of the Primitive and the Missionary Baptist churches. I drove through Dixie and notice that one of the churches is still running and that great grandfather used to preach at one of the churches. I also notice there is a ranch on Highway 377 and that there is a barbeque place off of Dixie Road. I also notice many modern houses and that one of them had a good sized pond and many people drive through it and I've probably driven through it many times in my life but never noticed the amazing amount of history about the town. The town had a reported population of 50 in 1933, 25 in 1936 through 1990, and a insanely low population of 17 in 2000. I was amazed that a town could have this large of a history and that it was so close to where I live and that I didn't know about it.
