Dixie, Grayson County, Texas

By Ryan Hough, Howe Middle School, Age 11

The Grayson County Historical Commission issued a historical essay contest recently that received 45 entries Howe was wellrepresented in the outcomes with three of the four winners being Howe Middle School students

The theme being, Forgotten Towns and Communities of Grayson County, Texas was done in an effort to create documentation and research on some of Grayson County’s lesser-known history

A town or community that is worthy of being considered lost or forgotten must be an establishment in which there is currently no post office or no active school serving only the community in question

The completed project included a detailed history of the community from its beginning to its end and also included the specific geographic location of the said establishment Furthermore, these histories centered on the community rather than the individuals who may have lived in the area. The mentioning of an individual should be stated only as a supporting factor to the community or establishments therein

The winners were Ryan Hough, who wrote about Dixie, Arturo Lowder, who wrote about Luella, Kirstyn Wheeler, who rote about Ambrose, and 90-year-old Neva Pinkston, who wrote about Munger

Each winner was presented essay certificated from Grayson County Judge Bill Magers and given $50 The received the recognition during last week's Commissioner's Court

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 use split logs for benches It also had a big fireplace in the building People had to pay for short term at the school Later, they created a new frame building on the other side of the road The community grew to support three teachers. They also had outstanding boys and girls basketball teams The favorite thing to do outside of school was town-ball They were really unmodern they had a running blacksmith in 1965!

The three churches were called Missionary Baptist and Primitive Baptist, but the third didn't last long It's about 10 miles north of Lake Texoma and it's along Highway 377 also near another ghost town called Dexter There is also a slave cemetery in an old pasture There are few things left of the community there is only the two cemeteries slave and normal, in the cemetery three of the graves still 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

Munger, Grayson County, Texas

By Neva Pinkston of Whitesboro, Texas

There are many forgotten communities everywhere, including in the area north of Whitesboro Some of these, in no particular order, are Pulloff, Cedar Mills, Red Branch, Rock Creek, Valley View, Delaware Bend, Mt Zion, and Liberty Some of these had a cemetery that is still used a little, but the community itself with a school and a store are now gone

A forgotten community that perhaps nobody remembers except me unless others living near 90, is Munger It was located on now named Sandusky Road, east of the present location of the Sandusky Store, or Fisherman's Headquarters, now located eight miles north of Whitesboro on Highway 377. I remember Munger from early childhood because my mother, Allie Rich, taught in the community's one-room school before I started to school, but which my two-years older brother, Joe Lynn Rich, started to school

At the school as a visitor, I sat quietly with a student in the then-used double desks and listened to the lessons being taught At recess or noon, I played outside with the students until a hand-held bell rung by the school principal called the students to form a line at the door for arching in when the teacher gave permission I now have mother's school bell on a wooden holder in my home antique room. By reading community histories in books, I now know that families named Munger settled in the area near that school, which gave the school its name However, the area cemetery still in use is called Mr Tabor, and there never was a store as far as I know So the Munger School and the families name Munger comprised the forgotten community

I have one picture of the Munger School group that I inherited from among keepsakes of my mother, the teacher She walked to Munger school at least part of the time from our family farm where we now live and where we reared our four sons about two miles to the northwest of the former school location

An event I actually remember about Munger School is walking with mother to visit at the school for a day at least a couple of times Visiting at school was a common practice in those days, though probably not allowed now On the walk to school, we had to cross a plank bridge over a small creek I carefully stepped on the planks and avoided the cracks between because I feared a fall into the creek! Also, one morning there was a tramp (a word probably not in use today) camped beneath the bridge and cooking his breakfast

Later, Munger School was consolidated with Pull Off School located to the west of the Sandusky Store, and Munger became a forgotten community

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