| Marker Text |
Near this crossroads was once the flourishing community of Fairview. The village began shortly after the Civil War, when Henry Hudson opened a store on the Old Oakville Road. A post office was established in the store in 1868. Fairview grew to include homes, churches, doctors' offices, a blacksmith shop, cotton gin, public school, Masonic Lodge, and telephone exchange. The area's economy was based on agriculture, and the main crop was cotton. The advent of the boll weevil and other pests which attacked the cotton crop played a large part in the eventual decline of the town following World War I. Fairview was the hometown of twenty-seven Texas peace officers, including twenty Texas Rangers. Among the Rangers was Frank Hamer (1884-1955), who is best remembered for his role in pursuing notorious Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Still remaining and in use in the area is the Fairview Cemetery, originally called the Rock Church Cemetery due to its position next to a Methodist church built in the 1870s. With grave markers dating from the 1860s, it is one of the few remaining physical reminders of the town. (1988) |
