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Lindale Railroad
Lindale
began in 1871 when Richard B. Hubbard Jr., later known as Governor Richard B.
Hubbard, persuaded his brother-in-law, Elijah Lindsey, born in Alabama and then 28 yrs old to open a mercantile store in what
we know today as Lindale. In 1873, the first post Office with John M. Davis
as postmaster opened as Lyndale. The Changing of the original name of the
town to Lindale was in 1874 with John Davis still postmaster. The
combination of Lindsey’s name and the word “dale” meaning valley formed the
name "Lindale". In the 1880 census, Lindsey was found living in Wood County.
The
Houston & Great Northern Railroad in 1873 came to town with tracks from Houston to Mineola. On September 30, 1873, the International & Great Northern railroad was
formed by the consolidation of the International Railroad Company and the
Houston and Great Northern Railroad, transferring its 253.1 miles of track to
the International & Great Northern railroad. Then Lindale flourished to
become one of the biggest stops on the railroad line.
In 1853,
Richard Bennett Hubbard Sr. moved from Georgia to near Lindale, now call
Hide-a-way with his wife Serena and their only child Richard Jr. then grown. Richard
B. Hubbard Jr. was a lawyer, confederate Army Col., US Attorney, a member of
the Texas State Senate, Lt. Governor, Governor and an ambassador to Japan
through out his public service career. By 1873 with his influence in real
estate and the railroad, he was instrumental in persuading the Houston &
Great Northern Railroad Company to build their lines through Lindale. Lindale
flourished with the railroad coming through the town. The land of the town
was part of Thomas A. Burbridge, M. J. Favlvel and John A. Gibson’s original
land tracts.
In 1890,
the population was 275 and in 1892, the population was up to 500. In 1905,
Lindale became incorporated as it continued to grow. Lindale was a center
for canning fruits and vegetables especially berries. Lindale was known as
the “the Great Strawberry Center” before it became
famous as the “Blackberry Capital of the World”.
In the
section around Lindale, in Smith County, acreage of
berries grew for canning. Most of these blackberries were Lawton and McDonald Varieties.
The commercial production in this section is approximately 150 railroad cars
of canned berries and the same amount of fresh fruit. The quality of the
canned product from this area was recognized as excellent. There were
carloads of Peaches that perished before they were shipped out.
The direct
railroad line went north to Mineola and
south through Tyler and Whitehouse to Troupe (Zavala), with the Thedford
Switch stop at south of town near Brickyard road. Then you could travel any
where on a railroad line. From Houston to Lindale was 232 miles. On March 1, 1956 the International-Great Northern was merged with the reorganized Missouri
Pacific Railroad Company and became a major part of their line. In
about 1969 Lindale no longer had a agent. Freight was still hauled in and
out of Lindale to Tyler until the early 1980’s. The line to Mineola was stopped
in the Late 1960’s. At this time north ½ of the depot was removed and other
½ became part of the Fleming Feed store owned by James Fleming. But by early
1980’s all the train tracks were removed.
Complied
and researched from Maps, Census, Post office records,
Lindale Reporter, Texas state archives,
Jimmy Fleming, Railroad records
By
Vivian Corriveau
Lindale Library Genealogist & Lindale
Area Genealogy and History Society
October 9, 2006
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