Cundiff, Texas
Encyclopedia
Cundiff, Texas is a town ten miles northeast of Jacksboro
in northeastern Jack County, Texas
. It is named for Harrell Cundiff was one of the first settlers of Jack County.
established Earhart's Station, on the west bank of Big Creek, at Hogeye, or Hog Eye Prairie a prosperous ranch there managed by Joseph B. Earhart. A school and a church were located nearby and before 1860 a sizable settlement. The station operated until 1860, when the mail route was diverted to another route to Jacksboro
via Decatur
due to the building of a new toll bridge at Bridgeport
, that avoided delays crossing the West Fork of the Trinity River
when it was flooded. In the 1860's Comanche
raids forced many settlers to abandon their homesteads in the area until the removal of the Indian threat in the mid-1870's, when settlers began returning to the Cundiff area.
No permanent community was established until the early 1890s, when in 1891 Walker Moore subdivided a tract of land into small farms and laid out a townsite, which he named Cundiff. The town had a post office from 1891 to 1918. By the early 1900s it also had a cotton gin, a blacksmith shop, four stores, and a school. In 2000 the population of the town was forty-five.
Jacksboro, Texas
Jacksboro is a city in Jack County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,533 at the 2000 census. Jacksboro is located at the junction of U.S...
in northeastern Jack County, Texas
Jack County, Texas
*Bryson*Jacksboro*Jermyn *Joplin *Perrin *Gibtown-See also:*National Register of Historic Places listings in Jack County, Texas-External links:*...
. It is named for Harrell Cundiff was one of the first settlers of Jack County.
History
Settlement in the region began in 1855. In 1858, the Butterfield Overland MailButterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
established Earhart's Station, on the west bank of Big Creek, at Hogeye, or Hog Eye Prairie a prosperous ranch there managed by Joseph B. Earhart. A school and a church were located nearby and before 1860 a sizable settlement. The station operated until 1860, when the mail route was diverted to another route to Jacksboro
Jacksboro, Texas
Jacksboro is a city in Jack County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,533 at the 2000 census. Jacksboro is located at the junction of U.S...
via Decatur
Decatur, Texas
Decatur is a city located in Wise County, Texas, United States. This city was named after Stephen Decatur, Jr. The population was 5,201 at the 2000 census. A July 1, 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 6,432. It is the county seat of Wise County...
due to the building of a new toll bridge at Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Texas
Bridgeport is a city in Wise County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,309 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Bridgeport has a total area of 3.7 square miles , of which, 3.7 square miles of it is land and 0.04 square miles of it is...
, that avoided delays crossing the West Fork of the Trinity River
Trinity River (Texas)
The Trinity River is a long river that flows entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It rises in extreme north Texas, a few miles south of the Red River. The headwaters are separated by the high bluffs on the south side of the Red River....
when it was flooded. In the 1860's Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
raids forced many settlers to abandon their homesteads in the area until the removal of the Indian threat in the mid-1870's, when settlers began returning to the Cundiff area.
No permanent community was established until the early 1890s, when in 1891 Walker Moore subdivided a tract of land into small farms and laid out a townsite, which he named Cundiff. The town had a post office from 1891 to 1918. By the early 1900s it also had a cotton gin, a blacksmith shop, four stores, and a school. In 2000 the population of the town was forty-five.