Belcherville is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Montague County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had a population of 34 in 2000.

History

The town was originally known as Belcher, after local ranchers and landowners John and Alex Belcher, but by 1858 it had changed its name to Belcherville. The village, however, existed only as the Belcher Ranch's administrative center until 1887, when the Belchers bought of land and laid up a townsite in anticipation of the

Gainesville, Henrietta and Western Railway The Gainesville, Henrietta and Western Railway Company (GH&W) was chartered on July 23, 1886, to build a rail line from Gainesville in Cooke County, Texas, to Seymour in Baylor County, Texas, a distance of . The line was to cross Montague, Clay ...

's extension through the area. That year saw the opening of a post office. Belcherville's expansion as a regional cattle and cotton shipping hub was aided by the train link and the nearby Red River Station's almost total destruction by a storm in 1890. More than twenty firms were operating there by the time it was founded in 1893. Belcherville had thirty companies and 305 persons by 1900. The municipality suffered over the twentieth century, and in 1908, locals decided to vote to rescind the charter of incorporation. Following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, two fires significantly damaged the local business district, and it appears that many businesses relocated to Nocona. Belcherville had 192 residents in the middle of the 1920s and 85 in the middle of the 1930s when five enterprises were running there. After 1930, the post office eventually shut down. The population of Belcherville then fluctuated, reaching ninety-four by the middle of the 1940s, dropping to thirty-one by the middle of the 1950s, and rising to ninety by the late 1960s, when there were no recorded enterprises. Since it was reportedly the smallest incorporated town in the United States in 1958, the municipality may have reincorporated in the first half of the 20th century. In the period between the 1960s and 2000, Belcherville's population was 34. On February 10, 2009, an EF0 tornado struck Belcherville. It destroyed several outbuildings and two sheds, blew down a back door, and damaged the roof of one home. Two trees were uprooted and a water tank was flipped. Damages from the tornado were estimated at $20,000. Another EF0 tornado struck the town on May 15, 2013, causing damage to a ranch.

Geography

Belcherville is located at the intersection of

U.S. Route 82 U.S. Route 82 (US 82) is an east–west United States highway in the Southern United States. Created on July 1, 1931 across central Mississippi and southern Arkansas, US 82 eventually became a route extending from the White Sands of New ...

and Farm to Market Road 1816, northwest of Montague and west of Nocona in northwestern Montague County.

Education

Belcherville had two schools in 1900. Today, Belcherville is served by the

Nocona Independent School District Nocona Independent School District is a public school district based in Nocona, Texas ( USA). Nocona ISD provides more than the standard K-12 curriculum. NISD offers extended opportunities for students ranging from Head Start for very young c ...

Notable people

Buron Fitts Buron Rogers Fitts (March 22, 1895 – March 29, 1973) was an American lawyer and politician from Los Angeles who served as the 29th lieutenant governor of California, from 1927 to 1928, and as Los Angeles County District Attorney thereafter until ...

29th 29 (twenty-nine) is the natural number following 28 and preceding 30. It is a prime number. 29 is the number of days February has on a leap year. Mathematics 29 is the tenth prime number. Integer properties 29 is the fifth primorial prime, ...

lieutenant governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest Executive (government), executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-yea ...

. * Foy E. Wallace, influential figure of the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

.Application for Social Security and Tax Account Number dated February 17, 1965 and signed by Foy E. Wallace, Jr.

References

{{authority control Cities in Texas Cities in Montague County, Texas Ghost towns in North Texas