Chriesman ( ) is an
unincorporated community in
Burleson County, Texas, United States. The population was 30 in 2000. It is located within the
Bryan-College Station metropolitan area.
History
The community was named in honor of
Horatio Chriesman (1797–1878), a surveyor and early settler from
Virginia who moved to Texas as a member of the
Old Three Hundred.
["CHRIESMAN, HORATIO," Handbook of Texas Online (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fch35), accessed June 15, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.] Alexander Thomson, Jr., brought the first settlers to this area in the 1830s. They named it Yellow Prairie for the tall, yellow grass in the prairie. It became a stop on the
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway after a track was built through in 1880 and went by the name Yellow Prairie until the early 20th century. A post office was established here in 1880 and was named Yellow Prairie in 1884. The next year, it was renamed Chriesman. The community had 100 residents, a
gristmill, a
cotton gin
A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...
, and churches for the
Methodist and
Presbyterian congregations.
Chriesman had its own school in 1890,
and a
cucumber
Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables. salting station was built by the
San Antonio-based Price-Booker Manufacturing Company in 1904. Ten years later, Chriesman had telephone service, a bank, four general stores, a cotton gin, and 175 residents.
The population grew to 200 in 1925, lost half of it in 1930, and was reduced by half again in 1950. There were eight businesses in Chriesman when the cucumber plant closed in 1930. The population stopped at 30 from 1972 through 2000. There were two churches, several scattered houses, and a cemetery in 1988.
Geography
Chriesman is located just west of
Texas State Highway 36 on the
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
, northwest of
Caldwell
Caldwell may refer to:
People
* Caldwell (surname)
* Caldwell (given name)
* Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada
Places
Great Britain
* Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet
* Caldwell, East ...
in northwestern Burleson County.
Education
The community is served by the
Caldwell Independent School District
Caldwell Independent School District is a public school district based in Caldwell, Texas (US).
The district serves northern and western portions of Burleson County.
In 2009 the school district was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas E ...
.
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Burleson County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
Bryan–College Station