Cheapside, Texas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cheapside, Texas | |
|---|---|
  Cheapside  Cheapside | |
| Coordinates: 29°16′42″N 97°24′11″W / 29.27833°N 97.40306°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Gonzales |
| Elevation | 299 ft (91 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1354334[1] |
Cheapside is a ghost town in Gonzales County, Texas, United States. It is located 21 mi (34 km) south of Gonzales.[1]
Once a thriving community and commercial center for cotton, only a church and the crumbling remnants of the former settlement remain.
The first settler was Thomas Baker, who built a log cabin in the area in 1857.[2]
The settlement was named after Cheapside Street in London, England,[3][4] perhaps via Cheapside, Virginia.[2]
A post office was established in 1882.[2]
Cheapside's economy was based on agriculture, particularly cotton, as well as poultry, livestock and grain. Cheapside had three grocery and general stores, a drugstore, a broom factory, a blacksmith shop, a hotel, a butcher shop, a barbershop, a confectionery, several doctors, a Masonic lodge and a Woodmen lodge, a daily stagecoach, and at least two saloons. To keep order there was a deputy sheriff.[2][4] Cheapside also had a baseball team that played on weekends, with rodeo events between games.[4]
In 1889, a combined cotton and gin gristmill was built, and from about 1890 to 1913 a private school was located in Cheapside.[2]
The Cheapside Community Church was built in 1897, and moved to its present location in Cheapside in 1949.[4]
A small power plant was installed in 1925, and 1939 the county's electrical grid was extended to Cheapside.[2]
Cheapside's population peaked at about 500 during the Great Depression of the 1930s.[4]
