Birome
Birome, Hill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded 1910. One of five International and Great Northern Railway stations in southern Hill County. Important agricultural market. Named for Bickham and Jerome Cartwright, descendants of settler Matthew Cartwright, whose 1856 land patent included this townsite.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1910 as one of five International and Great Northern Railway stops in southern Hill County, Birome grew up as a shipping point for the surrounding farms. Its unusual name honors Bickham and Jerome Cartwright, descendants of the settler Matthew Cartwright, whose 1856 land patent had taken in the future townsite. The little community shows how the railroad, more than anything, decided where Texas towns would rise.
Why it matters
Birome captures the way early-twentieth-century rail lines conjured farm towns out of open country and tied rural Texas into national markets.
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Related people
- · Bickham Cartwright
- · Jerome Cartwright
- · Matthew Cartwright
Themes & tags
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