Cottondale
Paradise, Wise County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Area's oldest settlement. Platted by landowner B. F. Banks, who also gave lots for public use named, 1875, for lush growth of cotton planted by John Bridges, blacksmith, to finance a trip to Alabama to bring back his bride. Paradise took over town's post office, (1912); school (1933).
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Cottondale is remembered as one of the earliest settlements in Wise County, platted in 1875 by landowner B. F. Banks, who set aside lots for public use. Its name came from cotton planted by blacksmith John Bridges — famously to raise money for a trip to Alabama to bring home his bride. As the nearby town of Paradise grew, it absorbed Cottondale's post office and school.
Why it matters
The rise and eclipse of Cottondale traces the everyday pattern of North Texas frontier settlement, where small farming communities formed, competed, and consolidated.
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Related people
- · B. F. Banks
- · John Bridges
Themes & tags
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