Hasse Community
Comanche, Comanche County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Began as "Cordwood Junction," a siding on the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad. Flatcars loaded wood here to be shipped over a wide area. As demand for the fuel increased, the railroad built a station house at site. It was named in 1892 for O. H. Hasse, thought to have been the local railway agent, 1890s. Cotton and cattle brought more business to town. A cotton gin, stock pens, and lumber yard were built. With the advent of automobiles, migration to urban centers, and highways, however, Hasse began to dwindle. Today only a few buildings remain. (1970)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Central Texas community began as "Cordwood Junction," a humble siding on the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad where flatcars were loaded with firewood for shipment across the region. As the fuel trade grew the railroad built a station, and in 1892 the stop was renamed Hasse for a local railway agent. Cotton, cattle, a gin, and a lumber yard briefly made it a real town before automobiles, highways, and urban migration drained it away, leaving only a few buildings behind.
Why it matters
Hasse is a textbook example of how the railroad created and then abandoned hundreds of small American towns, whose fortunes rose and fell with the tracks that made them.
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Themes & tags
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