HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

McFaddin Post Office

McFaddin, Victoria County, Texas

Marker Inscription

The McFaddin Ranch settlement was renamed Marianna in 1906 by the St. Louis, Brownsville, & Mexico Railroad. A post office, opened in the Marberry and Stubblefield General Store in 1907, moved to the McFaddin Mercantile in 1911, and to this building in 1913. At the request of A.M. McFaddin, the name was changed back to McFaddin in 1923. Mail was delivered and sent out on the train until 1962. The board-and-batten building features a gable front and shed-roof porch. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

The McFaddin ranch settlement was rechristened Marianna in 1906 by the railroad that reached it, and a post office opened the next year inside a general store, migrating between buildings before settling into this board-and-batten structure in 1913. At rancher A. M. McFaddin's request, the town reclaimed its original name in 1923. For decades the mail arrived and departed by train, a rhythm that continued until 1962.

Why it matters

This small post office records how railroads named and renamed the towns they touched, and how the train doubled as the lifeline of mail for rural Texas communities.

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Related people

  • · A. M. McFaddin

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

McFaddin Mercantile

McFaddin, TX

When a railroad line pushed through the McFaddin Ranch around 1900, a ranch settlement — briefly renamed Marianna by the railroad — sprang up with a depot, post office, church, and school. This board-and-batten mercantile, built in 1910, became the community's gathering place and for a time housed the post office. Its simple, sturdy design typifies the small-town general stores that anchored rural Texas commerce.

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