Site of Draco
Paradise, Wise County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Settled in the early 1880s, the rural community of Draco was originally called Tylewater. The name was changed when a U.S. Post Office was granted in 1883, with W. J. Mann as first postmaster. The community soon boasted two churches, a school, general store, blacksmith shop, public well, gin, and horse racing track. After the post office was discontinued in 1889, the community began to decline. The school remained open until 1933, when it was consolidated with the Paradise school system. The last remaining building in Draco was moved in 1937.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
First called Tylewater, this Wise County settlement gained the name Draco when it won a post office in 1883 under postmaster W. J. Mann. For a brief while it bustled with two churches, a school, a general store, a blacksmith, a cotton gin, and even a horse-racing track. But when the post office closed in 1889 the community began to wither; the school held on until 1933, and the last building was hauled away in 1937.
Why it matters
Draco is a textbook Texas ghost town, showing how tightly the fate of a rural community was bound to its post office and its school.
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Related people
- · W. J. Mann
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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