Town of Penelope
Penelope, Hill County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded by International and Great Northern Railroad in 1902. Named for child of official. Settled by Anglos and Czechs from Zee Vee, older town (1/2 mile south) founded in 1893. New town prospered; incorporated, 1913. Good well water was found in 1959. Town improvement program began, 1968.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The International and Great Northern Railroad laid out Penelope in 1902, naming it for an official's child, and drew settlers — Anglos and Czechs alike — from the older nearby town of Zee Vee. The new depot town prospered and incorporated in 1913. Later improvements, including good well water found in 1959, kept the small community going into the modern era.
Why it matters
Penelope typifies the railroad-founded farm town of the Blackland Prairie, where a depot and immigrant labor, especially Texas's Czech settlers, built communities from open country.
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