Alma

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Settlement out this way in Ellis County goes back as far as 1848; folks putting down roots in the soil long before anybody had drawn much of a town around them. Then came 1871, and with it the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, layin' track right through Ellis County and changin' everything it touched.

Now, a railroad doesn't just bring steel and steam; it brings a reason to stay, a reason to build, a reason to name a place. And that's exactly what happened here. A man named C.C.

Hemming owned land in the path of that railroad, and instead of simply steppin' aside, he made a deal. He deeded part of his property for the right-of-way, and in return, the town that rose up along those tracks would carry a name close to his heart: Alma, his daughter's name. Think about that for a moment.

A father's gift to his daughter wasn't a locket or a parcel of land. It was a town. Soon enough, Alma filled in the way a good Texas town does; homes going up, businesses opening their doors, churches calling folks together on Sunday mornings, civic organizations knitting the community tighter.

For decades, Alma stood as the beating heart of the farming community surrounding it. That was the life of the place, steady and purposeful, all the way into the 1950s. And then came Interstate Highway 45, built straight through the middle of town.

Not around it. Through it. The road that was supposed to connect everything cut right through the center of what Alma had built.

Some stories end with a flood or a fire. This one ends with concrete. But the name (C.C.

Hemming's daughter's name) that's still right there on the marker.

What the marker says

Settlement of this area began as early as 1848. The town of Alma was established in 1871, when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad was built through Ellis County. C.C. Hemming deeded part of his property for the railroad right-of-way and a town to be named in honor of his daughter, Alma. Soon the town included numerous homes, businesses, churches, and civic organizations. It was the center of a farming community until the 1950s, when interstate highway 45 was built through the middle of town.