Bullard Water Well

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're standing at a spot in Bullard, Texas, that is older than the town itself, or just about. This is where the well was.

And in a dry country, a good well is everything. Let me take you back. It's 1883.

The Kansas and Gulf Short Line railroad is pushing tracks southward, extending the line from Tyler down to Lufkin. Railroads back then had a way of picking winners and losers, and when that line came through, it picked this spot. Two earlier communities, Etna and Hewsville, had been here first, trying to make a go of it.

They didn't survive the railroad's arrival, not as independent towns anyway. They got supplanted, as the marker puts it, by a new town. That new town was named Bullard, after postmaster John Henry Bullard.

Now a name on a post office means something. It means mail, commerce, community. But none of that matters a lick without water.

And that's where this well comes in. A reliable public water source, right here, helped Bullard grow and thrive. People came to draw water by pump, by windmill, or by the oldest method there is, a bucket lowered down to the water table.

Below this ground, the marker tells us, lie two aquifers doing the heavy lifting. The Carrizo-Wilcox, a major aquifer, and the Queen City, a minor one. Smith County sits on top of them both.

That water kept people alive. It watered their animals. And early in Bullard's history, it did one more thing that doesn't show up on any survey map.

It was a gathering place. Folks came here, waited their turn at the bucket, and talked. News traveled at well speed in those days.

So when you think about what built this town, think about the railroad that chose it, think about the postmaster whose name it carries, and think about this patch of ground right here. Water drew people together, and people made a town. That's the origin of Bullard, and it's all right here under your feet.

What the marker says

On this site, the historic town well of Bullard marks the origin of the community. In 1883, the Kansas and Gulf Short Line railroad extended tracks from Tyler to Lufkin, and the town of Bullard, named for postmaster John Henry Bullard, supplanted the earlier communities of Etna and Hewsville. A reliable public water source helped Bullard to grow and thrive. This and other wells in Smith County utilize the Carrizo-Wilcox major aquifer and the Queen City minor aquifer. Water can be drawn by pumps, windmills, or buckets lowered to the water table. This natural resource provided drinking water for people and animals and also served as a social gathering place early in Bullard's history.