City of Aledo

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the City of Aledo, out in Parker County. Now, every town has a beginning, and Aledo's goes back further than the town itself, all the way back to 1849, when the U.S. Army built Fort Worth.

The purpose was a double-edged one: establish a line of defense against Indian raids, and at the same time protect Indian lands from settlement. Both things at once. By 1855, though, that balance was already slipping.

Farms, ranches, and small settlements had begun dotting eastern Parker County, and the frontier was pressing into hunting lands the Comanche and Kiowa tribes had inhabited for years. By 1856, enough people had moved in that Parker County itself was officially created. Still, the place that would become Aledo didn't exist yet.

Not quite. You needed one more ingredient, and in 1879 it arrived on iron rails. The Texas and Pacific Railroad laid its tracks through that stretch of Parker County, and right then and there, a community took shape.

They called it Parker Station at first, sensible enough. But in 1882, the name changed. Changed to Aledo.

Named after Aledo, Illinois, the hometown of a railroad official. That's the story behind the name, sitting right there in the marker. Roll into the beginning of the twentieth century, and Aledo had become the commercial center of east Parker County.

Business had grown up near the train station and along the north and south front streets. Two water-powered mills were running somewhere in the vicinity. Things were humming.

Then the Bankhead Highway came through in the 1920s, the transcontinental Bankhead Highway, and it bypassed downtown Aledo. That's the kind of thing that has killed more than a few small Texas towns. But Aledo didn't fold.

That highway route would eventually come to mark the northern boundary of the future city limits, so in a way, even the bypass left its fingerprints on the place. By 1960, something interesting was happening. Engineers and professionals from the bomber plant in Fort Worth were deciding they didn't want to live in the city.

They wanted something smaller, quieter, more like a real community. Aledo was growing because of them. And then came May 8, 1963.

On that date, Aledo was incorporated as a city, with 550 residents calling it home. The initial city government stood up that same year: Mayor Robert Daugherty, and commissioners Felix Reynolds and Joe Whitmire. And the marker makes sure to name two more men, Jack Holt and Dub Bearden, citizens who were principal promoters in getting Aledo recognized as a city in the first place.

The kind of people who push until the thing is done. The marker closes on Aledo's own words, its slogan: "Rich Heritage, Dynamic Future." For a town that started as a railroad stop with somebody else's name, that feels about right.

What the marker says

In 1849, the U. S. Army built Fort Worth to establish a line of defense against Indian raids and also to protect Indian lands from settlement. By 1855, farms, ranches and small settlements dotted eastern Parker County and the frontier encroached into hunting lands inhabited for years by Comanche and Kiowa tribes. By 1856, sufficient settlement had taken place and Parker County was created. When the Texas and Pacific Railroad laid tracks in 1879, the community of Aledo was established. At first, the community was known as Parker Station, but was changed in 1882 to Aledo, named after Aledo, Illinois, the hometown of a railroad official. By the beginning of the 20th century, Aledo was the commercial center of east Parker County with business development near the train station and along north and south front streets. There were two water-powered mills in operation near Aledo. The transcontinental Bankhead Highway bypassed downtown Aledo in the 1920s, but the route currently establishes the northern boundary of the future city limits of the City of Aledo. By 1960, Aledo was growing because engineers and professionals from the bomber plant in Fort Worth wanted to live in a small community. On May 8, 1963, Aledo was incorporated as a city with 550 residents. The initial city government in 1963 consisted of Mayor Robert Daugherty and commissioners Felix Reynolds and Joe Whitmire. Citizens Jack Holt and Dub Bearden were also principal promoters to have Aledo recognized as a city. Since then, Aledo has continued to grow and prosper as reflected in its slogan, “Rich Heritage, Dynamic Future.”