City of Blooming Grove

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it right along to you. You know, some towns come into the world with their name already waiting for them, and Blooming Grove, down in Navarro County, is one of those stories that takes a little winding before it arrives somewhere worth arriving. So settle in.

It starts, as a lot of good Texas stories do, with a general store and two brothers. Back in the 1860s, a small village took shape in this part of the county, and it carried the name Gradyville, named for R. J. and W.

D. Grady, who ran that general store right at the heart of things. For years, that was the whole story.

A village, a store, two brothers keeping the shelves stocked. Then 1871 rolls around, and the area gets itself a postal station. The name chosen for that post office was Blooming Grove.

And where did they set it up? Right there in the Grady brothers' store, with a man named W. H.

Glass stepping in as postmaster. So now you've got a village called Gradyville hosting a post office called Blooming Grove, and those two identities are going to coexist for a while. But here comes the force that rewrote more Texas geography than just about anything else.

The railroad. In 1888, a branch of the Cotton Belt Railroad opened through this area, and you know what a rail line does to a village. It pulls it.

Like a magnet. The people of Gradyville packed up and moved themselves one mile northeast, right toward that rail line, and when they got there, they came as Blooming Grove. The old name stayed behind with the old ground.

The new name went where the future was. By 1890, the residents voted for incorporation, which means they were serious about this place. They elected T.

J. Scarborough as their first mayor, and T. H.

Butcher took the job of first city marshal. Also in 1890, the Blooming Grove Times was founded, because a real town needs somebody writing things down. Now, Blooming Grove never pretended to be anything other than what it was: a rural community, built on cotton production and cattle raising, and it has leaned on both for its economic backbone all through its history.

But what kept the community itself together, what gave it what the marker calls strength and continuity, were its institutions. Churches from the Gradyville days made the move and kept going: Blooming Grove Methodist, Olive Grove Baptist, Blooming Grove Christian, and First Baptist. Public schools had already been running since 1869.

And the Blooming Grove Masonic lodge was chartered in 1888, the same year the railroad came through. One mile northeast, a new name, a new town, but the same people carrying everything that mattered right along with them. That's Blooming Grove.

What the marker says

The history of Blooming Grove can be traced to the small village of Gradyville, established in the 1860s and named for two brothers, R. J. and W. D. Grady, who operated the general store. When the area was granted a postal station in 1871, the name Blooming Grove was chosen. Grady's store served as the location for the post office, with W. H. Glass as postmaster. When a branch of the Cotton Belt Railroad opened in this area in 1888, the village of Gradyville shifted one mile northeast toward the rail line and became known as Blooming Grove. Its residents voted for incorporation in 1890, and T. J. Scarborough was elected first mayor, with T. H. Butcher as first city marshal. Always a rural community, Blooming Grove has depended heavily on its cotton production and cattle raising for its economic base. Several institutions have provided the city with strength and continuity throughout its history. Churches founded in the Gradyville area that were maintained in this townsite include Blooming Grove Methodist, Olive Grove Baptist, Blooming Grove Christian, and First Baptist. Public schools began in 1869, and the Blooming Grove Masonic lodge was chartered in 1888. The newspaper, "Blooming Grove Times", was founded in 1890. (1984)