DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, there's a particular kind of ambition that only takes root in South Texas soil — the kind that looks out at open land and sees a whole town waiting to happen. W.A. 'Abe' Coughran had that kind of ambition.
In 1901, he purchased the land that would bear his name, and that was just the opening move. See, Abe Coughran understood something a lot of men didn't — a town without a railroad is just a dream with nowhere to go. So he went and persuaded the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad to lay their tracks right through his property.
Not around it. Through it. By 1913, the town was platted, and then things started moving fast.
By 1914 — just one year later — Coughran wasn't just a dot on a map. It was a cotton gin, a post office, a school and creamery, a general store, a hotel, a bank, a weekly newspaper, and a railroad station. A railroad station, folks.
In one year. That's not growth, that's an announcement. The town thrived, rode high, felt like it might just go on forever.
Until about 1918. Now the marker doesn't spell out exactly what hit, but Coughran's fortunes dwindled into the early 1920s — and yet, here's the part that surprises you — the town came back. It recovered.
It prospered again. That's a harder thing to do than people give credit for. But then came another decline, this one following World War II, and this time the ground didn't hold.
Postal service, discontinued 1945. Rail service, discontinued 1945. And then, in 1956, they closed the school.
When the school goes quiet, you know a town has said what it came to say. Abe Coughran bought that land in 1901 with something to prove, and for a good long while, he proved it.
What the marker says
Established on land purchased in 1901, the town of Coughran was named for founder and early settler W.A. "Abe" Coughran. He persuaded the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad to build tracks through his property. The town was platted in 1913; by 1914, Coughran boasted a cotton gin, a post office, a school and creamery, a general store, a hotel, a bank, a weekly newspaper, and a railroad station. The town thrived until about 1918. Coughran's fortunes dwindled in the early 1920s but the town recovered and prospered until another decline following World War II. Postal and rail service were discontinued in 1945, and in 1956 the school was closed. (1998)