Evant

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You know how some towns wear their history right out in the open? Evant, in Coryell County, is one of those places.

Pull up a chair, because this one starts before the town had a name, before it even had a plat on paper, back when this stretch of Texas was just a cove in the hills. Langford Cove, they called it. Asa Langford founded it in 1855, and it sat right up against what would eventually become the south boundary of Evant.

Langford had skin in this game early, and we'll circle back to him before we're done. By 1876, the settlement had grown enough that the United States Post Office authorized a post office out here, operating under the simple name Cove. That same year, a man named Evan T.

Brooks arrived with his family. Now, Evan T. Brooks is a name worth holding onto.

That middle initial matters more than most middle initials ever do. In 1881, Brooks platted a townsite, got it filed in Hamilton County records, and called it Brooksville. A proper town, with streets and blocks carefully planned, a town square and all.

Tidy work. But here's where it gets interesting. That same plat showed up in Coryell County records in 1884, and when it did, it carried a different name entirely.

Evant. The marker is straightforward about where that name came from: a combination of Brooks' first name and his middle initial. Evan T.

And just like that, Brooksville became Evant on paper in one county, while it was still Brooksville in another. The Cove post office didn't stay behind, either. In 1885, it was transferred to Evant and renamed to match.

Now, back to Asa Langford. In 1875, he had donated land for a school. Three years later, in 1878, a one-room plank schoolhouse was erected on that land.

Langford himself had died back in 1870, so he never saw the schoolhouse go up, but his donation made it possible. That little plank building got replaced in 1888 by a stone structure, and that stone building, added onto and modified over the years, served the Evant Independent School District all the way until 1976. Over the decades, businesses were established.

Churches were organized. Community groups took root. And then in December of 1976, the citizens of Evant went to the polls and voted to incorporate.

A town that started as a cove, got named after a plat that couldn't quite decide which county it was in, and carried a man's first name and middle initial into permanent record. Evant. Evan T.

Brooks probably never imagined his name would still be on every map a hundred years on. But that's Texas for you. The middle initial survives.

What the marker says

The town of Evant traces its history to an earlier settlement in this area. Langford Cove, founded in 1855 by Asa Langford (1820-1870), was located adjacent to and partly within the south boundary of the present town of Evant. A United States Post Office was authorized in 1876 under the name Cove. Evan T. Brooks and his family arrived in the area in 1876. In 1881 Brooks platted a townsite which was filed in Hamilton County records as Brooksville. The same plat appeared in Coryell County records in 1884 as Evant, so named from a combination of Brooks' first name and middle initial. Streets and blocks were carefully planned, including a town square. The Cove post office was transferred to Evant and renamed in 1885. In 1878 a one-room plank schoolhouse was erected on land donated by Asa Langford in 1875. It was replaced in 1888 by a stone structure which, with additions and modifications, served Evant Independent School District until 1976. Over the years, businesses were established and churches and community groups were organized. The citizens of Evant voted to incorporate in an election held in December 1976. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986