Fluvanna

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Fluvanna, Scurry County, Texas. Somebody had to put it into words, and that somebody is me. A realty firm founded this town in 1907, and right from the start, somebody had a sense of occasion.

The townsite surveyor got the honor of naming the place, and he looked back east, back to his native county in Virginia, a county called Fluvanna, and that name came all the way to the Texas plains. Now the town sat there, laid out and ready, and then came the moment everybody was waitin on. September of 1909, the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railroad reached this point, and friend, they did not let that pass quietly.

Three days. A three-day picnic. Think about that.

Three full days of celebration for the arrival of iron rails on the Texas prairie. And it wasn't just the railroad that moved in. The buildings over at Light, Texas, a mile to the east, were moved here.

Whole buildings, picked up and relocated, because the future had just arrived on a set of tracks. The cattle business took notice. Fluvanna grew into an important cattle shipping point, and those long market drives, the kind that wore out boots and cowboys alike, were abandoned as the town stepped into that role.

By 1912 the place was humming. Two wagon yards, two blacksmith shops, and many businesses beyond those. It was a working town with its feet under it.

Time moved on, as time does, and cotton came to share the stage with cattle. Fluvanna shipped much cotton through those same rails. But railroads don't last forever in every town, and in 1942 the railroad ceased operating here.

That was a turning, no question about it. And yet the story doesn't end there, or anywhere close to sad. The marker, placed in 1966, calls Fluvanna a prosperous agricultural community sitting on good highways.

The rails went quiet, but the town found its road. Founded by a realty firm, named for a Virginia county by a surveyor with a long memory, celebrated into being with three days of picnic and a relocated town. Fluvanna, Scurry County.

Still here.

What the marker says

Founded 1907 by a realty firm. Named by townsite surveyor, for his native county in Virginia. When Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad reached this point in Sept. 1909, a 3-day picnic was held. Buildings at Light, Texas, a mile east, were moved here. Town developed into important cattle shipping point, as long market drives were abandoned. By 1912 had 2 wagon yards and 2 blacksmith shops, among many businesses. Later, shipped much cotton before railroad ceased operating here in 1942. Now a prosperous agricultural community on good highways. (1966)