Glidden

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just along for the ride. Before the railroad ever came to Colorado County, this stretch of Texas was cattle country. Drives heading north to market started right here, rolling out of land that didn't yet have a name to put on a map.

That would change. It always does. John Turnbough arrived as a contractor in 1877, and rancher J.

L. Townsend purchased land in 1879, later going on to serve as Colorado County sheriff. The area was drawing people in, one by one, each one adding something to the place.

J. N. Mahon was pioneering the local gravel industry.

T. J. Oakes, A.

A. Oakes, and A. J.

Folts were setting up a mercantile business that, I'll tell you, stayed in operation for more than a hundred years. And the L. H.

Schulenburg family was developing the first addition to what would eventually become Glidden. Now in 1882, T. J.

Oakes sold a piece of land to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway Company. That sale set everything in motion. A switchyard went up.

A depot, a roundhouse, a turntable, a water well, a section house. The railroad wasn't just passing through. It was putting down roots.

By 1885, H. T. Youens was working as station agent, and that same year the townsite was platted and named for railroad engineer F.

G. Glidden. The name was on the map now, and the place wasted no time growing into it.

Scotch-Irish and English railroad workers came to Glidden during those early years, drawn in by the work, by the life a rail center could offer. In 1888 the post office was established. By 1897, a school had opened.

The cattle drives were a memory, and Glidden had become something new, a railroad town through and through. The rail industry and the community kept changing over time, the way things do, but Glidden held on, and the marker says it plain: that history is an important part of Colorado County's heritage. Out here on the road, you pass through a lot of towns that don't announce themselves.

Glidden is one of them. But now you know what it took to put that name on the map.

What the marker says

Before the railroad came to Colorado County, this area was the origin of several cattle drives to northern markets. Early settlers in the region were area gravel industry pioneer J. N. Mahon; John Turnbough, a contractor who came in 1877; Rancher J. L. Townsend, who purchased land in 1879 and later served as Colorado County sheriff; T. J. Oakes, A. A. Oakes, and A. J. Folts, founders of a mercantile business that remained in operation for more than 100 years; and the L. H. Schulenburg family, who developed the first addition to Glidden. In 1882 T. J. Oakes sold land to the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway Company. A switchyard, depot, roundhouse, turntable, water well, and section house were built. H. T. Youens was station agent in 1885. The townsite of Glidden, named for railroad engineer F. G. Glidden, was platted that year and quickly developed as a rail center for the surrounding area. Many Scotch-Irish and English railroad workers were attracted to Glidden during its early years. In 1888 the post office was established, and by 1897 a school had opened. Although Glidden has continued as a railroad town, many changes have taken place in the rail industry and in the community. The history of Glidden is an important part of Colorado County's heritage.