DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna let it breathe a little. Now, right where you're standing — or rolling past, more likely — that was once the beating heart of a whole town. The original Moulton.
And according to tradition, somebody who'd made the long trip up from Moulton, Alabama looked around at this stretch of Lavaca County and said, well, I know what to call it. That's the tradition, anyway. The marker doesn't vouch for the man's name, and neither will I.
The first postmaster was a fellow named James Walker, back in 1856. Somebody had to be first, and Walker was the one. Town started finding its footing from there.
But here's where Moulton gets its moment of genuine statewide fame. From 1874 to 1895, this little place was home to the Moulton Institute, run by a man named Melvin H. Allis — M.A., if you please — and his wife, Thankful.
Everybody called her Aunt Thank. Now that is a name that carries warmth in every syllable, and you get the feeling she earned it. On the faculty was a music teacher the marker sees fit to single out by name — Miss Sallie McLean, described as outstanding.
In a town this size, in an era like that, a school with that kind of reputation drawing notice all across Texas? That was something. Then came 1887, and with it the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad.
The line went in — two miles to the east. Two miles. Doesn't sound like much.
But towns tend to follow the railroad, not the other way around, and Moulton was no exception. Gradually, the town picked itself up and moved. All that's left out here now is the story the marker carries — and the Old Moulton Cemetery, one mile to the southeast, keeping watch over the people who were here when this was the center of everything.
What the marker says
At this point was center of original town of Moulton (named, according to tradition, by a man from Moulton, Alabama). First postmaster was James Walker (1856). Town gained statewide fame for the Moulton Institute operated 1874-1895 by Melvin H. Allis, M. A., and wife, Thankful ("Aunt Thank"). On the faculty was an outstanding teacher of music, Miss Sallie McLean. In 1887, San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad built its line two miles to the east, so town gradually moved there. Old Moulton Cemetery is one mile to the southeast.