DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Wise County, there was once a place called Tylewater. Now, that name didn't stick; because when a U.S.
Post Office was granted in 1883, the name changed, and Draco is what it became. W. J.
Mann stepped in as the first postmaster, and for a while there, Draco was something to talk about. Settled in the early 1880s, this little rural community didn't waste any time building itself up. Two churches.
A school. A general store. A blacksmith shop.
A public well. A gin. And (now here's the detail that tells you something about the spirit of the place) a horse racing track.
That's not a town just survivin'. That's a town that figured it deserved a little fun on top of everything else. But here's where the story turns, and it turns quiet.
In 1889, the post office was discontinued. And when the post office went, something in Draco went with it. The community began to decline; slow and steady, the way these things usually go.
The school held on longer than most, keepin' its doors open all the way until 1933, when it was finally consolidated with the Paradise school system. And then, in 1937, the last remaining building in Draco was moved. Not burned, not collapsed; just moved.
Like the town itself was quietly picked up and carried somewhere else. All that's left now is the marker, and the memory of a place that once had two churches, a blacksmith, a gin, and enough pride to build itself a racing track.
What the marker says
Settled in the early 1880s, the rural community of Draco was originally called Tylewater. The name was changed when a U.S. Post Office was granted in 1883, with W. J. Mann as first postmaster. The community soon boasted two churches, a school, general store, blacksmith shop, public well, gin, and horse racing track. After the post office was discontinued in 1889, the community began to decline. The school remained open until 1933, when it was consolidated with the Paradise school system. The last remaining building in Draco was moved in 1937.