Slidell

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it: my job is just to make sure you hear it right. Out here in Wise County, there's a little community called Slidell, and the marker is quick to tell you who it's named for: John Slidell, one of the Confederate diplomats caught up in the Trent Affair of 1861. That was a moment that rattled nations, and somewhere down the line, this patch of Texas took his name.

The town itself was established to supply goods and services to the farmers working the land nearby; a practical purpose, a practical place. The post office opened in 1884, which tells you folks were putting down roots and expected mail to find them. Then came 1885, and that's when things started filling in fast.

A man named Garrett Fletcher (donor of land for both a cemetery and a church, so he clearly had an eye on both the present and the hereafter) gave lots to nearby businesses that were ready to relocate here. Among them was a twenty-two-year-old doctor by the name of Drury Young Stem, who brought his medical office and drugstore along with him. Twenty-two years old.

You want to talk about arriving somewhere with something to prove. The town kept building itself out, piece by piece. George W.

Durham gave land in 1893 for the public square and the first school building; land given, not sold, which says something about the kind of investment people were making in this place. And then in 1895, a man named Nathaniel Pruett began the telephone system. Word could travel now, not just by horse or by post, but by wire.

Today, Slidell still does what it was always meant to do: serve the farm and ranch area around it. Some towns reinvent themselves every generation. Slidell just kept its promise.

What the marker says

Named for John Slidell, one of the Confederate diplomats in the "Trent Affair" (1861), this community was established to supply goods and services to nearby farmers. The post office was started in 1884. Garrett Fletcher, donor of land for a cemetery and church, gave lots to nearby businesses that moved here in 1885, including twenty-two-year-old Dr. Drury Young Stem's medical office and drugstore. George W. Durham gave land (1893) for the public square and the first school building, and Nathaniel Pruett began (1895) the telephone system. Today Slidell serves a farm and ranch area. (1974)