Somerville

Duane's take

The official marker's got the story, and here's how I tell it. Two branches of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway came together out here in Burleson County, and right at that junction, a town took root. They named it Somerville, after Albert Somerville, the first president of that very railroad.

There's a certain poetry in that, a town born at the meeting of two lines, carrying the name of the man who ran the whole operation. The survey went down around 1883, and the first settlers didn't waste much time following it in. Though it took a while longer to get the mail sorted out proper, the post office wasn't permanently established until 1897.

Now, a surveyed town with a post office is a start. But what really lit the fuse was the 1890s. Local citizens, and you've got to appreciate the hustle here, went out and persuaded a railroad tie plant to come set up shop right here in Somerville.

That was the boom. The kind of thing that turns a quiet little junction town into something worth talking about. The Santa Fe Railroad liked what it saw well enough that it bought the operation in 1905, and that industry kept right on humming.

The town incorporated in 1913, putting a little more official weight behind what folks had already built. Then came the 1960s, when Lake Somerville was created, and the whole character of the place shifted again. A railroad town became a recreation center.

Two branches met here once to move timber and freight. Now people come to meet the water. Albert Somerville put his name on a junction.

Turns out it was also a destination.

What the marker says

Located where two branches of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway joined, town was named for Albert Somerville, first president of the railroad. First settlers arrived after town was surveyed about 1883; the post office was permanently established in 1897. Somerville boomed in the 1890s when local citizens persuaded a railroad tie plant to locate here. Santa Fe Railroad bought the operation in 1905; this is still an important industry. Incorporated in 1913, the town has become a recreation center since Lake Somerville was created in the 1960s.