DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, out here in Runnels County. Way out on the west Texas plain, at the tail end of the nineteenth century, folks started trickling into this stretch of Runnels County. Good climate, good farmland — word gets around.
One man who heard that word was Charlie Black, born in 1868, and in 1899 he made his way out here and put down roots. He wasn't alone for long. Walter Gentry was another early settler who found something worth staying for in this corner of Texas.
Now, a settlement needs more than a couple of determined men to become a real place — it needs a name, and it needs a post office. In 1906, it got both. When that post office was established, the community was named Marie, in honor of Walter Gentry's wife.
There's something quietly sweet about that. A whole place called into being by a name. Marie.
The settlement that grew up around that name never did get very big, mind you. A few houses. A store.
A gin. A blacksmith shop. And a school — which did double duty on Sundays, swapping lessons for worship services, because out here you make one building work as hard as the land makes you.
Small as it was, it had everything a community needs to hold itself together. But holding together, as any old Texan will tell you, is the hard part. Gradually — and that word gradual carries a lot of quiet sadness in it — people drifted toward larger towns.
The houses emptied. The school went quiet on weekdays and Sundays both. Charlie Black, who'd arrived back in 1899, lived until 1946, long enough to watch most of it slip away.
The townsite of Marie didn't go out with a bang. It just... faded. The way a fire does when nobody's left to tend it.
What the marker says
Settlement of this area of Runnels County began at the end of the 19th century. Attracted by the good climate and farmland, Charlie Black (1868-1946) arrived in the area in 1899. Another early settler was Walter Gentry, and when a post office was established in 1906 the community was named in honor of Gentry's wife, Marie. The settlement remained very small, with a few houses, a store, gin, blacksmith shop, and school, which also served for worship services on Sundays. The community gradually disappeared as people moved to larger towns. (1988)