The New Town of Beckville

By 3rd, 4th, 5th grades (1983) Submitted by Sally Metcalf Dawson

The railroad was completed in 1887 and the first train came through in February of that year. Mr. Jim Biggs owned the land where the railroad curved to miss Old Beckville and he laid off anew town site near that curve. It was logical for the business owners of the pioneer settlement to relocate in Mr. Bigg’s town with the advantage of railroad transportation. The merchants of Old Beckville realized this would open markets for the produce raised on the farms. Hence it was not long until Old Beckville was almost deserted and the new town became known as Beckville.

The period of growth and prosperity began with the appearance of the new businesses near the railroad. The new town site was laid off so that the main street, Washington Avenue, ran north and south. The depot was built to face that street from the east. Mr. Bob Hammons built the first store building, but Mr. Ike N. Metcalf and Mr. Joseph Ray Jordan got their general merchandise business opened and in cooperation before anyone else. Other general merchandise stores were Taylor Hills, Carpenter & Doan’s, and Bell & Barnes. Barksdale Drug, Elihu Pope Furniture, and Woos’ Military were in Beckville, also. There were two saloons where man gathered in groups. The women would turn their heads to look in the opposite direction when it was necessary for them to pass the door of a saloon.

  There were two barber shops. The first hotel was run by Mrs. Garner and a later one by Mrs. Finn. There were several gins in the area. At times there were as many as five doctors in town.

Locating the town near the railroad did prove to be advantageous. It made it easier for the farmers and ranchers to get their produce shipped to market. It was also good business for the local merchants because goods would be brought in to be sold. In fact, the foundation of Beckville’s prosperity was the railroad. The easy access to nearby markets encouraged greater cotton production, timber became a cash crop, and the cattle raising began to increase. All of which brought more money into the community and most of it was spent in Beckville. This caused the merchants to put in larger and more attractive stocks of goods. New lines were added. Some stores began to specialize in a certain line of merchandise. There were grocery stores, dry goods stores, a hardware store and a meat market to open.

As the district prospered and grew, the business section of Beckville expanded. New stores were established and old ones enlarged. The town was incorporated in 1914. It was granted a charter by the state legislature, and elected its first mayor and board of alderman that same year. The town prospered and became a rival of Carthage. The period of 1923 to 1927 was perhaps the most prosperous of all.

During this progressive period, roads began to improve. With the improvement of roads, almost all the families began to buy new cars. Mr. P.R. Nisbett, the first to own a car, bought a Brush. Then Mr. Carpenter bought a Ford, and soon there were several cars.

Cars caused garages and filling stations to be built. In 1927 there were seven filling stations operating within the city limits, each doing a thriving business.

With better roads and a more convenient method of transportation, there was increased interest in a picture show. A Mr. Ross from Carthage opened a movie house in Beckville around 1915. In 1919 Mr. Irby Driskell bought the picture show and operated it for three years. Later it was owned by Neal and Roy Crawford. This plant was for silent pictures and when talkies were introduced it was closed rather than making the expensive change.

Mr. P.R. Nisbett rented a large safe and began keeping money for the merchants in the early 1900’s. From this beginning a bank was incorporated in 1909 with $25,000 in capital and a surplus of $10,000. It did a flourishing business during the twenties and early thirties. It was liquidated on November 29,1941.

  Schools and churches were established as the need arose.

Beckville also had its share of disasters. It a 1917 a fire starting in a drugstore destroyed five businesses on the north side of the railroad. These were wooden buildings and were later replaced with larger and better ones. Fire struck again in 1917 and laid waste to much of the west side of the business district. This second fire also started in a drug store.

  Beckville had no fire fighting equipment so the bucket brigade was used to try to put out fires. Brick buildings were constructed to replace those that were burned. The fires proved to be a blessing in disguise because they brought improvement to the town.

  The new railroad town that got its beginning in 1887 had grown slowly but steadily and the period of prosperity lasted for about forty years.

The years following 1930 brought a definite period of decline to Beckville. Several things contributed to that decline. Crops were less bountiful than in earlier years. There was a terrible drought. The general depression that swept the country in 1929 caused prices to fall. The presence of highways and the great number of automobiles caused people to travel to larger towns to do shopping where greater stocks of goods were to be found. People began to use mail order catalogues for their shopping and that affected the business community, also. Within a short time Beckville’s period of prosperity had passed.

  According to Miss Avis Kinard, thirty-six businesses made up the town in 1931. By 1943, there were only eighteen. As time passed, stores continued to close and buildings became empty. By the early 1960’s eleven or twelve business establishments remained. They included the Barber’s Drug Store, Ross’ Barber Shop. English Feed Store, Adam’s Filling Station, Parker Grocery, The Depot, Brevard’s Café, Watkin’s Hardware, Bear Cat Grocery and Filling Station, Heard’s Feed Store, and Davidson’s Hardware. The Post Office had moved into the vacant bank building.

Several businesses closed in 1965. Barber’s Drug Store closed, the Depot discontinued operation and Watkin’s Hardware closed. Brevard’s Café went out of business about 1969. Davidson’s Hardware had gone in business in 1946 and it closed in 1970. Parker’s Grocery closed in 1970. This left seven business establishments in Beckville in 1975.

Lignite mining and a boom in the oil and gas industry started in the latter part of the 1970’s, which has brought a new prosperity to the Beckville area. A number of citizens and former citizens of this vicinity have become wealthy. Quite a few people have been displaced because of the mining of lignite. It they owned the land, they simply built a fine home on another location.

The town has begun to assume a new look. A new brick Post Office was built in 1974 and opened in September of that year. Beckville Grocery and Filling Station opened on Highway 149 in 1977. Nix’s Grocery went in business here in 1978. Caddo Savings Association opened for business in April 1982. First National Bank of Beckville had its ribbon cutting ceremony in December 1982. Nix’s Grocery moved a short distance from its location into a new brick building, which included a nice size grocery, market, and a café. Nix’s Affiliated Grocery and Buffet ‘N’ Burgers Café began operation in early 1983. Mr. James A. Bonds and Mr. Billy Dailey put in a B & D Feed Store in the building Nix’s Grocery had vacated. Ford’s Café on Highway 149 is in a building that was once a washateria.

Bear Cat Grocery, Adam’s Filling Station, Heard’s Feed Store, Ross’ Barber Shop continue to do business in their original locations. As of April 1983 there are thirteen businesses in the community of Beckville.

Since 1983, there have been many changes in the downtown area. The feed store changed hands before closing in the early 1990’s. Nix’s Grocery and Café closed, and a number of the old buildings were torn down. At the present time (spring 1995) the area consists of Harris Paint and Body Shop, Adam’s Oil, Cotton’s, Bearcats’, Linda’s Beauty Shop, and a washateria that opened this month. The housing projects were built in the 1980’s. The current population sign reads 783. There are around 200 elementary children attending the school. Changes are still occurring, since this spring will mark TUDCO’s second "buy-out".