BURLESON

A short history of Burleson

The Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad, known as "the Katy", extended its service from Denison to Waco. In 1880 the segment from Fort Worth to Alvarado was being laid out, and a midway depot was needed. Grenville M. Dodge, representing the railroad, purchased land for the depot and a town surrounding it from Rev. Henry C. Renfro at the site of what is now called "Old Town" Burleson. As part of the agreement, Renfro named the town "Burleson", in honor of his teacher Rufus Columbus Burleson, the president of Baylor University. The first lot was sold on October 10, 1880, the date now considered the city's "founding day".

The Burleson Post Office opened in 1882, inside a retail establishment, as was common for small towns at the time. On February 20, 1895, a fire burned down most of the business district, along with several houses. One of the Katy workers, J. C. Jones, had stayed in Burleson and opened a water works for the town, drilling a deep well that provided dozens of hydrants for the residents, but they were not sufficient to extinguish the fire. By the end of the 1800s, Burleson was a bustling rural town, with farms all around, schools, a grocery store, cotton gins and grist mills, a general store, a druggist, a bank, and a jeweler. In 1899, a group of nine women formed a society for cultural advancement and called it the Eumathian Club. The women acquired books, loaned them, and held readings, discussions, and music recitals.

In 1909 the Texas Legislature passed a bill forming the Burleson Independent School District. Construction began in 1912 of the Northern Texas Traction Company interurban line between Fort Worth and Cleburne, with Burleson as a stop along the way. The first day of service was September 1, 1912, with 1,200 passengers on the ten passenger runs that day. Two freight runs per day were made as well. The interurban line provided for the first time two very important things to Burleson: easy access to Fort Worth and Cleburne, and electricity. The interurban station was operated out of a drugstore, whose proprietor became ticket master, and who served travelers pastries and soda from the soda fountain. The old drugstore/station still exists, as the Burleson Heritage Museum at the Burleson Visitor Center, as do two of the interurban cars.

That year, a petition was sent to a Johnson County judge proposing to incorporate the "Town of Burleson", including a survey of the town limits that included most of the original town as set out by Grenville Dodge. An election was held, the petition passed, and the county judge ordered it so. On May 21, 1912, Burleson was incorporated.

The 1920 census showed the population of Burleson to be 241. In 1930 the population was 591. Due to the increasing popularity of automobiles, combined with the Great Depression, the interurban line closed in 1931. In 1940 the population decreased to 573, as people had left Burleson during the depression to find jobs wherever they could. In 1950 the population was 791, and grew to 2,345 in 1960, perhaps partly due to the opening of Interstate 35 through the town that year. By 1970 the population was 7,713, by 1980 11,734. In 1990 the population of Burleson was 16,113. In 2000 the population had grown to 20,976, and in 2010 there were 36,690 people in Burleson.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Burleson, Texas, revision 1377953714 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.