A short history of Gatesville
Gatesville was established in 1854 on land donated by Richard G. Grant. The name was taken from Fort Gates, which had been established in 1849 about 5 miles to the west.
Gatesville was the western terminus of the Texas and St. Louis Railway, with the town having been reached in 1882. This line later became the core of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, commonly known as the Cotton Belt.
Over the course of the evening of March 16th and morning of March 17th, 2026, a fire destroyed several wooden buildings, built in the early 20th century, in downtown Gatesville. Among these buildings included the Gatesville Messenger and Star-Forum, the city's only newspaper for over 100 years, as well as a furniture store that has been in operation for even longer. Along with three minor injuries, the fire destroyed decades of undigitized archives held within the newspaper's building.
Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Gatesville, Texas, revision 1377611248 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.