CHILTON, FALLS COUNTY,  TEXAS


CHILTON, TEXAS. Chilton is on State Highway 7 a mile east of U.S. Highway 77, twelve miles west of Marlin, and twenty-one miles south of Waco in northwestern Falls County. The first settlers in the Chilton area were five Missouri families who arrived in 1854. Newton B. Maxey, one of the early settlers, established a wagon line to Galveston to bring in supplies. In the first year of settlement John Wethers was mistakenly shot by another settler, who thought he was a bear. The man who shot him lost his mind and was sent back to Missouri. In 1873 the site was bought by James C. Gaither. The town was originally called Abney's Farm. In 1876 Lysias B. Chilton, in partnership with W. J. de Bardeleben, opened a store near the present site of Chilton. The post office opened in 1882 and was named after Chilton. When the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway built through the county in 1888, the town was moved closer to the tracks and officially designated Chilton by the Texas Townsite Company. Chilton then became one of several railroad stations in Falls County and served as a shipping center.

In 1884 it had a population of 100, a steam flour mill, a cotton gin, a Baptist church, a First Christian church, and a district school. By 1896 the Chilton school had three teachers. Population estimates for the early twentieth century vary widely, from 230 to 750 for the same period. They also fluctuate markedly afterward. By 1914 Chilton had a bank, three churches, a large lumberyard, two cotton gins, a new schoolhouse, a telephone system, and a weekly newspaper, the Chilton Homeland.

The first oil well in the county was brought in on Deer Creek southeast of Chilton in April 1922. During an attempt to find oil in 1924, hot artesian wells were discovered, and the water was piped throughout the town. In 1935 the Chilton school district had 585 students, 8 percent of the students in Falls County. By the mid-1950s, when the Chilton district was one of only four independent school districts in the county, the town's population reached 750. It stayed at that level until the mid-1970s, when the number of residents dropped to 310, which was still the reported population in 1990. In 2000 the population was 274. In the 1930s the town had twenty-five businesses, but by 1966 the number had dropped to eleven. In 1988 Chilton had ten businesses, six churches, one school, a town hall, and a recreation center. In 2000, however, the town had thirty-five businesses.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: William Leshner, "Rosebud, Lott, and Chilton, Texas," Texas Magazine, January 1911. Lillian S. St. Romain, Western Falls County, Texas (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1951).

Lisa C. Maxwell

Info from The Handbook of Texas Online.


TITLE

DESCRIPTION

CONTRIBUTED BY

1994 Chilton Pirates part a
part b
part c
part d

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1994 Chilton Pirate - Special 1994 Chilton High School Ex-Students Homecoming Edition. It contains a vast amount of pictures, history, and firsthand accounts of the town of Chilton and the Chilton School.

Jason Phelps
B.B. Phelps Gunshot

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B.B. Phelps Gunshot- A Marlin Democrat article written about my G-Grandfather, Barney Bernard Phelps, gunshot wound.

Jason Phelps
Chilton Baptist Chruch 77th Homecoming

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Chilton Baptist Chruch 77th Homecoming Pamplet

Jason Phelps
Chilton FBC Directory- before 1970

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Chilton FBC Directory- before 1970

Jason Phelps
Chilton FBC Directory-1983

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Chilton FBC Directory-1983

Jason Phelps
Chilton FBC Directory-1990

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Chilton FBC Directory-1990

Jason Phelps
Chilton Senior Class 1940-1941

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Chilton Senior Class 1940-1941

Jason Phelps

E. P. Newman and Son, Ernest


E. P. Newman and Son, Ernest
E. P. Newman was Justice of the Peace in Chilton before 1900

Charles Newman

Main Street

Main Street
Chilton, Falls Co., Texas
1940

Gates Family

William Abraham Tull

William Abraham Tull

Roy Juch

William Abraham Tull Family


Back Row:
Julia, Bertha, Dollie's daughter, Rosie, Florence, Dollie, Julia

Front Row:
Gladys Beard, William Abraham, Griffin Beard, Lou Etta Vasser, Georgetta, Dollie' daughter, Sue.

Roy Juch

Tull Family

Thomas Marion and Amy Capel Tull
Tull ca 1910

Roy Juch

Tull Family

Thomas Marion and Amy Capel Tull
Tull ca 2000

Roy Juch

Mrs. R. R. (Sara Jane) Temple

Sara Jane Temple


Sara Jane (one in center) was born in 1869 and died on August 15, 1953. She lived in Chilton and is buried in Chilton Cemetery

Ken Gates

Carolina Cemetery
Historical Marker

Carolina Cemetery Historical Marker

Ken Gates

Gay Nineties
Grim Reminder


Fourth of July newspaper article with picture of old hearse from 1890's

Ken Gates

Chilton Newspaper Articles

Chilton Newspaper Articles
May 29, 1931

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3

Ken Gates

Joe Bob, Lermon & Darwyn

Joe Bob, Lermon & Darwyn
Picture taken in 1946

Ken Gates

Stewart Whitaker

Stewart Whitaker
Picture taken in 1946

Ken Gates

Pioneer Families Join To Settle Early Day Chilton

Pioneer Families Join To Settle Early Day Chilton
Chilton Pirate
June 25, 1994


It was written by Marian G. Gibbs who has given so much to Falls County. She has done many of the cemetery surveys that are on this web site.

Page 1
Page 2


Note: These are large files so the load it is a bit longer.

Ken Gates

Sid J. Gaines Family
1931


Sid J. Gaines Family
1931


L - R
"Dad" Gaines, Charles Limly and Sidney Gaines, Bryant Featherston and Sambo, Jenna Lou, Jack and John Henry, Lee Scott, Ruben and Lee Gaines.

Ken Gates

Ed Nunn Drugstore
Chilton, Texas

Nunn's Drugstore
Chilton, Texas
Early 1900's

Photo donated by:
Mike & Nancy Kelsey

Submitted by:
Robert L. Haddock

Maxey Drugstore
Chilton, Texas

Maxey Drugstore
Chilton, Texas

Note: This photo shows the interior of the Maxey drugstore which was located in Chilton, Texas.

If you can ID any of the individuals shown in this photo or provide any additional info about this business, please let 
Lindsay Hale Boyd know.

Photocopy provided
by:
Shirley (Herrington) Jones

Submitted by:
Robert L. Haddock

Additional info provided by
Mayme Hause

Mounted Horsemen
Chilton, Texas

Mounted Horsemen
Chilton, Texas

Note: This photo shows a group of young men on horseback, posing beside an unidentified building.

If you can ID any of the individuals shown in this photo or provide any additional information,
please let 
Lindsay Hale Boyd know.

Photocopy provided
by:
Shirley (Herrington) Jones

Submitted by:
Robert L. Haddock

Additional info provided by
Mayme Hause

Shankel-Gardner-Levy
Gin
Chilton, Texas

Shankel-Gardner-Levy
Gin
Chilton, Texas

If you can ID any of the individuals shown in this photo or can provide any additional information about this business, please let Lindsay Hale Boyd know.

Photocopy provided
by:
Shirley (Herrington) Jones

Submitted by:
Robert L. Haddock

Pictures of Downtown Chilton Before The Fire

On Tuesday, September 26, 2006, fire destroyed half of downtown Chilton. Some of the buildings the fire destroyed were more than a century old.

Another View of Fire

(Link to KWTX, Channel 10, Waco, Temple, & Killeen)
Fire Destroys Half of Downtown Chilton

Mayme Hause

Downtown Chilton
Then & Now
1908 - 1983

Downtown Chilton
Then & Now
1908 - 1983

Mayme Hause

Augustus "Gus"
Winfield Steed


Augustus "Gus" Winfield Steed in his Barber Shop located in downtown Chilton.

Gus was b August 30, 1889 to Stephen Fulton and Mary Elizabeth (Tull) Steed. He d April 20, 1967. He was husband of Bessie Lee (Adams) Steed b April 11, 1894 d November 12, 1975.

They were the parents of Jo Ann (Steed) Watts. Both Gus and Bessie are buried in Chilton Cemetery.

This picture was taken December 1930

If you can ID this other man, please let 
Lindsay Hale Boyd know.

Jo Ann (Steed) Watts

Walter Lee &
Hattie Coyal Maxey

Walter Lee & Hattie Coyal Maxey
Abt. 1935

Coyal Maxey Gorman

Maxey Brothers

Maxey Brothers
Sons of Walter Lee & Hattie Coyal Maxey
Bill, Don, Lee, W. L., Byron & Jack

Picture taken in front of their Mothers house
Chilton, Falls Co., Texas
Unknown Date

Coyal Maxey Gorman

Shelly B. Harrell

Shelly B. Harrell

Here’s my grandfather, Shelly B. Harrell taken in Paris France during World War I.

Mike McKinney

Chilton’s Public Water Well

Chilton’s Public Water Well

Abt. 1900

Mayme Hause

Adams Family
Photos

ADAMS FAMILY PHOTOS

Jesse L. & Julia Rogers Adams,
Walter W. & Julia Adams Bass,
Jarret & Mary Price Myers,
P. W. & Rebecca Louisa Myers Adams
and Their Descendants

Contributors:

Mayme Hause
Bobby Merritt

Eakin-Cooley-Gates Family Photos

EAKIN-COOLEY-GATES FAMILY PHOTOS

Robert James & Amanda Jane Stidham Eakin,
George Whitcomb & Rebecca Ann Eakin Cooley,
William Henry & Minnie Bell Cooley Gates
and Their Descendants

Contributors:

Ken Gates
Gates Family
Pat Sommerfield