AUDUBON,TEXAS

This was the town were my Dad, Windell Wayne Walker, was born in 1914.

Today, there is no sign that a town ever was here except for this plaque and one small church.

The following is a direct transcript of the plaque:

"A Vanished town which was important in this area in the 19th Century. It was settled by Southerners and named for naturalist John J. Audubon (1785-1850).
Earliest Settler, D.D. Shirey, platted town out of his farm land in 1865. He and his wife, "Aunt Polly", expanded their log house into a stagecoach Inn that grew famous for a lavish table. Their excellent food was set out on a lazy susan which was the wonder of the countryside. In the late 1860's and following decades, trail crews detoured from the cattle trail that ran east of here, and bought supplies in the town.
Audubon had a post office from June 25, 1874 to July 20, 1904. Local social and fraternal bodies included Woodsmen of the World and a Masonic lodge active from 1879 to 1886. There were three churches, a school, a telephone office, two cotton gins, several mercantile stores, several lawyers and physicians, and two blacksmiths.
The noted Dr. W.B. Palmer, had a beautiful country home, "Glynndome".
Bypassed by the Fort Worth & Denver railroad in 1883, Audubon gradually declined, Post Office closed in 1904, School Consolidated with Alvord in 1930.
Among outstanding native sons was the Rev. M.M. Barnett of the California Baptist Foundation."

end of plaque


The area was going down after the turn of the century, that must be why my great-grandfather started selling his land and moved to Oklahoma in 1906. My grandfather stayed in Wise county, but that is another story in it's own.

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