Klondike, Delta County, Texas
Encyclopedia
Klondike is an unincorporated community
in Delta County, Texas
, United States
. It lies in the southwest corner of the county at the junction of Farm to Market Roads 1528 and 2890, three miles southwest of Cooper
. As of the 2000 Census, the population was estimated at approximately 135.
Pleasant Grove enetered a period of mild prosperity in 1895, when the Texas-Midland Railroad spur to Cooper was completed through the community, and by 1897 the population had risen to 75, and prominent citizen and landowner Joel Jefferson Hunt applied for a postal franchise under the name Klondike, in honor of the Canadian Klondike
, site of the gold rush
. In 1901 the Klondike Baptist Church of Christ, which had been sharing a building with the Methodist congregation, built their own building, and three years later Klondike's population exceeded 150 and by 1905 the community's two segregated
schools had a combined enrollment of 183 students. Bolstered by the cotton shipping and processing industry, by 1914 Klondike was home to 3 doctors, several commercial businesses (including a bank), a telegraph station, two large cotton gin
s and a population of 400.
The boll weevil
blight of the 1920s brought a great degree of adversity to Klondike, however, and the onset of the Great Depression
essentially ended the community's prosperity, and by 1933 the population had fallen to 154. When the school building was destroyed by fire in 1945, Klondike schools were consolidated with Shiloh
schools to form the West Delta Independent School District, but by 1970 Klondike's school children were attending classes in Cooper. Despite the adversity, the population has remained fairly consistent since the 1960s and as of the 2000 census, there were an estimated 135 residents still living in Klondike.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Delta County, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It lies in the southwest corner of the county at the junction of Farm to Market Roads 1528 and 2890, three miles southwest of Cooper
Cooper, Texas
Cooper is a city in Delta County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,150 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Delta County. Cooper proclaims itself to be the "Vetch Capital of the World".-Geography:...
. As of the 2000 Census, the population was estimated at approximately 135.
History
Klondike's documented history began in 1852, when local landowner John Hunt donated parcel of land for a cemetery for the community, which was then known as Pleasant Grove. By the early 1860s a school had begun serving the area's pupils, sharing a building with a small Methodist congregation.Pleasant Grove enetered a period of mild prosperity in 1895, when the Texas-Midland Railroad spur to Cooper was completed through the community, and by 1897 the population had risen to 75, and prominent citizen and landowner Joel Jefferson Hunt applied for a postal franchise under the name Klondike, in honor of the Canadian Klondike
Klondike, Yukon
The Klondike is a region of the Yukon in northwest Canada, east of the Alaska border. It lies around the Klondike River, a small river that enters the Yukon from the east at Dawson....
, site of the gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
. In 1901 the Klondike Baptist Church of Christ, which had been sharing a building with the Methodist congregation, built their own building, and three years later Klondike's population exceeded 150 and by 1905 the community's two segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
schools had a combined enrollment of 183 students. Bolstered by the cotton shipping and processing industry, by 1914 Klondike was home to 3 doctors, several commercial businesses (including a bank), a telegraph station, two large cotton gin
Cotton gin
A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job formerly performed painstakingly by hand...
s and a population of 400.
The boll weevil
Boll weevil
The boll weevil is a beetle measuring an average length of six millimeters, which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central America, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing areas by the 1920s,...
blight of the 1920s brought a great degree of adversity to Klondike, however, and the onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
essentially ended the community's prosperity, and by 1933 the population had fallen to 154. When the school building was destroyed by fire in 1945, Klondike schools were consolidated with Shiloh
Shiloh, Texas
Shiloh, Texas may refer to:*Shiloh, Gregg County, Texas*Shiloh, Waller County, Texas...
schools to form the West Delta Independent School District, but by 1970 Klondike's school children were attending classes in Cooper. Despite the adversity, the population has remained fairly consistent since the 1960s and as of the 2000 census, there were an estimated 135 residents still living in Klondike.