Belcherville, Texas

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Belcherville is an unincorporated town along U.S. Route 82 and Farm to Market Road 1816 in Montague County, Texas, United States. The population is less than 50.

[edit] History

The settlement was first called Belcher for local ranchers of the same name, though the settlement was really nothing more than the ranch's heaquarters until 1887. In that year, the Gainesville, Henrietta and Western Railway was surveyed through Montague County, generally north of modern-day U.S. Route 82. The ranchers offered land for the railway's right-of-way, and the community of Belcherville was born. A post office opened in 1887. Belcherville continued to grow through the remainder of the 19th Century, claiming 305 residents at the 1900 census.

During the 20th Century the community declined, and residents voted to repeal their incorporation in 1908. The railway that brought the town into existence may have been the cause of its demise, as well. Just after World War I, 1/2 of the cities businesses burned, some say caused by a train, others say by arson. Either way, it spelled the end for Belcherville, and the town never recovered. Most residents moved to nearby Nocona. When the town voted to reincorporate is something of a mystery, but in 1958, it claimed to be the smallest incorporated city in the United States. In 2000, the population stood at 34.