Off The Beaten Path - Bridge City, TX & Twitty, TX

[joe817]

BRIDGE CITY, TEXAS. Bridge City is at the junction of State Highway 73/87 and Farm Road 1442, twenty-two miles southeast of Beaumont in southern Orange County. It was originally called Prairie View for its location on the coastal prairie and became known as Bridge City after the construction of a notable highway bridge over the Neches River linking Orange County to Port Arthur. The Bridge City post office was established in 1946, and by 1952 the estimated population had reached 3,000. Industrial growth was aided by the channelization of Cow Bayou, the completion of a private electric plant in 1962, and the presence of nearby oilfields and petrochemical plants. Despite Bridge City's rapid growth, voters proved reluctant to incorporate their community. Although the population was 4,677 in 1960, two incorporation attempts in 1961 failed to secure a majority of voters. In 1970 Bridge City electors finally agreed to incorporate by a margin of 677 to 466. By that time, the population had increased to 8,164. In 1980 the population was 7,667, and in 1990 it was 8,034, and in 2000 it was 8,651.

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TWITTY, TEXAS. Twitty is on U.S. Highway 83 six miles north of Shamrock in Wheeler County. It was named for Asa Twitty, an early settler and store owner. A post office was opened in 1912, and by 1925 two stores and a cotton gin had been established, and oil had been discovered. The population was then estimated at twenty-five. In 1930 the town had a population of 100, the gin, three stores, a church, and a rural school. Since the 1930s high school students have been bused to Shamrock. Although Twitty reported only one business in 1980, its population had remained fairly stable with an estimate of 116. In 1990 the population was sixty. The population dropped to twelve in 2000.