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Dobbin Reflections- 1930-1940 The townsite of the present day Dobbin, the western arm of what is being recognized as the "Golden Triangle", the town-city of Montgomery being the Eastern arm, five miles away along Highway 105 and the third arm of the Triangle being Northwest of Montgomery and kind of North East of Dobbin. The townsite of Dobbin was platted by W.C. Whitehead, a sort of Donald Trump type real estate developer, promoter, investor and high-scale business man. He teamed up with E.C. Wise, a Montgomery citizen and a great uncle of James Price and the pair surveyed the townsite a half mile square and containing sixty-six blocks, cut into mostly 125x25 foot lots. This was completed in 1914 and the plat shows streets running East and West being fifty feet wide. The Dobbin townsite East of the Burlington Rock Island Railroad (first known as the T andB.V. Railroad) was owned by Mr. Wise, who eventually sold out his part. Mr. Wise was a man who wore many hats. A surveyor, a druggist, a sawmill operator and just about anything he wanted to do. James Price remembers that whether residing in any of the numerous semi-communities that sprang up around the original center of the Whitehead-Wise Dobbin townsite which was duly recorded as the "Dobbin subdivision" in 1914, the railroad depot and its closely built businesses was the center of attraction. There was (among the host of others) Bobville, Bobbin, Perryville, and Mockville. Though Dobbin’s first settlers came into that area in the early 1830's, the town did not get recognized until Whitehead and Wise made it a legal townsite. The first railroad came through Dobbin around 1907, requiring a depot and when the second railroad the G.C. & S.F. (Sante Fe) came through Dobbin, there had to be two Depots. The T & B.V. (Burlington- Rock Island) train traveled North and South through Dobbin and it was such a wonder and adventure in 1908, a news item in the Conroe papers says "Dr. McMillan took a pleasure trip over the T& B.V. and reports a fine time", "I.E. Jarvis, E.J. Mimock and H.B. Beckworth took advantage of the excursion on the T&B.V. and paid Houston a pleasant visit Sunday". Needless to say all the business-minded citizens of Dobbin wanted as close to the two Railroad Depots as possible. When the Santa Fe going east and west, crossed the Burlington Rock Island going north and south, a signal tower was erected and was in operation 24 hours a day. Passenger train service, offered by the Sante Fe, though a wonderful benefit to the community called for many nicknames such as "Doodlebug", "Dinky", or "Bollweevil" also applied to the Burlington Rock Island. In 1936, the Burlington Rock Island added a passenger car called the "Zephyr" (a.k.a. "The Zipper") running from Houston to Dallas and proudly claiming the record time of four hours and fifteen minutes. Dobbinites said it was the fastest moving train they had ever witnessed and many non-believers gathered on McMorrough’s store porch to see the "miracle" and the change was "too much, too soon" for some. One citizen, in describing the Zephyr go through said; If one person should say "Here it comes" that sentence would be cut in two by the next sentence "There it goes". The Zephyr only made two stops between Houston and Dallas, one at Teague and one at Corsicano. About the first fatality known locally was the death of the long-time mail carrier, Jeptha Davis, his mail route running from Montgomery out F.M. 1097 west to the town of Dacus, our northeast prong of the Golden Triangle. Mr. Davis had two dangerous crossings on that route, one being Big Lake Creek, the other the Rock Island crossing. This happened in 1936, word-of-mouth brought the news that when two huge bulls were killed by the Zephyr that the train ran so fast that it reached Teague before the animal body heat had cooled. A later addiction to carry passenger car and a stream-lined passenger car and a fast mover called the Rocket when the two rail lines came through Dobbin, there was a mighty scramble by the local business men to get as near the Depots as possible, and the area known as "downtown" Dobbin soon had Shannons store, now the Frank Hoffart store. T.H. McMurrough, Barrett Motor Co., Williams Garage, two blacksmith shops, the Putnam Hotel, Rumfield and Putnam gas stations. Nonie Branch Williams cafe, two cotton gins, a bank and five railroad tie mills. This was a sum-up of the business population in 1925 in "Downtown Dobbin". In 1935, Dobbin had a colored and white school, being an independent school district. While the post office was named "Dobbin", the school still called itself the old-time name "Bobbin". In 1932 the school boasted that two grades of high school was taught in the white school with Professor A.K. Stewart being the principal. Professor Stewart later became a re-nowed, very popular and successful lawyer in Conroe. His son A.K. Jr. is carrying on his father’s law firm in Conroe today. Two of the teachers, Miss Lulu Shannon and Miss Agnes McMurrough were long time natives of Dobbin, while another teacher Miss Eloise Colburn for the her first time was the beginning of her life career, having come to Dobbin when the Texas Pipe Line brought her family there. Dobbin had no city limits, no city government and no utility system. There were no so-called "big shots" or "big boss men" and James says that by an unwritten agreement all social levels were classed as one. Prohibition laws seemed to be harder on the residents west of Big Lake Creek but there was a kind of unspoken tolerance for those who had to break a few of the laws dictated by Prohibition, that being "A man has to do what he has to do" and during the terrible depression days, many of those Dobbin Citizens did what they had to do feed their families. This is not to say that Dobbin was much worse than other communities, but there was much more room and opportunity to get around the law. Another trait that seemed to always be evident in the long time residents was the love of a good joke or "prank" played on one another. Some of those tricks got rough at times, but for the most part, the tricks and pranks were taken in the manner intended a way to laugh when there was little to laugh about. James still laughs about some of the pranks in Dobbin when he was growing up. Continued next week. |
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©Montgomery
County News, 2004 |
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