Ambia

Ambia, on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, Farm Road 1506, and Mallory Creek five miles southwest of Paris in southern Lamar County, was established in 1886 as a stop on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe tracks. A justice of the peace from nearby Roxton named the site Amber because of the streams of tobacco juice spat by chewers at the local store. The post office opened in 1886. In 1890 postmaster John K. Boyd reported a population of twenty-three. His general store was the sole business. By 1892, however, Western Union had opened a local telegraph office, the population was thirty-nine, and two cotton gins, a grocery, and two saloons were open. Postal service was discontinued in 1905. In 1933 Ambia had a population of twenty and two businesses. A common school district had been established by 1936, and maps for that year also identified a church. The number of residents in Ambia peaked at fifty immediately after World War II. By 1957 the school had been absorbed into the Roxton Independent School District. In 1964 the population was forty-five. From 1974 until 2000 it was reported as twenty. Maps for 1983 showed a community hall.