Biardstown

Biardstown is on Farm Road 1497 six miles south of Paris in south central Lamar County. It was originally called Baird in honor of a founder, John W. Biard, whose name was miswritten Baird. The post office opened in 1880 as Baird but was renamed Biard later that year. In 1883 the name was changed to Biardstown. The following year postmaster W. A. Milling, who also served as justice of the peace, reported a population of 100. The town had become important in cotton shipping, and its businesses included a cotton gin, two flour mills, a general store, two blacksmith shops, a cobbler's establishment, and two doctor's offices. In 1890 a new carpenter shop had opened. Two years later the mail was arriving on a daily basis, and a district school had been organized. Another general store had opened, and four new physicians had moved to town. Municipal officials were Sheriff James W. Biard, Justice of the Peace W. C. Gross, and Constable J. R. Scott. In 1896 the school enrolled seventy-seven students and employed one teacher.

The number of residents had increased to 163 in 1904, and in 1914 residents had access to a telephone exchange. From 1925 through the 1940s the population was 163; the postal service was discontinued during this period. Maps for 1936 identified two businesses, a school, and a cluster of dwellings. The population peaked in 1950, when the town had 250 residents and eight businesses. By 1957 local students attended school in the Delmar Independent School District. No businesses were reported in 1970, although residents still numbered 250. The population fell by 1974 to seventy-five. Most of these residents were part-time farmers who worked in nearby Paris. In 1984 Biardstown had several dwellings and one church. In 2000 the population was seventy-five.