Letot

Letot was at the intersection of Lombardy Lane and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, seven miles northwest of Dallas in northwestern Dallas County. It was on the original land grant of J. S. Shelby. Clement Letot, a Crimean War veteran who moved to the region from Illinois in 1876, settled and cultivated a large farm in the area of Calvary Hill Cemetery. By 1878 the Dallas and Wichita Railway had been built from Dallas to Lewisville, and the first stop was in the area of Letot's farm. A community began to form around the stop, named for Letot. By 1881 the community had twenty-one families, most of whom were farmers, a general store and cotton gin owned by Letot, a post office that remained until 1907, and a nondenominational church that served as a schoolhouse during the week. In 1882 the population stood at 200, and the community had begun to ship cotton and grain. In 1884 Letot had a doctor, a wagonmaker and carpenter, a blacksmith, a teacher, several livestock traders, and a population of forty. By 1890 the population had risen to sixty, and the community had a corn mill. Letot grew to an estimated population of 150 in 1939. The number of businesses also increased from three in 1931 to six in 1939. In 1950 the town had a population of 500 and seventeen businesses. The last listing for Letot is in 1968, when the population was 540. By the 1970s the community was part of Dallas.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.