Mabelle

Mabelle is at the intersection of Farm Road 1790 and U.S. highways 183/283 and 277/82, eight miles northeast of Seymour in northeastern Baylor County. A line of the Burlington Northern Railroad is just south of the community. A local school originally began around 1900. The settlement was established in 1906 as a station on the Wichita Valley line. A post office was granted on December 13 of that year and was named Mabelle for the daughter of resident J. T. Thompson. By 1920 the town had a depot, several businesses, and a Sunday school organization serving a population of fifty-eight. Mabelle continued as a small trade center despite a damaging tornado that struck the town about 1923. In 1940 the community had the post office, a school, and a few stores, and reported a population of thirty-five. The local school remained in service until it was consolidated with the school in Seymour in 1948. The post office was discontinued about 1962. In 1980 Mabelle reported a population of ten, and in 1990 it was reported as six. By 2000 the population was reported at nine.