Shields Gin

Tracy is on Farm Road 487 nine miles northwest of Rockdale in west central Milam County. In the early 1890s it was called Shields Gin, but when a post office was established there in 1896, the town was named Tracy in honor of Nat H. Tracy, who had moved to Milam County in 1868. Around 1900 the community had 133 residents, served by three churches, two general stores, a blacksmith, and a cotton gin. The Tracy post office was discontinued in 1908, and the population had fallen to thirty-five by the early 1930s. The Tracy schools were consolidated with the Sharp district in 1932. A community hall, a church, and several houses and businesses were shown on county highway maps in the 1940s, but in 1988 only the church marked the townsite.

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.