Slayden

Slayden (Slaydon) is on the east bank of the San Marcos River just west of U.S. Highway 183 in northwestern Gonzales County. It was established in the late 1880s as a station on the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway and named for James Luther Slayden. It secured a post office in 1889, and by 1892 the town recorded twenty-five residents, a cotton gin, a blacksmith, a grocer, and a wagon maker and had daily mail delivery. In 1896 the settlement had forty inhabitants, two churches, and one physician. By 1914 it had 200 residents and a telephone connection. That population figure remained constant through 1936, at which time eight businesses were recorded. Thereafter, the town declined. In 1946 the population had dropped to fifty and the number of businesses to eight. By 1965 the number of residents had dwindled to fifteen and no businesses were reported. Through 2000 the population was still fifteen.