Truscott

Truscott is on Farm Road 1756 about 100 miles north of Abilene in north central Knox County. When it was founded in 1880, the community was known as China Lake, after a small nearby lake bordered by numerous chinaberry trees. When the county was organized in 1886, however, the community applied for a post office, submitting the name Truscott in honor of J. J. Truscott, a local pioneer. J. J. Truscott's son Tom kept the mail in his home and also was the first teacher of the Truscott school, which was established in 1888. The one-room schoolhouse served the town until 1907, when it and much of the town burned down. The town was then moved a mile to its present site to take advantage of the newly constructed Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway. For many years Truscott had an excellent school system, and for a while students from Gilliland attended high school in Truscott. The Truscott school burned down about 1945, and though a new school was built, declining enrollment forced its closure a few years later. Local residents then voted to consolidate with the Crowell Independent School District. Despite the effects of the Great Depression, Truscott increased in population from 250 in 1930 to 500 by 1940. Later, though, because of the growth of larger mechanized farms in the area, Truscott lost much of its population and most of its major businesses. In 1970 and 1980 Truscott was on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line and reported 187 residents. It still had a post office in the late 1980s. In 1990 its population was still estimated at 187. The population dropped to fifty in 2000.

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.