Turnersville

Turnersville, also known as Buchanan Springs, is on Farm Road 182 twelve miles northeast of Gatesville in northeastern Coryell County. Both the Chisholm and Bosque trails were supposed to have gone through the area. In 2004 the Lone Tree, one of the oldest landmarks in the county, still stood two miles east of the townsite. In the 1860s it guided travelers, settlers, and cow drivers to a plentiful water supply, a flowing spring on the open prairie of lush rangeland, abundant with buffalo, deer, turkey, horses, and longhorn cattle. The town that eventually developed at this spring, where all travelers camped, was named after Cal Turner, who settled there to shoe horses and repair wagons. Thus his blacksmith shop was the first business in town. By 1868 the original Presbyterian church also served the community as a school. A post office named Turnersville opened there in 1875. The first postmaster was Joseph M. Black, who later donated five acres of land for a cemetery. In 1885 Turnersville had a population of 300, served by a school, three churches, a gristmill, a cotton gin, and some eight other businesses. That year a Masonic lodge was established. The town shipped primarily grain and cotton. Turnersville prospered from 1895 to around 1916, largely because of the local cotton economy. In 1916 it had 162 residents, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Disciples of Christ churches, and some ten businesses, including a newspaper called the Advance. The Turnersville population steadily declined during the later 1900s. In 1968 the school was closed. The post office was closed in 1987, but a new fire station was built in 1988. By 1989 the town reported 155 residents and four businesses. At that time Turnersville still had an active cemetery association, which sponsored an annual homecoming on the fourth Sunday in May. The town at that time also included a seed and fertilizer company, a grain elevator, and a community center. In 2004 the community had approximately 350 inhabitants.