The community originated through the efforts of James J. Gathings, who moved to Texas from Mississippi in 1852 and purchased thousands of acres of land near what is now the Covington townsite. He established a large and successful farming and ranching concern, initially based on slave labor, and set aside 100 acres of his ranch for a town, which he named for his wife, Martha Wall (Covington). Lots were offered free to families who would establish homes, build a school, and prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. Colonel Gathings, as he came to be known, established his home about one mile north of the present site of Covington.
A steam mill and gin provided farmers with a further incentive to make Covington their place of business, and the community became their retail point. Gathings himself became postmaster of the community when its first post office opened in 1855. To attract more families to Covington, he and his brother Philip established Gathings College in the early 1860s. The school operated till 1885, at one time enrolling 200 students. By 1870 Covington had a population of nearly 500.
The town suffered its first setback when the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad bypassed it. In 1904, however, the tracks of the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway reached the community. For the next three decades Covington served area farmers and ranchers as a shipping and retail center. The Great Depression, however, ended its period of sustained growth. During the 1930s the Trinity and Brazos no longer stopped in Covington. In addition, World War II, the growth of Waco and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and the construction of state and federal highways combined to end Covington's growth.
For many years a mojor event in the early Fall was the Covington Picnic and Old Settlers Reunion held on the grounds to the south of the Covington Business district on old Hwy 171. This large and hugely successful afffair was a combination carnival and county fair featuring thrill rides, side shows and competitions. Sometime after World War II the picnic was discontinued as improved transportation made it possible to conveniently go the the Sate Fair in Dallas.
Mildred Cole, Nancy Siratt, Robert Gray, Bill Ramsey, Ozella Harden, Wanda Jean. Sorry not everyone pictured was identified.
Photo Submitted by Mildred (Cole) Lee to the Heritage of Hill County, Texas Volume II
Photo submitted by Mildred (Cole) Lee to the Heritage of Hill County, Texas Volume II
Rosie Pruitt, Juliann Tribble, Ozella Harden, Johnnie Morris, Vernell Marbut, Nancy Siratt.
Photo Submitted by Mildred (Cole) Lee to the Heritage of Hill County, Texas Volume II
Special thanks to the following: The Heritage of Hill County, Texas Volume I and II. Florence Hendrix Sessums, Recy Lee Sessums,
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