Elmdale

ELMDALE, TEXAS . Elmdale was on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Farm Road 18 in northeastern Taylor County. It began as a stop on the Texas and Pacific Railway in the early 1880s. According to some sources, early travelers saw a mirage of elm trees at the site and called it Elmdale; other sources claim there actually were elms there in the early years of settlement. A one-room school building was erected in Elmdale in 1895, and by 1902 the school had thirty-six pupils and one teacher. Baptist, Methodist, and Church of Christ congregations met in the school. A post office was opened in the community in 1905, and by 1914 Elmdale had a population of twenty, a grocery store, and a general store. In 1919 the old plank school was replaced by a new brick building. A Baptist church was built in 1924, and a larger building was constructed in the 1930s. The post office closed in 1927, and by 1940 the community consisted of the church, the school, one business, and a number of scattered dwellings. The school closed after a fire in 1969. By the 1980s the site was within the Abilene city limits. In 2000 the population was fifty.