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MOODY, TEXAS.
Moody is an incorporated community at the intersection of State
Highway 317 and Farm Road 107, ten miles from McGregor in McLennan
County. It was established in 1881, when the Gulf, Colorado and
Santa Fe Railway built the section of track between Temple and
Fort Worth; the community was named in honor of William Lewis
Moody,qv a director of the railroad company. The Moody community grew rapidly,
drawing many of its early residents and business interests from
nearby Perry, which had been bypassed by the railroad. The Moody
post office was established in November 1881 with J. H. Morrison
as postmaster. The first newspaper in the community, the weekly
Monitor, began publication in 1883. By 1884 Moody had four
churches, four cotton gins, two steam gristmills, a school, and
250 residents. It became the focus of an independent school district
in 1889. By the early 1890s its population had increased to 800,
and it had a variety of businesses, including a private bank (established
in 1893). Residents of Moody voted to incorporate in 1901, choosing
a mayor-council form of city government.qv The community population was reported at 848 in 1900 and at 943
in 1910; estimates were as high as 1,800 by the late 1920s. The
number of residents began to decline during the Great Depressionqv and had fallen to 931 by the 1940s. In the 1950s the population
began slowly to increase. Topographic maps of the area dating
from the 1970s showed a community with a substantial business
district, seven churches, two schools, and several residential
areas. Moody had a population of 1,385 in the 1980s and 1,329
in 1990.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dayton Kelley, ed., The Handbook
of Waco and McLennan County, Texas (Waco: Texian, 1972). William
Robert Poage, McLennan County Before 1980 (Waco: Texian,
1981). Vertical File, Texas Collection, Baylor University.
Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl
The Handbook of Texas Online is a joint project of The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the
Texas State Historical Association.
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