Acme is a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
in
Hardeman County, Texas
Hardeman County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 3,549. The county seat and largest city is Quanah, Texas, Quanah. The county was cre ...
, United States.
It is located 5 miles west of the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
,
Quanah.
History
A large deposit of
gypsum
Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...
was discovered by businessman James Sickler in 1890, who moved his Kansas operation to the area to exploit the deposit, and renamed it the Lone Star Cement Plaster Company, which began the city of Acme. During the initial mining of gypsum, a number of mastodon fossils were found.
Ten years later, Acme had a store, school, hotel and railroad depot. The population grew to 400 residence by 1945 as the plant become the largest of its type in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The plant closed in the 1960s, causing a decline in population, such that by 1975, only 14 permanent residents remained.
Beginning the 1980s, the
Georgia Pacific Corporation
Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, building products and r ...
began manufacturing sheetrock in the town, although no permanent residents live there.
While a few of the original buildings are still standing, including the railroad depot, many were bulldozed in the late 20th century.
References
External links
Acmeat GhostTowns.com
Ghost towns in North Texas
Populated places in Hardeman County, Texas
{{HardemanCountyTX-geo-stub