Clairette is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
located in
Erath County in
Central Texas. Clairette is situated in the southern part of the county along
Texas State Highway 6
State Highway 6 (SH 6) runs from the Red River, the Texas–Oklahoma state line, to northwest of Galveston, where it is known as the Old Galveston Highway. In Sugar Land and Missouri City, it is known as Alvin-Sugarland Road and runs per ...
and the
Bosque River
The Bosque River ( ) is a long river in Central Texas fed by four primary branches. The longest branch, the North Bosque, forms near Stephenville, and flows toward Waco through Hamilton, Bosque and McLennan counties. It is subsequently joined ...
5 miles northwest of
Hico, and 16 miles to the east of
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
. Clairette was founded during the 1880s when the Texas Central line part of the historic
Katy Railroad
Katy or KATY may refer to:
People
* Katy, a short form of the name Katherine
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* Katy (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a fictional character
* Katy Perry
Places Serbia
* Kać, Serbia ( hu, Káty, link=no)
United States
* Katy, Mi ...
was constructed through the
townsite A townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a town or community. In the historical development of the United States, Canada, and other former British colonial nations, the filing of a townsite plat (United States) or plan ( ...
on its way from the
Waco
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
area to
Stamford with a branch to
Cross Plains from the line at
De Leon. The
Katy abandoned the line through Clairette in the late 1960s. Clairette was named after a now
defunct
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* ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014
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See also
*
* :Former entities
* End-of-life product
* Obsolescence
Obsolescence is t ...
brand of soap that was popular at the time. At its peak, Clairette had a population of around 300 however, from the 1970s through the 2000s Clairette's population remained at a steady 60. Clairette declined due to the removal of the railroad but also the construction of nearby
US Highway 281 and the improvement of
Texas State Highway 6
State Highway 6 (SH 6) runs from the Red River, the Texas–Oklahoma state line, to northwest of Galveston, where it is known as the Old Galveston Highway. In Sugar Land and Missouri City, it is known as Alvin-Sugarland Road and runs per ...
which allowed for easier commuting to larger nearby areas.
References
Texas Escapes Online entry for ClairetteKaty Railroad Historical Society websiteHandbook of Texas Online entry for Clairette, Texas
{{Coord, 32, 03, 33, N, 98, 12, 22, W, type:city_region:US-TX_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title
Unincorporated communities in Texas
Unincorporated communities in Erath County, Texas
Ghost towns in North Texas