Old Boston 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 Bowie County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 100 in 2000. It is located within the Texarkana metropolitan area.

History

Old Boston was settled in the early 1830s and named for store owner W. J. Boston. It was selected as the county seat of the newly formed county in 1841. A post office was established at Old Boston in 1846 with LD Vandike as postmaster. Old Boston became a thriving farm community and was home to several wealthy planters who lived on the Red River. Its population zenith was reported to be between 300 and 400 during the 1860s. In 1876, the

Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. History Under the influence of ...

passed four miles north of Old Boston, prompting a population shift to the tracks, forming the community of New Boston. This caused the population of the original

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

community to shrink to just 75 residents in the early 1880s. By the middle of that decade, Texarkana became the county seat, causing the population to continue to go down to 50. It eventually began to be called Old Boston when the county seat was proposed by residents to be in the

geographic center In geography, the centroid of the two-dimensional shape of a region of the Earth's surface (projected radially to sea level or onto a geoid surface) is known as its geographic centre or geographical centre or (less commonly) gravitational centre. I ...

of the county and the post office moved 2.5 miles north of the original Boston. There were two businesses, three churches, and a cemetery in Old Boston in 1984. In 2000, the population was 100. The community was established while Texas was still a part of Mexico. Mail was delivered to the community from

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

on horseback. A

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

was formed in Old Boston to fight during the Texas Revolution. Several stores surrounded the courthouse. Texas governors Hardin R. Runnels and SWT Lanham lived here for a time.

Geography

Old Boston is located south of New Boston in south-central Bowie County. It is also located south of

Texas State Highway 8 State Highway 8 (SH 8) is a north–south state highway that runs from the Red River, the Texas-Arkansas boundary, north of New Boston to SH 155 at Linden. History SH 8 was one of the original twenty five state highways on June 21, 19 ...

Education

Old Boston is served by the

New Boston Independent School District New Boston Independent School District is a public school district based in New Boston, Texas ( USA). In addition to New Boston, the district also serves the community of Boston. In 2009, the school district was rated "academically acceptable" ...

. It had 3 private schools in operation for a time.

References

{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Bowie County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas