Speegleville is an
unincorporated community located in
McLennan County
McLennan County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 260,579 . Its county seat and largest city is Waco. The U.S. census 2021 county population estimate is 263,115. The county is ...
in
Central Texas
Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas surrounding Austin and roughly bordered by San Saba to Bryan and San Marcos to Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to a ph ...
. Speegleville is a
Suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
in the
Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community is located along
Texas State Highway 6 around 8 miles to the west of the City of
Waco on the western edge of
Lake Waco
Lake Waco is a man-made reservoir located just northwest of Waco, in McLennan County, Texas, which serves as the western border for the city of Waco (pop. 135,858). This reservoir provides water to several cities in the Waco Metropolitan Stati ...
. The population of Speegleville was 111 at the time of the 2000 Census. As of 2010 Speegleville continued to maintain a volunteer fire department, elementary school, and 3 churches. Speegleville Park is a
US Army Corps of Engineers maintained recreational area with a public beach and campgrounds located on
Lake Waco
Lake Waco is a man-made reservoir located just northwest of Waco, in McLennan County, Texas, which serves as the western border for the city of Waco (pop. 135,858). This reservoir provides water to several cities in the Waco Metropolitan Stati ...
.
Speegleville was named for Israel Washington Speegle, a blacksmith and farmer who came to the area from Jasper County, Missouri, in 1849. A Baptist congregation, which was organized in 1859 as the Pleasant Grove Church, shared a building with the local school. The Speegleville post office operated from 1879 until 1929. Speegle was the first postmaster. Speegleville had a population of twenty-five in the mid-1880s and fifty by the early 1890s. In 1896 the community had two general stores, and the principal occupation of area residents was stock raising. That year the Speegleville school district had seventy-seven students and one teacher. Construction of Waco Dam in the late 1920s forced several residents to move their homes or businesses. Residents were forced to move again in the late 1950s and early 1960s because of the construction of the new Lake Waco dam. The original townsite was destroyed, and Speegleville became a scattered collection of houses instead of an organized town. The Speegleville Independent School District was consolidated with the Midway Independent School District in 1980. Population estimates for the community remained at 111 from 1900 through 2000.
Notable people that have lived in Speegleville.
Congressman Joe Barton worked for his uncle Calvin Buice at the Speegleville Store when he was a teenager during the summers.
Johnny Watkins hosted a farm and ranch show on channel 6 KCEN and was a local celebrity.
References & Links
Handbook of Texas Online entry for Speegleville, TexasSpeegleville Methodist Church HomepageSpeegleville ElementarySpeegleville Creek Clubhouse
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Unincorporated communities in Texas
Unincorporated communities in McLennan County, Texas