Old Dime Box is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Lee County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had an estimated population of 200 in 2000.

Geography

Old Dime Box is situated along State Highway 21 in northeastern Lee County, approximately three miles northwest of Dime Box and 14 miles north of Giddings.

History

The community originated in either the late 1860s or early 1870s. The settlement was first known as Brown's Mill, but was later changed to Dime Box. The origin of the name "Dime Box" stemmed from a custom in which early settlers would use a large, wooden box to forward and receive mail, or order small items from a carrier on horseback traveling to nearby Giddings. In 1913, when the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

built a line three miles southeast of the community, most of the residents and businesses moved to a site near the tracks. From that point onward, the original settlement became known as Old Dime Box and the new community was referred to as Dime Box or New Dime Box. A Texas Historical Marker was erected in 1968 that honored Old Dime Box as the second oldest community in Lee County. The community had a population of approximately 200 residents in 1970 with several businesses. The population remained stable through 2000.

Education

Public education in the community of Old Dime Box is provided by the Dime Box Independent School District. The district has one campus, Dime Box School, that serves students in grades pre-kindergarten through twelve.

References

External links

* {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Lee County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas