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developing town was known as "Cockrill's Hill" and remained so until 1857, when the townspeople applied for a post office permit and changed the name of the town to "Milton" (the name of
Cockrill's son). The application for that name was denied. After deliberation, the citizens decided to name the town "Cistern", because the water wells in the area had high mineral concentrations requiring that they use
338:. In the 1950s and 1960s, cotton became less popular as a crop, and more landowners turned to ranching and producing chickens. Some oilfields were discovered in the 1950s and 1960s, and a number of wells were drilled, although most were eventually plugged, with the land turned back into pasture. In the 1980s, Cistern had 75 residents and three businesses. In both the 1990 and 2000
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In 1900, Cistern had 150 residents and a general merchandise store, a drugstore and saloon, a blacksmith shop with a gin, and a doctor. In 1950 Cistern had 150 people, two stores, two garages. The
Cistern Post Office was discontinued in December, 1953, after which Cistern residents received mail from
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for potable water. It is said that the townspeople went to the large cistern at the mercantile store so often that the most common answer given when they were asked where they were going was "to the cistern". The
Cistern post office opened in March 1858, and the town has been known by that name
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in 1835 which early settlers called "Whiteside's
Prairie". Stark S. Cockrill, who came from Missouri in 1852, was the first settler at the hill where he built a general merchandise store. Other settlers followed soon after and the town was surveyed and platted into blocks. At that point, the
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residents. The community is focused on
Catholic and Lutheran churches, the Harmony Club, fraternal organizations, and the local school.
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374:. During some points in its history, Cistern had its own school. In 1950, Cistern had a consolidated high school with two teachers.
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U.S. Geological Survey
Geographic Names Information System: Cistern, Texas
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of land granted to John J. Whiteside by the government of
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Unincorporated communities in
Fayette County, Texas
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312:Cistern is on a hill surrounded by much flatter
18:Unincorporated community in Texas, United States
300:Cistern had a population of 75 as of the 2000
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521:"Fayette County, Her History and Her People"
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487:An Essay by Juanita Y. Beck - July 1980
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546:. Fayette County Historical Commission
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439:. Texas State Historical Association
372:Flatonia Independent School District
975:Unincorporated communities in Texas
618:Municipalities and communities of
498:"Montgomery County, TX Land Deeds"
342:, the community had 75 residents.
281:, United States. It is located on
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523:. Fayette County TXGenWeb Project
500:. Genealogy Trails History Group
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544:"Cistern: A Town of Many Names"
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567:"An Early History of Cistern"
407:"An Early History of Cistern"
96:Show map of the United States
485:An Early History Of Cistern
405:Beck (September 25, 1980).
289:. It was formerly known as
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437:"Handbook of Texas Online
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271:unincorporated community
178:466 ft (142 m)
33:Unincorporated community
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370:Cistern is within the
283:Texas State Highway 95
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621:Fayette County, Texas
214: • Summer (
125:29.81583°N 97.21861°W
948:United States portal
291:Whiteside's Prairie
130:29.81583; -97.21861
121: /
917:Black Jack Springs
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694:Fayette County map
411:The Flatonia Argus
188: • Total
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106:Coordinates:
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941:Texas portal
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759:Ammannsville
671:Fayetteville
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571:. Retrieved
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350:Cistern has
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15:
909:Ghost towns
854:Rutersville
751:communities
681:Schulenburg
636:County seat
128: /
964:Categories
894:Winchester
884:West Point
573:January 7,
550:January 7,
527:January 7,
504:January 7,
443:January 7,
416:January 7,
378:References
257:feature ID
183:Population
116:97°13′07″W
113:29°48′57″N
879:Warrenton
859:Swiss Alp
824:Oldenburg
814:Nechanitz
804:Ledbetter
784:High Hill
721:Round Top
676:La Grange
643:La Grange
469:from the
366:Education
243:Area code
197:Time zone
175:Elevation
899:Winedale
869:Walhalla
844:Rek Hill
779:Freyburg
711:Flatonia
666:Ellinger
340:censuses
336:Flatonia
327:cisterns
287:Flatonia
231:ZIP code
864:Waldeck
819:O'Quinn
799:Kirtley
764:Cistern
716:Muldoon
661:Carmine
346:Culture
314:prairie
308:History
267:Cistern
260:1332857
169:Fayette
142:Country
90:Cistern
60:Cistern
927:Stella
849:Roznov
794:Hostyn
789:Holman
769:Dubina
653:Cities
565:Beck.
474:Online
358:, and
322:Mexico
318:league
302:census
269:is an
164:County
922:Bluff
874:Warda
834:Praha
774:Engle
749:Other
703:Towns
279:Texas
236:78941
225:(CDT)
223:UTC-5
202:UTC-6
157:Texas
152:State
829:Park
739:Plum
575:2013
552:2013
529:2013
506:2013
445:2013
418:2013
293:and
255:GNIS
731:CDP
248:361
216:DST
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277:,
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204:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
