Kellyville - Texas Ghost Town

KELLYVILLE

NAME: Kellyville
COUNTY: Marion
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: Warm winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Winter, spring, fall

COMMENTS: Make sure to see the cemeteries.
REMAINS: Cemeteries and historical monument.

About four miles west of the city of Jefferson on Texas Highway 49 in Marion County is a rather large roadside park that was the site of the former town of Kellyville. Travelers along the highway stopping at the roadside park have a difficult time visualizing the area as once the site of a major industrial town. But that was Kellyville. The town was founded as a manufacturing center in 1848 by a Zachariah Lockett and a John Stewart who reasoned that freight wagons coming in and going out of Jefferson would be in need of repair. They were right. The two opened a wagon repair shop that grew into an iron foundry that produced plows and other farming equipment and tools. In 1860, George A. Kelly purchased the business and proceeded to expand its operations by adding additional manufacturing capacity. Soon there were smelters and furnaces turning out farm and agricultural equipment as well as stoves for the civilian population. In 1880, a disastrous fire destroyed the buildings and much of the equipment. Since the nearby town of Jefferson was declining as a trade center, Kelly moved his business to Longview. As soon as the factory left Kellyville, the town gradually disappeared. There is an historical monument marking the site where a once populous town existed. Of special interest are the town's two cemeteries, one for whites including the Kelly family burial plot and the other for blacks. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

About four miles west of the city of Jefferson on Texas Highway 49 in Marion County is a rather large roadside park that was the site of the former town of Kellyville. Travelers along the highway stopping at the roadside park have a difficult time visualizing the area as once the site of a major industrial town. But that was Kellyville. The town was founded as a manufacturing center in 1848 by a Zachariah Lockett and a John Stewart who reasoned that freight wagons coming in and going out of Jefferson would be in need of repair. They were right. The two opened a wagon repair shop that grew into an iron foundry that produced plows and other farming equipment and tools. In 1860, George A. Kelly purchased the business and proceeded to expand its operations by adding additional manufacturing capacity. Soon there were smelters and furnaces turning out farm and agricultural equipment as well as stoves for the civilian population. In 1880, a disastrous fire destroyed the buildings and much of the equipment. Since the nearby town of Jefferson was declining as a trade center, Kelly moved his business to Longview. As soon as the factory left Kellyville, the town gradually disappeared. There is an historical monument marking the site where a once populous town existed. Of special interest are the town's two cemeteries, one for whites including the Kelly family burial plot and the other for blacks. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

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