Killeen
The story of Killeen is aptly called "a tale of two cities." Killeen was founded on May 15, 1882, when the first Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company (GC&SF) locomotive arrived from east Bell County. The original town contained 360 acres purchased from Susan Spofford for $960. GC&SF honored its assistant general manager, Frank Patrick Killeen, by naming the new town for him, although he probably never visited his namesake. During its first 60 years, Killeen developed into a busy agricultural center specializing in cotton and wool. It remained a town of approximately 1,200 until 1942, when a tank destroyer center was opened nearby and became Killeen's close neighbor—physically, economically, and socially—displacing farms and ranches and converting the town from an agricultural to a military-based economy. That conversion and Killeen's boomtown future were sealed in 1950, when Camp Hood, the tank destroyer center named for Confederate general John Bell Hood, became a permanent military installation and was renamed Fort Hood.
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Killeen
The story of Killeen is aptly called "a tale of two cities." Killeen was founded on May 15, 1882, when the first Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company (GC&SF) locomotive arrived from east Bell County. The original town contained 360 acres purchased from Susan Spofford for $960. GC&SF honored its assistant general manager, Frank Patrick Killeen, by naming the new town for him, although he probably never visited his namesake. During its first 60 years, Killeen developed into a busy agricultural center specializing in cotton and wool. It remained a town of approximately 1,200 until 1942, when a tank destroyer center was opened nearby and became Killeen's close neighbor—physically, economically, and socially—displacing farms and ranches and converting the town from an agricultural to a military-based economy. That conversion and Killeen's boomtown future were sealed in 1950, when Camp Hood, the tank destroyer center named for Confederate general John Bell Hood, became a permanent military installation and was renamed Fort Hood.
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Killeen

Killeen

Killeen

Killeen

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Overview

The story of Killeen is aptly called "a tale of two cities." Killeen was founded on May 15, 1882, when the first Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company (GC&SF) locomotive arrived from east Bell County. The original town contained 360 acres purchased from Susan Spofford for $960. GC&SF honored its assistant general manager, Frank Patrick Killeen, by naming the new town for him, although he probably never visited his namesake. During its first 60 years, Killeen developed into a busy agricultural center specializing in cotton and wool. It remained a town of approximately 1,200 until 1942, when a tank destroyer center was opened nearby and became Killeen's close neighbor—physically, economically, and socially—displacing farms and ranches and converting the town from an agricultural to a military-based economy. That conversion and Killeen's boomtown future were sealed in 1950, when Camp Hood, the tank destroyer center named for Confederate general John Bell Hood, became a permanent military installation and was renamed Fort Hood.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780738596044
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date: 03/25/2013
Series: Images of America Series
Pages: 128
Product dimensions: 6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

In tracing the colorful "tale of two cities," Annette S. Lucksinger and Gerald D. Skidmore Sr. have used photographs from the collection of the Killeen Area Heritage Association, as well as other sources, to describe the history of Killeen, which is today one of Texas's largest and most diverse cities.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Uncharted Frontier: Hardy Souls Endure Early History 9

2 Lively Beginnings: The Railroad Creates a Town (1882) 19

3 Killeen's Development: Photographs Record Progress 39

4 Education: Killeen Prizes Schools, One Room to Major University 57

5 Global Killeen: Fort Hood Brings Diversity and Change 71

6 Celebrated Residents and Visitors: Special People Brighten Killeen History 87

7 Memorable Occasions: Happy or Tragic, Killeen Remembers 101

8 Further Expansion: Killeen Continues to Make History 113

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