While
in Snyder, please visit the Cornelius-Dobson House, (the oldest Texas
state Medallion House) and the Dermott School (1923 vintage) located in
Heritage Village on the grounds of the Scurry County Coliseum.
If
you call ahead costumed docents will guide you through the historical
building telling about its life and people of yesterday. The
Cornelius-Dodson house will be 125 years old in 2008. The
buildings are open by appointment. Call Jean Everett (325)
573-2763 or Elyndabeth Toland (325) 572-0765.
Both will be closed until Oct. '07 for repairs. |
Dermott
School
Pete
McDermott donated the land for
the town site, so it was named after his surname minus the Mc.
A post office was granted in 1902.
The Dermott School was constructed at
a cost of $4,000.00 in 1923-24 in Dermott, Texas.
In 1949, the Dermott school district was
consolidated with the Snyder Independent School District and the
building ceased serving as a school.
For a number of years afterward it was
used
by various churches. In 1988, the school was moved
twelve miles to Snyder where it was placed on the coliseum grounds and
restored through the efforts of Historic Scurry County, Inc., the
Scurry County Historical
Commission, and the community. Half of
the school serves as a meeting room with kitchen and rest room and half
serves as a school museum and storage.
Dermott moved according to the script
of the old familiar story of “live next to the railroad or
die.” First it was the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific
Railroad, but when the Santa Fe added cattle loading pens, the town
moved a second time.
A short lived oil boom from 1949 to
1951, helped a little, but the population declined until
it reached the present population of 5 persons.
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Cornelius-Dodson House
The oldest house still in Snyder is
the A.D. Dodson home
that was built by Dr. J.C. Cornelius in 1883. He was a
Confederate veteran and pioneer doctor who moved to Snyder intending to
retire. Because of the great need for doctors here, he
continued to practice for a few years.
In 1884, A.D. Dodson, a former
Tennessee schoolteacher, bought the house. He had moved to
Snyder from Johnson County in 1892. Here he
traded horses and was a stock farmer before he became a merchant with a
store on the Snyder Square.
The house remained in the Dodson
family until 1979 when it was sold to First Federal Saving and
Loan. First Federal gave the house to Historic
Scurry County, Inc. after concluding that the house could not be
rehabilitated successfully for its office needs.
Historic Scurry County, Inc. has
launched a campaign to renovate the Dodson House for its
125th anniversary in 2008. This project will involve
stabilizing the foundation, installing a new porch, repairing the
windows and doors, repapering the interior, replacing one air
conditioning unit, and painting the fence. The
total cost for this work amounts to $85,700.
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Please consider making a
tax-deductible donation to the refurbishment of the Dodson
House.
Make checks payable to:
Historic Scurry County, Inc.
c/o
Elyndabeth Toland
2511 34th Street
Snyder, TX 79459
(325) 573-0765
This link
is supported by the Texas Historical Commission.
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