About half an hour south of Fort Worth is the
small town of Midlothian.
Small towns in Texas
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| Cement Capitol Sign |
usually have some interesting or quirky story behind them
and they just may have a good restaurant or two. Since it was a pretty day, we
decided to take a drive in the country. Now known as the Cement Capitol of
Texas, Midlothian began its life as Peters Colony in the midst of Indian
country. William Alden Hawkins and Larkin Newton were founding members of the
colony, building houses by July 1, 1848 and thus meeting the requirements for
claiming 640 acres of land, each. But, for the settlement to become a viable
town, Sam Houston had to achieve peace between the settlers and the Tonkawa Indians.
Once the treaty was established, other tribes that hunted in the area, the
Wacos, Kickapoos, Bidias, and Anadarkos, also had to agree to honor the terms.
The early residents made their living by trapping and hunting but incoming colonists
began to establish cattle ranches and cotton fields. Cattle and cotton
production led to the coming of the railroads, linking Dallas, Cleburn, Enis
and Fort Worth; this prompted the change of the town’s name from Peters Colony
to Midlothian – midpoint of the railways.
