PROSPERITY VISITS EARLY DAY HICO
The move to new Hico and the Texas Central Railroad in 1880 proved to be a very good decision.  Between 1880 and 1900 cotton farming, grain production, and sheep and cattle ranching expanded dramatically.  This occurred in spite of the town being virtually destroyed by fire in 1890; a fire first destroyed the east side of Pecan street and, only a few weeks later, a second fire ravaged the west side of Pecan.  As you can see today, the wise townspeople decided to rebuild in stone and brick.

It is difficult to appreciate how prosperous the Hico community was in its early years.  There were two engines that powered this prosperity: the railroad, which made Hico the shipping center, and “King Cotton”.  In 1880 approximately 6,900 acres were planted in cotton and by 1890 the number exploded to 21,000 acres.  In 1900 the number exceeded 47,000 acres and by 1910, 79,000 acres in the county were devoted to cotton.  In addition, acres devoted to wheat and corn grew significantly as did cattle and sheep production.

The photographs from the late 1800’s through the early 1920’s reflect this prosperity, with men and women wearing fine clothes while going about their normal day-to-day activities and business.  Clearly, a sense of pride and well-being is reflected in the everyday attire so frequently shown in the photos.  However, this pleasant circumstance was not to be long-lived.  Growth and prosperity peaked shortly after 1910, following competition from two new rail lines in Hamilton County (1907) and the unexpected appearance of the devastating boll weevil which was moving across all of Texas.  Growth in Hico began to stagnate, but the nation’s prosperity in the 1920’s buffered the erosion of the town’s engines of growth.  However, the depression years were a very different story.