Turnersville is a town located in Coryell County, Texas

Coryell County, Texas

Coryell County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 74,978. The county seat is Gatesville. Coryell County forms part of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 approximately 40 miles (64.4 km) west of Waco, Texas

Waco, Texas

Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....

 and approximately 12 miles (19.3 km) north-northeast of Gatesville, Texas

Gatesville, Texas

Gatesville is a city in and the county seat of Coryell County in Central Texas, United States of America. The population was 15,591 at the 2000 census...

. The town sits approximately two miles southwest of the intersection of FM217 and FM182 at 31° 30' 00"N, 097° 37' 30"W
The Middle Bosque River flows through the center of town while the Goldy's Branch flows just north of town. The two branches come together less than 1/2 mile east of the community and continue east southeast to Lake Waco.

History

the following text is taken from an article written by Essie Brim Leach for the Handbook of Texas Onlinehttp://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/index.html

Both the Chisholm Trail

Chisholm Trail

The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the late 19th century to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The portion of the trail marked by Jesse Chisholm went from his southern trading post near the Red River, to his northern trading post near Kansas City, Kansas...

 and Bosque trail were supposed to have gone through the area. In 2004 the Lone Tree, one of the oldest landmarks in the county, still stood two miles east of the townsite. In the 1860s it guided travelers, settlers, and cow drivers to a plentiful water supply, a flowing spring on the open prairie of lush rangeland, abundant with buffalo

American Bison

The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...

, deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, horses, and longhorn

Texas longhorn (cattle)

The Texas Longhorn is a breed of cattle known for its characteristic horns, which can extend to tip to tip for steers and exceptional cows, and tip to tip for bulls. Horns can have a slight upward turn at their tips or even triple twist. Texas Longhorns are known for their diverse coloring...

 cattle. The town that eventually developed at this spring, where all travelers camped, was named after Cal Turner, who settled there to shoe horses and repair wagons. Thus his blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 shop was the first business in town. By 1868 the original Presbyterian church also served the community as a school. A post office named Turnersville opened there in 1875. The first postmaster

Postmaster

A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...

 was Joseph M. Black, who later donated five acres of land for a cemetery. In 1885 Turnersville had a population of 300, served by a school, three churches, a gristmill, a cotton gin, and some eight other businesses. That year a Masonic lodge was established. The town shipped primarily grain and cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

. Turnersville prospered from 1895 to around 1916, largely because of the local cotton economy. In 1916 it had 162 residents, Methodist, Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

, Presbyterian, and Disciples of Christ churches, and some ten businesses, including a newspaper called the Advance. The Turnersville population steadily declined during the later 1900s. In 1968 the school was closed. The post office was closed in 1987, but a new fire station was built in 1988. By 1989 the town reported 155 residents and four businesses. At this time Turnersville still has an active cemetery association, which sponsors an annual homecoming on the Sunday before Memorial Day in May. The town still includes a seed and fertilizer company, a construction company, a grain elevator, and a community center, and several local farms and ranches and let's not forget the last active church in town the Baptist Church, (www.tvillebaptist.com) The towns children currently go to either the Jonesboro ISD or the Gatesville ISD.http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/hlt37.html

Geology

Turnersville sits on the Washita geological group. Major formations within the area include Buda limestone, Del Rio clay, Georgetown limestone, including beds equivalent to Kiamichi clay at base.http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_16351.htm