Richards founded without residents in 1907
The Grimes County town of Richards was founded in 1907 when a railroad laid track for the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway in a south to north line in the eastern section of the county.
Richards initially was founded on uninhabited land. The first houses and businesses were trundled in on log rollers. Yes, on log rollers, according to the Richards history addressed in the History of Grimes County, Land of Heritage and Progress book, written by James T. Montgomery, issued in 1982. It was reprinted in the Grimes County Historical Commission February 2017 newsletter. Among the nearby communities were Fairview also known as Dolph, and Longstreet to the east of Lake Creek.
The most talked about Richard’s dwelling was the moving of James Lieb’s family home from Longstreet.
Longstreet was located about four rugged miles to the east of the new town of Richards. It was in Montgomery County east beyond the bridgeless Lake Creek. Lieb was a well-educated German immigrant who had purchased about 500 acres of land on which he farmed and ran cattle. He practiced law as well as veterinary medicine though it was not known if he had such formal training in those professions. He was married and the father of five children. Longstreet was a vibrant community that boasted both shoot outs and thievery as well as a “safe-haven” for law-abiding citizens.
Lieb attended the barbeque on July 1st, 1907, that celebrated the initial run of a passenger car on the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad. This new location was named Richards for a banker associated with the railroad, W. E. Richards.
The emergence of a railroad convinced Lieb that the town of Longstreet would soon be come a ghost town. However, he did not want to abandon his well-constructed six room home that featured extended porches. Plans were soon underway to move his home by means of log rollers. The home would be trundled those four miles across Lake Creek without bridges that involved descending the creek’s steep bank and climbing back up the steep bank on the far side to the new town of Richards.
The only possible aid across Lake Creek was a hop-scotch pattern of rocks. How Lieb managed to log roll the house with its extended porches down the steep bank across the rocks and up another steep bank with only the use of logs pulled by mules was a miracle. It was done over several weeks with the mules harnessed to singletrees and with gin poles to help control the logs. During overnight stops the family is said to have bunkered in the house itself. He located his home on a hill overlooking the railroad.
People of the surrounding communities also saw advantages of moving to the new railroad town. They put their belongings and merchandise on wagons and some of their buildings also on log rollers and relocated to Richards.
Others from nearby Fairview (Dolph) also relocated homes by log roll. Some of those families from near the new town of Richards that relocated were named Gilmore, Hill, Collins, and Oliver.
When a post office was established at Richards, Jim Lieb became postmaster. Lieb also opened a loan and legal office across from the railroad depot.
Soon the bustling town of Richards existed.
Written by Betty Dunn of Two Rivers Heritage Foundation. See www.tworiversheritagefoundation.org) for more info and merchandise.