Mil10, TX

Who knew there is a town in Texas that shares our last name? Milton, Texas. While looking up random information tonight, I stumbled across this apparently tiny Texas town. I figured it could not be too big of a town since I was not familiar with it. Learning that Milton is southwest of Paris still didn't help me much. Zooming in with an aerial photo showed me only a handful of homes and Google's search engine offered little information.

The Handbook of Texas Online did provide some insight.

MILTON, TEXAS (Lamar County). Milton, on Farm Road 1501 sixteen miles southeast of Paris in southeastern Lamar County, was settled around the time of the Civil War and was originally known as Minton. A post office was established there under the name Milton in 1874; by 1890 the town had a Methodist church, a general store, two combination gristmills and gins, a saw mill, and a dry goods store. A Milton school was in operation by 1896; in 1906 it had an enrollment of sixty-five. The post office closed in 1907, but the town's population continued to grow during the second and third decade of the twentieth century; in the early 1930s 300 residents and four businesses were reported. Since that time Milton has steadily declined. The school and all of the businesses were closed after World War II, and by the early 1970s only a church, a cemetery, and a few scattered houses remained in the area. In 1990 Milton was a dispersed rural community with an estimated population of fifty. The population grew to 80 in 2000.

It may not be the most famous Texas town, but there is a cool association having a town share your last name. Last summer we visited Milton, Florida for that very reason.

Entering Milton, Florida's Historic District. Edie took this photo through the passenger side window while I was driving.

What was the highlight of the visit? The Santa Rosa County Veterans Memorial Plaza. The memorial is "dedicated to the veterans of the United States of America - America's heroes of centuries past and freedom's defenders of days to come."

The Defending Eagle – A bronze statue placed at the entrance of the park. The Defending Eagle has an approximate 12-foot wingspan. The American Bald Eagle is probably the single most recognized symbol of freedom. The Eagle is in a stance of defense, claws dug in, wings out and upward and the head will be tilted at an angle listening for danger. He is ready to defend. On the base of the Eagle is inscribed, “Freedom.”