People, Places & Events

Bank treats top MHS grads to trip
By Barbara Gartman
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK–Talk about a touch of class – for 21 years, the First State Bank in Mabank has hosted the top graduates at Mabank High School for a trip to one of the most exclusive dinner clubs in Dallas.
“We just wanted to show our appreciation for their accomplishments,” vice president and branch manager of First State Bank Athens, Mabank Branch Ronnie Davis explained.
The students, dressed in their finest, were treated to a tour of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and afterwards were taken to the Thanksgiving Tower Club for dinner.
With floor-to-ceiling windows, the 50-story structure provided a view of downtown Dallas the students are not likely to soon forget.
Accompanying the students on their excursion were Davis, MHS principal Brad Koskelin, assistant principal Jes Satterwhite, Brent Fisher and Dr. Russell Marshall, Mabank Independent School District superintendent.


Monitor Photo/Barbara Gartman
The top 20 Mabank High School graduates were treated to a tour of the Meyerson
Symphony Center in Dallas and to dinner atop Thanksgiving Tower May 1. Pictured
are (not in order) Erica Umana, Lauren Hamilton, Shalynna Stinnett, Kathryn Fillmore,
Natalie Tovar, Melody Cook, Kevin Liggitt, David Stallings, Heather Sanchez, Shelby
Smith, Amber Tyler, Anthony McLaughlin, Rosa Sanchez Rubio, Jason Delong, Rocio
Quintanilla, Cordell Hewitt, T.J. Dally, Amber Cook, Matt Hughes and Kolton Browning.

Marker commemorates
now-vanished community
Monitor Staff Reports
EUSTACE–A Texas Historical Commission marker will be unveiled at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 16, marking the former Ham-Pauline community near Eustace.
Like Mabank and Eustace, Ham (as it was originally known) grew up around the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, and relocation of the railroad proved to be the final blow against a community that had seen more than its share of tough times.
The marker site is on Pecan Road, just off State Highway 334, east of Gun Barrel City and west of the U.S. Highway 175 intersection.
The following history was prepared and submitted to the Texas Historical Commission by Fran Adair Bethea Oct. 10, 2007.
Origin and history
In an effort to create a more direct path to Dallas, the Texas and New Orleans Railroad purchased a 28-acre line of property in 1898 from a large land owner, M.H. “Ham” Gossett. This property was four miles northwest of Eustace and four miles southeast of Mabank on the H.M. Strode Survey A-695 in Henderson County.
Train tracks were completed by 1900 and land along the tracks quickly sold. About 1900, a small town named Ham had been created and named after Gossett, a local lawyer and county attorney. The nearby town of Mabank was created at nearly the same time.
With the railroad providing a way to quickly move produce and cattle to market, farmers and other prospective business owners began to move into the area. It had fertile land for growing different varieties of fruits, vegetables and cotton, and was quite accommodating for raising livestock.
In 1903, it was reported 40 small tracts, each 40 to 50 acres, were purchased for farming. A community water well followed, which was used to fill the train steam engines.
A local merchandise store was opened by Beckworth, which also housed the first post office. Richard D. Morton was the first postmaster at Ham, serving from Aug. 2, 1901, until June 5, 1902.
By 1903, a school had been built, along with two other general merchandise stores, Raby’s and Meredith’s, which were followed by a cotton gin and a church.
Other postmasters were William H. Wiles (Aug. 16, 1902), Charles L. Cramer (April 10, 1907), Henry M. Faulk (April 11, 1912), Oscar Henderson (Dec. 12, 1912), Matthew H. Hendley (Jan. 9, 1914), William G. Pate (June 5, 1914), James H. Banks (April 23, 1915) and Joe D. Banks (Nov. 9, 1917).
The final postmaster was David S. Meredith, who began service July 10, 1920. The post office was dissolved March 15, 1921, and all mail began being routed through Eustace Post Office.
Name change
The most remembered postmaster – and romantic piece of history linked to this town – was Faulk.
Faulk was born 1874 in North Carolina and homesteaded in the area, where he served a schoolteacher, as well as a member of the Masonic Lodge. During his tenure as postmaster, he became fond of a beautiful young schoolteacher, Pauline Riddle.
In an effort to win her admiration, he made an official request to the people to change the town’s name from Ham to Pauline. The people of the community accepted the request, and the name was officially changed to Pauline in April, 1912.
Unfortunately, after changing the community name to Pauline; the young lady was not persuaded by Faulk’s endeavors. Miss Riddle announced her engagement and marriage to William H. Owen in 1913.
Heartbroken, Faulk remained postmaster for only a short time before leaving Dec. 11, 1912. He continued to live in the area until 1924, at which time he moved to Arkansas, but he returned to the community and remained in Pauline until his death June 6, 1948.
Community school
Pauline featured a church building used by all religious beliefs, and as an arbor for summer meetings, town meetings and other social events.
The school in Pauline was a simple wooden one-room structure, located on a two-acre tract east of the train tracks. Most of the two acres was used as a play area for the children.
As the population grew, a second room was added and connected by a small covered porch, which became a stage for performances by the children and other social ceremonies.
“That’s the whole reasoning for having the Avanti choir and other performers there, to get that flavor of holding performances (on the old school porch),” event organizer Christi Barrett said. “I thought that would be really neat.”
Decline
By 1920, there were two teachers, who taught an average of 35 to 45 students through the 1930s. The decline of the school started during the destructive years of the Great Depression.
There was no such thing as federal school funding during the Great Depression, and by Feb. 28,1935, school terms were being shortened to cut costs.
May 6, 1940, community members voted 27 to 9 to consolidate with the Eustace School District, ending the Pauline school.
In 1942, Joe D. Banks purchased the two acres, with the old school building, for $25, and tore down the structure to utilize the land as pasture. In 2005, the Romine family purchased the schoolhouse property, then cleared and marked the area for people to visit and learn the history of the community.
During the 1930s, a cannery was built on the west side of the train tracks across from the Meredith and Raby store, with the aim of increasing railroad trade, but the cannery closed in 1970 when the railroads relocated their tracks.
In 1998, the cannery and land was purchased by the Romine family.
The voting house was a small personal home located north of the cannery on one acre that once belonged to Richard D. Morton.
People from the surrounding area came to the house to vote between 1940 and 1960. Edwin B. and Dixie Cox ran the polls for many years.
Even though the house has changed owners several times during the years, it is still in existence. It has been slightly altered and moved about 100 yards west of the original site.
In 1940, another store was built in Pauline and operated by Tom Jackson. It served as a gas station and grocery store, and also sold livestock feed.
Around 1952, the Kirkpatrick family purchased the store and ran the business until about 1960. Although the business is no longer there, the structure still exists.
In 1950, a motel with a gas station was built in Pauline. The motel had four bedrooms and was operated by the station owners.
The town of Pauline was often referred to as the “town of love and friendship.” However, the long economic struggles of Prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II and the fall of cotton as the state’s number-one agricultural crop, combined with the school’s closing, effectively killed the community.
Buildings were torn down or abandoned as residents moved to surrounding towns or larger cities, particularly during the Depression, when many residents abandoned farming – always a risky occupation at best – to seek jobs in the Dallas area.
It wasn’t long before the trees, vines, and shrubbery would drape over the once-used pathways and roadways, and even the train tracks that were once avenues of commerce.
Remembering
In 1970, the Texas Railroad Commission marked a dot on the map to represent the little town that was once called Pauline, but after the relocation of the railroad in 1976, the community’s demise was official. As of today, there isn’t a dot on the map for Pauline, only faded memories of sweetness, romance, friendly faces, lively festivities, hard work, and even harder times.
When you walk the area where the heart of Pauline once thrived, you can feel the warmth and peace That must have been felt by the people who lived there or visited the once-thriving little hamlet of Ham and Pauline.

National Nursing Home Week
celebrated May 10-16
Special to The Monitor
MALAKOFF–Cedar Lake Nursing Home (CLNH) of Malakoff welcomes everyone to join them for National Nursing Home Week, May 10-16.
The theme of National Nursing Home Week is “Nurturing a Love that Lasts.”
“‘Nurturing a Love that Lasts” will encourage all to think of generations of parents and grandparents nurturing future generations to carry on life and family traditions,” CLNH administrator and director of operations Douglas “Sonny” Humble said.
CLNH will be holding special events every day of the week to showcase residents and give them a chance to shine.
“Come and be part of our residents’ remarkable achievements and witness first hand the beauty and joy that are the motivating force behind Cedar Lake Nursing Home’s quality long term care,” Humble said.
Events include:
• Sunday, 2:30 p.m. Mother’s Day Tea with Elvis
• Monday, 1 p.m. Balloon lift off
• Monday, 2:30 p.m. Yesteryear’s Group
• Tuesday, 2:30 p.m. Log Cabin Swingers
• Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. Antique Road Show
• Thursday, 2:30 p.m. Senior Prom with music, dancing and food
• Friday, morning: Antique cars and cookout
• Friday, 2:30 p.m. Red Hat Ladies
“Many nursing home residents are the people who planted the seeds that have made our community grow stronger,” Humble said.
“They have been the teachers, the business people, the parents and other central figures who produced all of the good things that we now enjoy.
“This week gives us a chance to honor these special residents, as well as the families, staff, volunteers, and community,” he added.
CLNH has been owned and operated by the Humble family for more than 40 years.
National Nursing Home Week is sponsored annually by the American Health Care Association.
For more information about events during Nursing Home Week, call Cedar Lake Nursing Home at (903) 489-1702.