Dodd City, Texas -- September 8, 1873 - 2023

Part 3 in a series by Andy & Sherri Weeks

Dodd City, Texas -- The fall of 1873 was a busy time in the new railroad town of Dodd City. The tracks were being laid, construction on the depot was moving fast and land was being purchased for businesses and homes.  One of the first new buildings was the Stephens House, a hotel located north of the depot on the NE corner of Hwy 56 and N. Main.

Another was the General Merchandise store located across main street from the hotel. The Nov. 21, 1884 Dodd City Weekly Spectator ad states the store “now in its eleventh year” lets us know it was established in the fall of 1873. The hotel and store were co-owned by Benjamin Logan Royse and Hugh R. Stephens. Mr. Royse was married to the daughter of Hugh, Mary Texalina (Texie) Stephens, and granddaughter of George Stephens of the Stephensville community, now known as Lannius. The Stephens family had several land grants in the area and had a store in Stephensville named “Stephens & Lanius.”  That store was broken into on June 2, 1881 per Dallas Morning News 6-3-1881 news clip. The hotel in Dodd City was burglarized sixteen days later per the Galveston Daily News clip.

The Stephens’ married into families like;  Biggs, Moore, Wallace, Lanius, Kincaid and Sadler all who became a part of Fannin County and Dodd City history.  (more on this in the next article)