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by Ralph Terry from “The History of Coleman County and Its People,” 1985 There is very little early history about Glen Cove and even fewer pictures. Glen Cove, one of the oldest settlements in the county, was thought to have gotten its name from a cowman named Glenn, that came to the area in the 1870’s. Due to the hills and creeks forming a small bowl or cove, his camp came to be called Glenn’s Cove, later shortened to Glen Cove. Some of the early settlers were Dr. Coulson, Sam Cox, and Moses and Bell Turney. The first church was built on the Turney place, of logs, about 10 by 12 feet. Silman donated land for the school house. Sam Cox had the first general store, and the community was sometimes referred to as “Cox’s Store” in the early days. He was also the first postmaster, opening this post office in 1878 and serving about 250 people. Later doctors were Harrington and Reed. In the later days, Glen Cove was a bustling little town, made up of many houses and having many large families. Most of the people made their living from the land, growing sorghum, cotton, and other crops, as well as gardens for their own use. The town was laid out, and the streets named, by one of the local doctors. There-were two drug stores, one owned by Clarence Carr; three mercantiles, with Kent’s being the largest; two blacksmith shops, one owned by Will Abrams; a grist mill; sorghum null; grain store; flour mill ran by J. B. Allen, Jessie Perry, and Ralph Smithson; and a millinery shop. Ed Henderson owned the first gin, C. H. Hughes was the first Justice of the Peace, and there was a newspaper,called the “Idler” owned by Worth Putnam. There was a two-storied Woodman of the World lodge hall, where community socials were held during the winter. Glen Cove boasted five churches at one time, the first being the Methodist Church, constructed in 1900; the Church of Christ in 1902; the Holiness and Primitive Baptist Churches in 1906 and the Missionary Baptist Church, which did not have a building until 1947 ... only the Missionary Baptist Church remains today. The cemetery at Glen Cove was begun in 1876, when F. E. Anderson, wife of N. S., died. In
recent years, Glen Cove has dwindled to a
small community of houses, with
no store and only one church. In 1980,
the Texas Almanac lists Glen
Cove as having 40 people living in the area.
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 (Original
Photograph from Louise (Titsworth) Howard)
Above is one of the few known pictures
of Glen Cove, taken about 1905, showing a crowd
in front of the W. J. Tatum Store, Dealer in
Drugs and Sundries. Dr. J. W. James office
is to the right.
W. J. Tatum is standing on
the porch of the store, immediately behind the
horse hitched to the buggy, with his right hand on
the porch column and
has a mustache. It is noted that a
number of the people in the picture have guns,
some pointed at the man in the white
shirt, at front center. His hands are held
in such a way to suggest that he may be in
handcuffs. It is not known if
the scene was serious or if the men were just
"pranking." The carrying of guns was not too
uncommon in those days.
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