Sardis (Hurley Station - Saralvo)   Sardis is four miles northwest of Waxahachie on the old US Hwy 287. It is located on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The area was first settled as early as 1845 by Allen Roe. In 1858, Captain william Wade Peevy settled on 414 acres in the area. This is one of the earliest camp-meeting grounds for the Methodist Church in this part of the state. Robert "Bobby" Mayfield moved to this area from Reagor Springs in his later years. Green Curry came later, too, along with his sons, John, Sam, Dave, Al, Tom, Charley and several daughters. Other early settlers of the area were W. E. Middleton, J. S. Middleton and Nat Grimes. Alf Forbes, Mr. Mundan, Sam Hilburn and Capt. Peevy cleared off the ground for the first camp meeting ever held in Sardis. The "Union" church building was first jointly occupied by the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Cumberland Presbyterian denominations. Rev. F. M. Winburn was the pastor for the Methodist and Professor Criddle filled the pulpit for the latter. By 1891, the community had three churches and several businesses, including a cotton gin, general store and blacksmith shop. The first post office was named Hurley Station and began operation in November 1886. It continued under this name until 1888, when the name was changed to Saralvo. By 1904, Saralvo had a population of 152. In 1907, the post office was discontinued, and the community again changed the name to Sardis. The population declined from one hundred fifty in 1933 to thirty in 1947. A grocery store, filling station, Methodist church and a cemetery were about all that was left of the old Saralvo or Sardis. However, if you visit this location today, you will see many new buildings and housing additions surroumding the nucleus of the old town. References: A Memorial and Biographical History of Ellis County, Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago. 1892 "SARDIS, TX" The Handbook of Texas Online "Our Suburban Neighbors," Walter Reeves, Midlothian, Tex.   Copyright © 2002-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:17:25 MDT