Francitas

The French name came before the Nebraskans. A small colony of French families settled here in the late 1890s, and railroad employees soon called the place Francitas. In 1910 land bought from Lafayette Ward, a local rancher, was surveyed into more town lots, and in 1911 C. O. Hardy became first postmaster. By 1914 the town was a stop on the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway, with hardware and furniture stores, a bank, a weekly paper and a telephone. Its population peaked at 300 in 1940 and fell to thirty by 1988.

What the plaque says

Francitas The LaBauve family moved here from Louisiana in the 1800s; many are buried in nearby LaBauve Cemetery. After the railroad came in 1906, Nebraskans John G. Maher and William F. Schwind founded the Valley Fruit Farm and Garden Co. to promote the new town of Francitas (Spanish for "Little France"). A trainload of Nebraskans arrived the day before the townsite's grand opening on Dec. 10, 1910. By then, Francitas boasted the Nebraska Inn, a lumber yard, canning factory, artesian well, houses and a newspaper. The first sales funded a schoolhouse. A church, post office and depot all opened soon after. Francitas grew to 450 people within a year and soon boasted several crops and settlers from many states. The population later decreased. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• First United Methodist Church of Ganado — 16 mi
• Little School of the 400 — 16 mi
• Ganado — 16 mi
• Olivia — 17 mi