KILDARE, TEXAS. Kildare is at the junction of Farm roads 125 and 248, eight miles southeast of Linden in southeastern Cass County. It developed in the early 1870s around large sawmills and a station on the Texas and Pacific Railway. When a post office was established in 1874 it was named Kildare, in honor of one of the railroad officials. In addition to sawmills the town had two churches, a school, and a population estimated at 200 by 1884. In 1890 the construction of the Kildare and Linden Railway gave Linden access to the Texas and Pacific at the Kildare station. The population of Kildare grew to 500 by 1890 but fell to 214 by 1900, after which the community continued to serve as a focus of lumbering activity and had a stable population until the late 1950s. By 1964 the population had dropped to 125, and by the late 1970s the railroad station had closed. The town had a gas station, a store, two churches, and a few houses. In 1990 Kildare had forty-nine inhabitants and one rated business. The population remained the same in 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Atlanta (Texas) Citizens Journal, 60th Anniversary Edition, 1879-1939. Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Cecil Harper, Jr.