Belk, TX

Belk is at the intersection of Farm Roads 197 and 1499, three miles south of the Red River in extreme north central Lamar County. The site, settled in the 1840s by herders who ran their livestock on the open range of Round Prairie, remained sparsely settled after the railroads of the 1880s chose other settlements as rail stops. A post office was established in 1899 but closed six years later. In 1933 the settlement had thirty residents and one business. Maps for 1936 showed a store, a church, a school, and a cluster of houses. In 1949 Belk had a population of fifty and two businesses. In 1957 the children of Belk were attending school in the Chicota Independent School District, and in 1970 the community had no businesses. Maps of 1980 showed the United Methodist Church, Midway Church, and a few dwellings along Farm Road 197. The population in 1990 and 2000 was fifty-five.