In 1855 the Langford Family moved to the western corner of Coryell County and settled on a creek in a valley surrounded by hills all around except on the northeast. The small creek came to be known as Langford Branch.
In their family at the time were the children, Mary Elizabeth, Juriah Ann, Jane Adaline, Asa, Jr., Asa’s mother, Mary, and two slaves, Sukey and Anderson (also known as Dudley) and a boy named Latham. The first white child born in this area was born to Asa and Elizabeth October 10, 1855, Charlotte Langford.
Other early settlers were Robert Carter, James A. Carter (no relation), Frederick Bookerman, William Beauchamp (J.A. Carter´s brother-in-law), James Wicher, Dr. Williams, John Willis, John Hurst, and Samuel Sneed.
When Coryell County was organized, it still left the seat of county government 25 miles away … a very long trip by horseback or wagon. Law enforcement was meager; the area was under the judicial jurisdiction of Burnet county. It was a natural hangout for lawless men; Indians were still a problem too.
The citizens of the area made an unsuccessful attempt to have their area separated from Coryell and annexed to Hamilton County. Hamilton was about twice as close to them.
When travelers stopped by the farm, it was the custom to give them a meal, a place to sleep, and to exchange horses with them. Miss Naomi Adams, of Waco and a granddaughter of Jane Kouger, a Langford slave, recalls hearing her mother tell about the schoolhouse massacre at Hamilton in which a young school teacher named Ann Whitney was murdered by Indians, and about tonkawa Indians who camped near the Langfords for protection from their dreaded Comanche enemy. Her mother played with the Tonkawa Indian children and learned to speak their language; Miss Adams can still count to ten in the Tonkawa language. After the Civil War her family moved to Gatesville to become a part of the black community there.
The first post office was established February 23, 1876 under the name of Cove, instead of Langford Cove. Asa was the postmaster. After Asa came Henry Sawyer, September 26, 1889; Alexander Wurts, December 31, 1897; Bessie Langford, September 12, 1912; Gyln D. Shave, November 1, 1947; James L. Inabnet, November 30, 1949; R.D. Rhodes is the present postmaster at the time that this article was written. The post office changed its name from “Cove” to “Evant” January 29, 1885.
The town was named Evant May 23, 1884. Mr. Brooks laid out a 240 foot square block in the center for a public square (he hoped it would one day hold a courthouse – perhaps for the newly formed county of Mills to the west). Such was not to be, but the square is really an asset to the people of Evant, even without a courthouse.
The only financial institution in Evant is the First National Bank of Evant. It was founded as the Evant State Bank 24 September 1912, with a capital of $10,000.00. The first president was W.C. Brooks; the first vice-president was J.W. Burney.
The dawn of public education came to Langford Cove when Prof. Raleigh Hazard taught a school there about 1857. There is no record of any schools having been taught during the Civil War. Andrew J. Hunter taught a school just east of Langford Cove about 1872. In 1875, Asa Langford donated four acres of land at the south east edge of the present town “solely for literary purposes”; the present day Evant school plant occupies a part of that tract today. In 1878, a one-room
rawhide lumber building was erected on the north west corner of the four acres; it was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1879. By 1892 Evant had incorporated a four mile square school district and had a two-story, native stone, 30 X 60 foot building with a one-story, 30 X 40 foot annex of the same material. From 1933 to 1937 a transportation system to the outlying areas greatly increased the number of students and helped upgrade the school system as well. A gymnasium was added in 1936. See a picture below of the gym now.
The Evant Independent School District is located on a central campus on Highway 281 in Evant, Texas. It is a community oriented school committed to providing quality academic and extracurricular opportunities to their students. With a 2000-2001 School Year enrollment of around 300 (K-12), They provide a greater amount of individualized instruction.
