Freestone County, Texas
Communities


Old Ghost Towns - Post Office:



Kidd's Mill / Wheelock / Bethlehem / Oneta / New Hope / Oden(s) / Midway / Flo

Kidd's Mill is located on FM 1151 and FM 831 on Wheelock Creek about twelve
miles northeast of Centerville in Leon County.

The tiny town of Flo has had nearly as many names as it does current residents. 
It has been known as Kidd's Mill (after gristmill and sawmill owner Thaddeus O. 
Kidd), Wheelock, Bethlehem, Oneta, New Hope, Oden(s), and Midway. A post office 
named Kidd's Mill was in operation from 1855 through 1868.

Most people in Kidd's Mill were farmers and ranchers. There was a church, grist 
mill, sawmill, post office and a cotton gin, which was the first one of its 
kind in Leon County. The grist mill and sawmill were owned and operated by 
Thaddeus Kidd; R.M. Bryan and sons owned and operated the cotton gin. The water 
from the Wheelock Creek provided the power for the grist and sawmills.

The first church was a Methodist Church organized by Reverend H.B. Price. He 
and Rev. Drury Womack were the first preachers. The Sunday School teachers were 
Reverends Wiley Graham, W.J. Boykin and Ella Boykin,

John Allen Moore and Lacy Slatter were the first to married in Rev. Price's home.
S.A. Castles met Arrelia Shoemaker at the church and they were later married 
there with Rev. Price performing the ceremony. Rev. J.W. Boykin, the Shoemaker 
girls and Emmaline Parker were witnesses.

A post office operated briefly as Odens in 1880 and another as Oden from 1885 
until 1891. Fed up with confusion, the postmaster settled the matter by 
submitting the name of his dog, Flo, for the new post office - which became the 
town's final post office sometime after 1930.

The community's first school was teaching children before the Civil War and in 
1940 a rock school named Lone Star was built. The rock school burned and was 
replaced by a brick building. Since the mid 1980s children from Flo have been 
bussed to Oakwood.

In 1896 the Flo area had a gin and mill, two general stores, a breeder, and one 
physician. In 1914 the population of Flo was sixty, and the town had a gristmill. 
By the late 1960s, the population was down to 46. A few years later it had 
declined to a mere 20 - the number still given today. A 1989 map indicates one 
church and one business. 

Post Office: 
Kidd's Mill post office was listed as begin in Freestone county when it opened 
on July 2, 1855 with Thaddeus O. Kidd.  It was not long that it was decided 
that this was in Leon County rather than Freestone county. The post office was 
closed in 1868 during Reconstruction.

School:  
Kidd's Mill school opened prior to Civil War

Flo School
  In 1927, a consolidated school was established at Flo. 

Lone Star School
  In 1940, a rock-walled school building, called "Flo's Folly" by some, was named 
Lone Star School and served students all the way from the Midway-Russel area, 
until it burned and was replaced by a brick building. The remnants of the rock 
school could still be seen in 1990. 

  As of 1986 the children of Flo were being bussed to Oakwood.

Social Organizations:


Churches:


Cemeteries:


Businesses:


Nearby Communities:


Known Former Residents:
Boykin, Ella
Boykin, Rev. J.W. 
Boykin, W.J.
Castles, S.A. 
Graham, Wiley
Kidd, Thaddeus O.
Kidd, Webb
Linson family
Lyon family
Moore, John Allen 
Parker, Emmaline 
Pate family
Price, Rev. H. B.
Shaw family
Shoemaker, Arrelia 
Slatter, Lacy 
Womack, Rev. Drury
Yarborough, Pearl