Copeville

Copeville is on State Highway 78 eight miles southwest of Farmersville in southeastern Collin County. It was originally a mile west of the present townsite and was named for one of the earliest settlers to arrive in the area, Miles Cope. With his father and brother, Cope organized the community in the 1850s. In 1877 Thomas King surveyed and mapped a townsite for Copeville. The following year a post office was established. By 1885 the community had a church, a school, a cotton gin, a sawmill, a flour mill, and a general store. In 1886 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe laid tracks one mile east of Copeville. Shortly thereafter, residents moved their houses and businesses to the line to take advantage of the railroad. Copeville served as a shipping point for area farmers until the 1930s. Between 1885 and 1890 the town was a principal supplier of bois d'arc timber for Dallas, where it was used experimentally as paving material. In 1915 the population of Copeville may have reached 300. However, the Great Depression, mechanization of farming, and job opportunities offered in the Dallas metropolitan area combined to retard the growth of the community. In 1926 the population estimate had fallen to 240, where it remained throughout the 1920s and 1930s. A further decline to 150 was reported in 1943; this estimate remained constant until the early 1970s. In 1947 the town had two churches, five businesses, and a school. In 1986 and 1990 Copeville had 106 residents and seven businesses. The population remained unchanged in 2000.