Memphis, Texas
Texas
Trains wouldn't stop here, so townspeople smeared the rails with lye soap until the railroad gave in.
The new town on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway had no depot, and the trains had no reason to slow down. So certain citizens went out and smeared the tracks with lye soap. Wheels spin on soap. An agreement followed between the town promoters and the railroad officials, and in 1891 a depot went up. That settled it. Businesses were rolled on wheels from the older town of Salisbury over to the new county seat, and a courthouse of homemade bricks was finished in 1892. Two saloons opened, along with a bank, stores, blacksmith shops and livery stables, all serving the ranchers and farmers hauling in cotton and grain. Memphis had already won the county seat in a contested election against Salisbury and Lakeview. The winning total was eighty-four votes.
This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.
Since Memphis was without a depot and trains did not stop there, certain citizens sought to remedy that situation by smearing the tracks with lye soap.
Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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