A RECENT caller from Bowie County had an intriguing question recently, “Does East Texas have a town named Twin Groceries?”

The answer is yes and no.

Around 1850, John Arthur helped settle the town of Saltillo on the Old Jefferson wagon road 16 miles east of Sulphur Springs in Hopkins County. He named it after a town in Mexico.

Saltillo soon became a popular place for teamsters, leading to the establishment of a post office in 1860 with Moses Russell as the postmaster.

The town also had a gristmill, a cotton gin and a store.

A second store was opened on the opposite side of the road from Arthur’s store and for the first time, the community was known as “Twin Groceries” for obvious reasons.

BUT THE NAME didn’t last long and Saltillo reemerged. By 1885, Saltillo had a water-powered gristmill, two churches, a school and a population of about 60.

But what about Saltillo’s name?

Admittedly, it is not as colorful as Twin Groceries, but it does have an interesting history.

Saltillo, Mexico, the namesake of the one in Hopkins County, and Austin both share a special place in Texas history. Both were Texas capitals.

SALTILLO WAS the capital of Texas when its territory was part of the Mexican state of Coahuila before Texas won its independence and Austin became the capital of the Republic of Texas.

In 1986, while I was serving on the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission, a delegation from Saltillo, Mexico, journeyed to Austin to help Texas celebrate its 150th birthday.

In 1887, the St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad built a line a few miles north of Saltillo, Texas, and one of the town’s twin grocery stores moved to the train station site. Twin Groceries had no reason to use its name anymore.

Saltillo opened a school in 1905 with an enrollment of 84. And in 1909, the Gulf Pipe Line was laid through Hopkins County near Saltillo, further spurring its growth.

THE TOWN kept growing and soon had a population of 350, a number of stores, several barber shops, a bank, a printing house, and a newspaper known as the Saltillo Signal.

The town grew until the 1920s, but the Depression years reduced its prosperity and its population fell to 250.

Today, Saltillo is still an active settlement of about 200 folks and a few stores at the intersection of U.S. 67, Farm Road 900 and the railroad. The town is also less than a mile from Interstate 30.

Sadly, there is nothing left of Twin Groceries but a colorful old name.

(Bob Bowman of Lufkin is the author of 40 books about East Texas. He can be reached at bob-bowman.com)