Editing Eden, Texas (section)

==History==
The earliest settlers were the family of Harvey and Louisa McCarty.<ref name="Standifer">{{cite web | last = Standifer | first = Mary M. | title = Eden, Tx (Concho County) | publisher = Handbook of Texas Online | date = June 12, 2010  | url = https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hje05}}</ref>  Frederick Ede and his family moved to the area around 1881.  In 1882, Ede donated {{convert|40|acre|ha|abbr=on}} of land to be used as a townsite and to build a town square.  The following year, a post office was established and was named "Eden", an adaptation of Frederick Ede's name.<ref name="Standifer"/><ref name="Hatfield">{{cite book | last =  Hatfield | first = Thomas M. | title = Rudder: From Leader to Legend | publisher = Texas A&M University Press | year = 2011 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oik9-7FZrQcC&pg=PP1 | pages = 8, 11, 12, 285, 313| isbn = 9781603442626 }}</ref>
[[File:(Picking cotton, Eden, Texas) (5320818446).jpg|thumb|left|Picking cotton in Eden, circa 1895]]

A school was established in 1885.<ref name="Hatfield"/>

By 1890, Eden had a general store, a jeweler, a saloon, a Baptist church (organized in 1886), and a population exceeding 100.<ref name="Standifer"/><ref>{{cite book | title = Third Annual Report of the Agricultural Bureau of the Department of Agriculture, Insurance, and History | publisher = Texas State Printing Office | year = 1891 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0A49AAAAYAAJ&pg=PR1 | pages = 53}}</ref>  A newspaper, ''The Eden Echo'', was founded in 1906.<ref>{{cite web | title = About The Eden echo. (Eden, Tex.) 1906-current | publisher = Library of Congress | url = http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86089004/ | accessdate = August 2, 2017}}</ref>  That same year, a bank was established.  Telephone service arrived about 1907, and a public well and windmill were installed in 1908.<ref name="Standifer"/>

Eden was incorporated on February 4, 1911.<ref name="Standifer"/>  That same year, the [[Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway]] completed a {{convert|98|mi|km|abbr=on}} line between Eden and [[Lometa, Texas|Lometa]], located east of Eden.<ref>{{cite web | last = Werner | first = George C. | title = Gulf, Colorado And Santa Fe Railway | publisher = Handbook of Texas Online | date = June 15, 2010 | url = https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqg25}}</ref>

By 1914, Eden had a restaurant, two general stores, two hotels, two cotton gins, two lumber companies, two hardware stores, a Baptist church, and a Methodist church.  The population was 600.<ref name="Standifer"/>

The [[Eden Consolidated Independent School District|Eden Independent School District]] was established in 1920,<ref name="Standifer"/> and electricity arrived in Eden in 1925.<ref name="Hatfield"/>

Eden became a trading center for mohair and wool after 1925, as sheep ranching in the area increased.  Local ranchers also began raising cattle and goats, as well as [[Polo pony|polo ponies]] for eastern markets.<ref name="Standifer"/>

In 1961, the first [[Republic F-105 Thunderchief|F-105]] fighter-bomber delivered to the US Air Force [[Spangdahlem Air Base#49th Tactical Fighter Wing|49th Tactical Fighter Wing]] was named the "Kordel-Eden", after [[Kordel]], Germany, and the pilot's hometown of Eden, Texas.<ref>{{cite book | last =  Plunkett | first = W. Howard | title = F-105 Thunderchiefs: A 29-Year Illustrated Operational History, with Individual Accounts of the 103 Surviving Fighter Bombers | publisher = McFarland | year = 2008 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FZg-CgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 | pages = 99| isbn = 9780786450633 }}</ref>