Crosby, Texas - From Lick Skillet to Crosby

This is my kinda town!! I know many will say it doesn’t have anything here, but they are only looking for malls, theaters, specialty shops, and a Starbucks on Main Street. Well they are right about most of that, but what makes Crosby a great place to live is found in its people. Friendly smiles and warm hellos! It’s the kind of place where you can still find ‘neighbor’ in the ‘hood’.

      Crosby is located about 25 miles northeast from downtown Houston (not as the crow flies), about 1600 miles from Los Angeles and 1400 miles from Washington D.C.   So you see we are pretty dog-gone close to everyone in this country.   The quickest trip from Crosby to downtown Houston is taking NEW Highway 90 (it’s called NEW because there is an OLD – trust me don’t take it) to the East Sam Houston Beltway (better known as Beltway 8). South on the Beltway to the Beaumont Freeway (also known as Interstate 10 to those that aren’t from these parts) and then west on I-10 to beautiful downtown Houston. (Aggie Hint: if you are coming from Houston just reverse the directions!). For those that need a picture try MapBlast.com.

      Historically, it might surprise you to know that Crosby can boast to being one of the oldest settlements in Texas. In 1823, Humphrey Jackson and his family settled east of the San Jacinto River, where a small bayou emptied into the river. This bayou became known at Jackson Bayou. Jackson Bayou flows through what is now known as Old-Town Crosby. Jackson, an immigrant from Ireland was part of Stephen F. Austin’s “Old Three Hundred” (just a little note for you history buffs).   He was granted a homestead on the prairies east of the San Jacinto River – just a small homestead by today’s standards - 4,428.4 acres because he was a rancher and 177 acres because he was also a farmer. From that beginning until now the land rush has been on (of course it slowed a little during the property rights dispute of 1836 with Mexico).

      Before Crosby was called Crosby, its nickname was Lick Skillet (I’m not sure but maybe it had something to do with a lack of eating utensils, although I have also heard the food was so good around here that they would “lick the skillet”. Then again it could be they were so hungry that they did not want to waste any food!). Contrary to what some might think, the town was not named after Bing, Fanny, or the singing group (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, which was before Young broke away and left Crosby, Stills, & Nash adrift, but that is a whole different story). Actually, it was named after a person! He was the person responsible for overseeing the construction of the railroad through the then known Lick Skillet (now you know how to get a town named after you). The townspeople were so excited, enthused, and were probably tired of the jokes about Lick Skillet that they changed the name.   The year was 1860. (What would you name a high school football team from Lick Skillet??).

      Before the arrival of the railroad, the main transportation was by wagon, horseback, or foot if you lacked the other means. The oldest road in this part of Texas wound through this area. The road was in use by the Spanish as early as 1757 and was known as the Old Atascosito Road. The road ran just south of Huffman (although Huffman was not there at that time) to the Atascosito Outpost, located in what is now known as Liberty, Texas. The road continued from the Outpost eastward into Louisiana. The Old Spanish Trail (for which the street O.S.T. in Houston got its name) passed through this area and continued on up into deep East Texas piney woods and connected Spanish forts and missions in that area.

      There is a lot more about Crosby than what I have put here – there was the Swede invasion (my great granddaddy was one of them) in the 1890s to early 1900s. The Czechs also added their flavor (don’t take my word for it, come to the Czechfest held in October by Sacred Heart Church and check out the flavor for yourself) to the community as they migrated in during the same time period.

      Now you probably know more than you ever wanted to know about the early Crosby. For some modern day Crosby stuff - check out the Menu and follow the links! Thanks for your time and interest.

     Many thanks are due to Edith Fae Cook Cole for writing the Crosby’s Heritage Preserved 1823-1949. I borrowed much of the history from her book.

Check out the 2000 US Census here!


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