Hico Post Office was opened 4 October, 1860.  Dr. John R. Alford was appointed postmaster. This post office was discontinued (Reconstruction Period) on 23 January, 1867, but was re-established on 12 October, 1871, with David Martin as postmaster.

During the Civil War, men in Hico and other frontiers, were exempt from service because they were needed to guard their homes from Indian attacks. When the Federal Troups were removed from the forts in Texas, Indian raids seriously increased. Even before the Civil War, the increased Indian attacks necessitated the organization of Minute Men in Hamilton County. This group was called the Hamilton County Minute Detachment of Mounted Texas Rangers.

At the end of the Civil War, Hill Snellings, Jerome Kirby, and Ruben Segrist with his new bride, Martha Snellings Segrist came to the Honey Creek Trading Post in Hamilton County. In 1870 Rube Segrist bought 200 acres of land and built a complete log house. He was involved in changing the name of Honey Creek Trading Post to Hico.

George Holland Medford was the first to bring sheep into Hamilton County in 1874. Irate cattlemen and wolves and coyotes made it necessary for Medford to employ a herdsman for his flock of 1000 sheep. Grass was so tall that neither sheep nor wild animals could be seen. After barbed wire became available about 1885, Medford was the first to fence a pasture.

In 1879 plans were made to build a railroad from Waco to Red Gap (now Cisco in Eastland County) to connect with a projected extension of the Texas and Pacific Railway. Initial plans for the railroad were changed from Duffau to a site about three miles north of Old Hico on Honey Creek. The Texas Central Railroad Company, which had been incorporated on 30 May, 1879, purchased the land for the Hico township from G. H. Medford. Texas Central Railroad chose to re-route because there was not any railroads  in Hamilton County.  On 11 November, 1880, Texas Central Railroad held the first sale of lots in the new town of Hico and train service was inaugurated to the new town. Lots were auctioned to the highest bidder and ranged in price from $150 for inside lots to $200 for corner lots. The first lot was purchased by J. C. Hutchingson and brother for $155. Herbert Weaver, Dave Barrow, Joe Stovall, and Mr. Sims were some of the people who purchased lots. By 1882 the Texas and Central Railroad was completed to Albany, Texas. The new location for Hico is twenty miles north of Hamilton.

The arrival of the railroad in Hico was a tremendous boost to the settlement and prosperity of Hamilton County whose population more than doubled between 1880 and 1900--from 6,365 to 13,520. At last Hamilton County had a fast, dependable, and easy access to the rest of the United States.  

In 1882 the town of Hico moved 2 ˝ miles north to its present site on the north bank of the North Bosque River when the Texas Central Railroad (later known as the Katy) was built. Hico was incorporated on July 26, 1883, and  became the shipping center for the county. All of the buildings, with the exception of the Barbee Gin and Mill were moved from Honey Creek Trading Post/Old Hico to the new Hico. The Barbee Gin and Mill was not moved because it was constructed of limestone. 

My grandfather, Robert Jeff Fergusson "freighted" from Hico to Pottsville about 1900. Each trip required longer than a day to get to Hico and longer than a day to return to Pottsville. He had to camp out overnight -- perhaps at Olin or more likely Ondee.

The presence of the Texas Central Railroad in Hico made it an attractive site for out of state investors seeking to establish a bank. Jerry Dorsey and J. S. Moss of Columbia, MO, organized the First National Bank, of Hico, which opened in July, 1890 with R. Y. Cox, a Hico lumberman as president; R. A. Dorsey, vice-president, and J. S. Moss, Jr., cashier.

V. F. Wieser organized the Hico Telephone Company about 1900. Sid Ross installed a telephone switchboard in Hamilton around 1900. In partnership with Ross, the Hico and Hamilton exchanges were connected with company offices in Hico. A long distance line connected the two towns. Will Linton was lineman and Mrs. Stella Dunigan was the first telephone operator on the Hico exchange.

The Hico National Bank was organized by William Connolly on 7 March, 1894. Officers were William Connolly, President; John Hill, Vice-President; John M. Cage, Cashier; and W. Pitt Barnes, Assistant Cashier. Some of the early directors were William Connolly, M. O. Gleason, V. F. Wieser, J. F. Wieser, A. C. Petty, H. F. Sellers, and W. Pitt Barnes.

In 1897 R. Y. Cox, a lumber dealer in Hico received 100 train cars of lumber and shingles in a single shipment to serve his customers in Erath, Hamilton, Bosque, and Comanche Counties. He was one of the first to sell barbed wire in 1885.  Before 1900 Hico became the "business emporium" of the area.

R. Y. Cox

Judge J. C. Barrow

The Legend of Billy the Kid