Over the years, I have acquired and copied so many photographs of various time periods of Coleman.  Only recently, I have found a logical way to share pictures and information with people interested in the history of Coleman, and update it as often as necessary ... that being a website.  I have called this website a Virtual Directory of the City of Coleman.  A place can only exist in the present time.  Through photographs, a place can only exist in the past, because after the moment a picture is taken, it is past.  Together with photographs, I have added any and all information I have gathered, and am linking these various bits of information to street addresses.   So, this is a Virtual Directory of Coleman of the past ... in all the different pasts.

In 1876, the infant city of Coleman, then called Coleman City, was laid out and surveyed.  The two principal streets were College Avenue and Commercial Avenue.  The original townsite stopped on the west at about Pecos Street.  Mesquite Street, on the south, was the last street of the original townsite.  Streets running east and west were named after trees, those running north and south, after rivers.  East to west streets south of Mesquite were given numbers when later additions were made.  Clow Addition Number 1, west of the original townsite, was the first addition made to the townsite.  No historical research has yet been done on the naming of newly added streets, although most appear to be named after people.  Beginning in the late 1990's, the 911 emergency system further added more addresses on the outskirts of Coleman.  This listing will use the legal addresses in common use at this time.

In the 1929 Coleman City Directory, the streets running north and south were not designated as North and South, but as the name of the street and the northern addition was noted as North.  For example, there was Blanco Street and North Blanco Street, not South Blanco Street and North Blanco Street.  The "South" designation has been added to these streets in more recent times, I assume to eliminate confusion.  Some streets, such as Commercial Avenue, have rarely not been noted as North or South, even though it has a North part.  A few street have had name changes over the years.  These changes will be noted in the information about that particular street.

As stated, originally the two principal streets were College Avenue and Commercial Avenue, and early maps begin their street numbers at these streets.  Later, however, the beginning numbers for streets were set at Live Oak Street, which ran in front of the court house, and Commercial Avenue, which ran south from the court house.  Some maps, especially of the 1920's, show both sets of street numbers.  Streets that run north and south of Live Oak, whether they have a "North" or "South" designation or not, begin their numbering at Live Oak Street.  North starts with the 100's and the numbers increase as the street runs north; the numbers of "South" streets start with the 100's and the numbers increase as the street runs south.  Streets that are "East" or "West" begin numbering at Commercial Avenue, and increase in numbers as they advance from Commercial Avenue.

The street index is made up of a list of the names of the streets of Coleman, Texas in alphabetical order.  Most of these streets are located in the Coleman City limits, while others are located outside the Coleman City limits, but near enough to be considered part of Coleman proper.  This directory began in August 2002, using the 1929 Coleman City Directory as the skeleton, and the more recently created streets were added to the list.  Few streets have been eliminated from use in Coleman, but a few have changed in name.

The names of the streets shown in the index are links which lead to others pages containing information about that street and a list of addresses on that street.  These addresses, in turn, are links to pages which contain information, photos, etc., when available, about the people and homes or buildings that have been at that address, at different time periods, with the source of information given.  Note that some businesses at one time or another are made up of two or more street numbers, so in the following links, there may be seemingly redundant street numbers.

I have included a few general scenes of a street or streets.  Sometimes a scene is not comprehended well, when it is shown by itself, especially when these buildings have common walls.  So, I have used these photographs to show a building's relationship to other buildings.  Eventually, I hope to add a legal description index and show layouts of house on each block.

The red brick background has been used for these pages to commemorate some of the earliest streets in Coleman.  After dirt and gravel, the earliest streets were paved with red bricks, which were locally manufactured.  Some of these brick streets remain in use today, even though they have been patched with asphalt, after water breaks and other repairs, rather than replace the brick.