Howell

The community of Howell was established in 1885 as a railroad shipping point between Herndon and Bell Station.  It was named after Archer Howell, who was then Mayor of Clarksville, Tennessee.  The town, first called Whitfield in honor of W. W. Radford, was laid out on lands of Radford and Dr. E. A. Wilson.
 

Archer Howell
1831 - 1904


The town of Howell had two General Stores, Squire Dixon's Store and one built
by Dr. Edward A. Wilson (now known as Samsil's Store).



Samsil's Store, 1981.
This store was built in the fall of 1884 by Dr. Edward A. Wilson.  Merchants of this
store have been  Gardner & Miller, Lucien M. Cayce, R. G. Lyle, Mr. and
Mrs. Olney M. Wilson, Boyd Hutchinson, and the present owner Geneva Samsil.
Howell Post Office was established March 31, 1886 and was located in this store
when it was discontinued December 31, 1957.



Squire J. F. Dixon's Store, later A. R. Campbell & Bro., 1925
1892-1933

The store was owned and operated by J. F. Dixon fomr 1892 until 1923.  Later it was bought by the Campbell family and renamed A. R. Campbell & Bro.  Pictured here from left: Mr. & Mrs. G. R. "Ray" Campbell, Dorothy Campbell (child), Mr. & Mrs. Arnold Campbell, and W. C. Howerton.


 
 

Howell School, circa 1918
The Howell School was built in 1915 on land given by Thomas F. Clardy.  It was a four room frame building with a hot air heating system and ascetylene lights.  The High School received accreditation in the 1922-1923 school term.  Wayside High School was consolidated with Howell in 1923.  In 1936 Beverly, Bell Station, Oak Grove, and St. Elmo elementary schools were consolidated.  Wayside Elementary wa absorbed in 1937.
Howell School burned on November 24, 1939.  Classes were conducted in the home of Mrs. Hettie Dixon until South Christian School opened in the fall of 1941.
 

 Indiana, Alabama, & Texas Railroad was organized in Clarksville, Tennessee, February 21, 1882, constructed from Clarksville to Gracey, Kentucky, 1884-1886.  The first train reached Howell on April 15, 1885.  "Buckberry's Special" was the name given to the daily passenger train that made its way through Howell between Clarksville and Gracy until May 13, 1933.

©2001
All Rights Reserved

Photos used with permission of William Turner, Historian