Dime Box Put Its Name Into the March of Dimes

Dime Box got its name from a small exchange along the Old San Antonio Road. People left dimes in a community mailbox and received items brought from Giddings in return. When the town was founded in 1913, that everyday arrangement supplied a name no traveler was likely to forget.

The dime returned to the story in 1945. Dime Box became the nation's first town to contribute 100 percent to the March of Dimes program. In 1946, the official opening of the national campaign was held there.

That leaves one town name with two chapters: a mailbox that handled small purchases and a fundraising drive that reached a national audience. Few place names get called back into service so neatly.