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The
Town with an Aliasby
Bob Bowman | |
Omen,
a small community of about 150 souls, may be the only town in East
Texas that once went by an alias.
Located on State Highwy 346 in southeastern
Smith County about two miles west of Arp,
the Omen area was settled by Arnold
O’Brien and his family in 1848.
The following year, the Smith County Commissioners
Court decided to build the Laarissa-Shreveport Road through the northern part
of O’Brien’s land, making the area accessible to other pioneers.
When
O’Brien established a post office in his home in 1849 the area was named Round
Hill.
But when Thomas N. Gregory replaced O’Brien in 1851, the post
office got a new name, Canton. But the following year, the citizens named
the town Clopton because there was already a Canton
in Van Zandt County.
The post office was discontinued briefly in 1854,
but reopened with the name of Troup. Residents, however continued to call
the town Canton, even in legal documents.
In
1960, a deed called the town “Canton alias Troup” but a Masonic lodge was
officially known as Canton Lodge.
Canton-alias-Troup prospered
during the Civil War, especially with the arrival of the International-Great Northern
from Gregg County to about four miles south of Canton alias Troup.
Many
of the town’s businesses moved south to Zavalla (not to be confused with
the Zavalla in Angelina County), a new railroad town, and the post office moved,
too, but kept the name Troup.
Professor
A.W. Orr did a lot to revive the community with a successful private school, Summer
Hill Select School, which attraced students from Smith and surrounding counties.
Many boarded with local families and others moved into the vicinity to attend
the school.
In April of 1879, Dixon Bonner petitioned the U.S. Post Office
Department to renew the local branch and the town got a new name, Old Canton.
But a year later, Old Canton was renamed Omen
at the suggestion of Dr. Orr.
In four years, Omen
had a population of 250, three doctors, a blacksmsith, two carpenters and two
grocers. By 1892, the town had 550 residents, including a justice of peace, a
mayor, a constable and a sawmill.
Summer Hill School had 335 students,
a courthouse was built on the town squre, and the post office at Lock was transferred
to Omen. |
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1920s
Smith County map showing Arp and
Troup, but not Omen
Courtesy
Texa General Land Office |
After merging its
school with Arp in the early l940s,
the town began to decline.
Andrews’ Store, the last business in the community,
closed in the l960s and in the l970s Omen had two churches, about 40 dwellings,
and two cemeteries. Its population in 2000 was only 150.
Bob
Bowman's East Texas April 25, 2010 Column
A weekly column syndicated
in 109 East Texas newspapers
Copyright Bob Bowman | |
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