SINGLETON, TEXAS

History in a Pecan Shell

The area had been originally settled in the 1830s when slave-owning Anglo immigrants arrived. But the town wasn’t founded until the arrival of the International and Great Northern Railroad around 1900.

A post office was granted in 1902 and named after the railroad surveyor (E.P. Singleton). Five years later the town was lucky enough to receive a second railroad when the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railroad arrived.

A frame school was built around 1913 and by 1915 the population had reached 100. In the 1920s two oil companies installed pumping stations nearby. Like most of Texas, the 1920s were Singleton’s most prosperous times. The town peaked in the 1930s with 150 residents. But after WWII the town was left with a mere 20 people.

It had recovered to 50 in the early 1960s where it remained for some time. The 1990 census reported 40 people which increased to 44 by 2000.

Take a road trip