|
History in
a Pecan Shell
The town dates from 1880 when it was designated as a MKT flag stop.
The name submitted for a post office was Rice’s Point, after William
Rice, a local settler. Since the name was already in use, it was
rejected but the word point was accepted.
The population
reached 50 for the 1890 census. In 1902, the Farmers Educational
and Cooperative Union of America was formed. In three years
it had amassed a national membership of one million members.
In 1913 the
town built a two-story brick school and three years later the population
reached 600. Point lost about half of its population during the
Great Depression.
Highway 69
was built in the early 1940s, bolstering the population back into
the 400s, but by ther end of WWI
it had declined back to 350. The population from 1950 through the
60s remained at 400 (more or less). 1957 saw the building of the
Iron Bridge Dam, impounding the Sabine River and forming Lake Tawakoni.
Development
began on the western shore of Lake Tawakoni and this eventually
became the separate community of East Tawakoni. Point’s population
took a hit and for the 1970 census, it was back to just over 400
residents. The 1990 census reported 645 Point residents, increasing
to nearly 800 by the year 2000.
|
