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Point
Texas National Farmers Union Monument
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, October 2007 |
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. |
The
Cotton Pickin’ Theater by Bob Bowman
At Point, a small town of some
700 souls in northern Rains county..., a sturdy old gin has found a new life as
an entertainment venue that draws crowds from all over East Texas and performers
like Mark Chestnut, Pee Wee Walker, and Gary Busey....
more |
National
Farmers Union Statue
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, October 2007 | |
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