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Texas Ghost
Town
GENT, TEXASCherokee County,
East Texas
9 miles NW of Rusk
Population:
0
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Gentlemen
in the Gent Band |
| Photo
courtesy Arcadia Publishing & The Cherokee County Historical Commission
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Gent aka Ghent, Texas was on Gent Mountain.
In the late 1840s people from Alabama and Tennessee made the long
journey to East Texas. A place known as Sand Springs was established
around 1854, but the community didn't really develop until the late
1870s.
A post office opened in 1879 and whether the name was Gent or Ghent,
it doesn't make too much difference now. It was either named after
the Belgian city - or the greeting of "Howdy Gent," - a greeting that
is supposed to have been in en vogue at the time.
In 1890 Gent had 500 people and two stores, two churches, several
saw mills, and a school. Gent, like nearby Pine Town, began to decline
when Maydelle appeared alongside the rails of the Texas State Railroad
in 1900.
Gent's post office closed in 1906, and by 1913 the town was a virtual
ghost. A Texas Historical Commission marker has been placed to identify
the townsite.
Nearby Destinations
More Cherokee County
Towns & Ghost Towns |
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