Lone Star

LONE STAR, TEXAS (Cherokee County). Lone Star was at the junction of Farm roads 235 and 2274, thirteen miles northeast of Rusk in eastern Cherokee County. It was founded in the early 1880s by Henry L. Reeves, who established a store on the border of the G. Chisholm and F. S. Manchaca surveys. Reeves quickly became known for his hard-dealing tactics, and local farmers dubbed the place Skin Tight. In 1883 a post office was granted, and the name of the community was changed to Lone Star. By 1885 the new settlement had a steam gristmill and cotton gin, a district school, a sawmill, a general store, and a population of 160. In 1893 a fire destroyed much of the town's business district, but most of the buildings were quickly rebuilt, and by the mid-1890s the town's population had grown to 300. After 1900 Lone Star began to decline. When the Texas and New Orleans Railroad bypassed the town in 1903, many of the merchants and residents moved to newly established Ponta on the railroad. By 1915 the population of Lone Star had fallen to 200, and the following year the post office was closed. Oil was discovered nearby in 1939, but the field was never very productive and was abandoned in 1960. As late as 1940 the small town still had three businesses and seventy-five residents, but after World War II most of the remaining inhabitants moved out of the area. In the early 1990s only a badly weathered blacksmith shop remained. A state historical marker was placed at the site in the 1980s. In 2000 the population was twenty.