Streetman

STREETMAN, TEXAS . Streetman is on U.S. Highway 75 and the Freestone-Navarro county line thirteen miles north of Fairfield. The majority of the town is in Freestone County; about one-third is in Navarro County. Streetman was established as a station on the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway in 1905, and settlement began the next year. The town was named for Judge Sam Streetman of Houston, a surveyor for the railroad, who also surveyed the town. In 1907 the post office from nearby Cade was moved to Streetman. Agriculture was the primary industry, and a dry-goods store and several other businesses soon opened to serve area farmers. In 1912 the Streetman Enterprise , the town's first newspaper, began publication. Streetman was incorporated in 1914. By that time it had two cotton gins, two blacksmith shops, three churches, a lumberyard, several businesses, and a population of 600. The County Line Baptist Church was organized in 1882 near Streetman. The church was moved to the town in 1908 and renamed First Baptist Church. The First Presbyterian Church was formed in 1912, and the Calvary Temple Church operated from 1974 to 1977. A school began classes in 1907 in a blacksmith shop, and a school building was erected in 1913. By 1948, due to a decline in population, students had been transferred and the school district annexed by Fairfield. The first black school also began in 1907, and the following year showed an enrollment of thirty-five students. In 1960 this school was consolidated with the Fairfield schools and the building was sold. Streetman experienced its greatest prosperity from 1920 to 1940. In 1931 the town had a population of 509 and thirty-five businesses. The Streetman News was published from 1927 to 1940. The population of the town began to decline after World War II , largely because of crop failures and a general movement of people from the country to the cities. By the late 1970s Streetman had five businesses and a population of 239. The schoolchildren were bused to Fairfield. In 1989 the residents numbered 378 and the businesses seven. In 1990 the population was 260. The population dropped to 203 in 2000.