Thornton

Thornton is on State Highway 14 nineteen miles southwest of Mexia in southwestern Limestone County. Settlement at the site began in 1868. The Houston and Texas Central Railway ran a line from Hearne to Groesbeck through the area in 1870, and Cain Hogan settled on Steele Creek just west of the present townsite. The community became a stop on the railroad and was named for John E. Thornton, another early settler.