Yarrellton

Yarrellton (Yaralton, Yarrelton) is on Farm Road 1915 nine miles northwest of Cameron in northwestern Milam County. Civil War veteran J. C. Perkins and a number of other families moved to the area from Alabama in 1868 in a wagon train. The community was named in honor of Judge Tom Yarrell, who owned the first store. Joe Eplin started the first school in 1876, when classes were held under a brush arbor. A Masonic lodge was organized in 1884 and the community contained both Masonic and Woodman buildings. A post office opened in 1886, and by 1890 the community had a corn mill and gin, two general stores, and a population of fifty. The Yarrellton Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1892, and services were held in the Masonic lodge. Yarrellton was known for its camp meetings and Fourth of July picnics, which sometimes attracted more than 1,000 people from around the county. Two churches, four businesses, and several scattered houses marked the community on county highway maps in 1941, and the population was reported as fifty-eight. Yarrellton had thirty-five residents in 1990 and 2000.