Annona

Annona is on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and U.S. Highway 82 eight miles southeast of Clarksville in eastern Red River County. It was established in the early 1870s on the proposed route of the railroad. When the post office was moved from nearby Savannah in 1874 the new town was called Walker Station, in honor of G. W. Walker, founder of the town and first postmaster. In 1884, at Walker's suggestion, the name was changed to Annona, the name of an American Indian girl. After the completion of the railroad in 1876 the town grew rapidly. In 1881 a correspondent of the Clarksville Standard called Annona "the most important trading point in the county outside of Clarksville." In 1890 the community had three churches, a school, two gins, two mills, a machine shop, and a population of 250. By 1914 the population had grown to 600, and the town had added two small banks and a newspaper, the Annona News, published by C. R. Floyd. The population of Annona had fallen to around 500 by 1926, but in the late 1920s the town began to grow again. By 1929 the population was estimated at 800. Annona was incorporated around this time. In 1931 the population was 426, and it remained fairly stable after that. The number of businesses in Annona fell from twenty in 1931 to six in 1986. In 1984 Annona's businesses included two feed stores, a packaging and processing plant, and a cattle company. The population in 1990 was 329. By 2000 the population was 282.