Cason

Cason is on State Highway 11 and the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway, five miles west of Daingerfield in southwestern Morris County. The town grew up around a station on the East Line and Red River Railroad, which was constructed through western Morris County in the late 1870s. Many of the early businesses were transferred from Snow Hill, three miles north. When the post office, which had been in Snow Hill, was moved in 1878, the postmaster, William M. Cason, named the new town Cason in honor of his father, J. W. By 1884 the settlement had an estimated population of 200, a church, a district school, and businesses that included sawmills and gristmills and two cotton gins. By 1892 the population had grown to 250, and a bedspring factory was in operation. The town reached its peak in the late 1920s, when the population was estimated at 500. The population declined between World War II and 1972, when a population of 160 and five rated businesses were reported. In 1986 the population was estimated at 165, and Cason had four rated businesses. In 1990 and 2000 the population was 173.