Glenfawn

Glenfawn, on Farm Road 2753 some sixteen miles southwest of Henderson in southwestern Rusk County, may have been named by plantation owner Julien Sidney Devereux, who lived in the area before the Civil War. It is also variously opined that the name commemorates the killing of a fawn at the site by a man named Ellis Glenn or by a later settler, Glen Garland. The first postmaster at the community was Charles L. Nunally, appointed in 1872. In 1884 Glenfawn reported a population of 250 and a steam sawmill, a church, a district school, a doctor, and a wagonmaker, as well as gristmills, cotton gins, and general stores. B. B. Lyles was justice of the peace, and cotton, the principal local product, was shipped out through Henderson, the nearest railroad station. By 1890 Glenfawn had three churches and an estimated population of 250 to 400. W. B. Harper was justice of the peace. The population was reported as 150 in 1914 and 260 in 1925. It was reported as 260 until the mid-1940s, but from 1968 to 2000 it was 16. The post office was discontinued in 1955, and mail service was transferred to Cushing. Glenfawn, like many other small communities in Rusk County, has been principally a farming center.