Holly Springs

Ridge, formerly known as Holly Springs, is on U.S. Highway 79 and the Missouri Pacific line in extreme east central Robertson County. The community of Holly Springs developed there in the late 1850s to supply the cotton farmers of the surrounding prairie. Around 1900 cotton prices tumbled, and the community was forced to diversify into watermelons, turkey farming, sawmills, and brickyards. In 1916 the railroad installed a switch known as Ridge at Holly Springs. Ten years later the Ridge post office opened. In 1936 the community had four businesses and fifteen residents, and by the mid-1940s it had two businesses and eighty residents. In 1990 and again in 2000 Ridge reported a population of sixty-seven.