Mink

Mink, on the banks of Mink Creek twenty-five miles southwest of Conroe in southwestern Montgomery County, was one of the earliest towns in the county. Settlement began about 1845 when a man named Mink took up farming in the area; soon a gristmill was constructed near his homestead. At first the community was known as Mink Prairie, but by 1850 it was referred to simply as Mink. There was a blacksmith shop in the settlement by the early 1850s. After the Civil War an influx of settlers from Tennessee and Kentucky into southwestern Montgomery County accelerated the development of the community. During the 1870s a Grange hall was built that also functioned as an interdenominational church, a schoolhouse, and a civic center. Soon a cotton gin was established, and a Methodist church was constructed near the Grange hall. A post office opened in the community in 1885. By 1896 Mink had a general store, two churches, two flour mills, and a population of 300. In 1902 the International-Great Northern Railroad constructed its Spring-to-Navasota branch line through southwestern Montgomery County, bypassing Mink to the north. Its residents and businesses rapidly moved onto the rail line at the new town of Magnolia two miles northeast. The Mink post office was discontinued in 1903, and within a few years the community had been completely abandoned.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.