Mount Haven

Mount Haven is a small rural community located on Farm Road 747 about three miles west of Jacksonville in northwestern Cherokee County. The town was founded as an African-American settlement sometime during the late 1800s. In 1884 Mount Haven was designated as its own school district, and students were taught in a local church. In 1925 a three-room school was constructed with funds from the Rosenwald Foundation. Instructors of the eight grades included Bessie Goss and Charlie Ragsdale. At that time the community consisted of scattered homes and farms. Mount Haven School was consolidated with the nearby Jacksonville Independent School District in 1969. County maps in the 1980s still showed a church in the area. In 2000 Mount Haven had thirty residents.