Pella

Pella was a trading center near Panther Creek in north central Wise County, one-half mile from the Montague county line. The site was settled in the late 1870s. A post office was established June 4, 1877, with Robert A. Dorsey as postmaster. Within a decade of its founding, Pella became a thriving retail point for area cotton farmers. By the early 1890s the town had a population of 300 served by three churches, a school, a steam gristmill, and a cotton gin. Ten years later cotton production in the area began to fall, probably because of boll weevils. Pella's population and business establishments also declined. In 1904 the post office was closed. Over the next few decades businesses closed and residents moved away. By the late 1930s the only evidence that remained of Pella's existence was a cemetery.