Phelps

Phelps is on Farm Road 2296 just south of U.S. Highway 190 and six miles east of Huntsville in eastern Walker County. The community developed around a depot and telegraph station established by the Houston and Great Northern Railroad in the early 1870s and was probably named for the Phelps-Dodge Construction Company, which built the railroad. A post office was established at the site in 1874, and around that time the community had a hotel, a general store, a church, and a school. Soon a spur, connecting at Phelps, joined the larger community of Huntsville to the rail line. Sawmills began operation nearby. More than 100 families worked in the mills, and most of them lived in Phelps. The community grew from a reported population of twenty-five in 1890 to more than 300 by 1914. By the late 1930s the sawmills had ceased operation, and the community comprised only one business and scattered dwellings and churches. In 1950 Phelps had two local businesses and 100 citizens. Its post office closed in March 1964. In 1990 Phelps had ninety-eight residents and two churches. The population remained the same in 2000.