Pickton

Pickton, at the junction of State Highway 11 and Farm Road 269 fifteen miles southeast of Sulphur Springs in southeastern Hopkins County, was first settled around 1856 by M. D. Jackson. A small settlement grew up in the area in the late 1870s, and in 1879, when the East Line and Red River Railroad was built, the community became a station. A committee appointed to pick a name for the station decided on Pick Town, which the railroad changed to Pickton. A post office was established in 1881 with William Richardson as postmaster. In 1885 the community had a steam gristmill and cotton gin, a district school, and an estimated population of sixty. By the early 1890s two churches had been established, and the population had grown to 100. Surrounded by fertile sandy soil and water from springs, Pickton prospered. In 1905 the school had two teachers and an enrollment of 153. By 1914 the estimated population was 300; it reached 500 in the mid-1920s. After World War II the community began to decline. In 1948 Pickton had eight stores, three churches, a cotton gin, a ten-teacher school, and a population estimated at 500, but by the early 1950s the number of residents had dropped to 320. The population fell to 250 by 1966 and to ninety by the early 1970s. In the mid-1980s Pickton still had three churches, a post office, a school, four businesses, a cemetery, and a number of houses. In 1993 the population was estimated at ninety, and the community reported thirteen businesses. In 2000 the population was still listed at ninety.

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.