Point Blank

Point Blank is at the junction of U.S. Highway 190 and State Highway 156, eighty-five miles north of Houston in northern San Jacinto County. The name originated with Florence Dissiway, a Frenchwoman who moved to the area during the 1850s to be a governess for the R. T. and Henry Robinson families. Dissiway called the spot Blanc Point, which local residents eventually changed to Point Blank. R. T. Robinson reputedly set up the first store; among the community's early residents was future governor George T. Wood, who set up a plantation as early as 1839. Wood was subsequently buried in the Robinson cemetery, where a monument was erected by the state in 1911. A post office was established at Point Blank in 1884. The largely agricultural community remained small, with an estimated population of seventy-five in 1925. The number of residents remained stable until the late 1960s, when the completion of nearby Lake Livingston attracted an influx of tourists and residents. With its population more than doubled to 183, residents voted for incorporation in 1975. By the mid-1980s Point Blank had twelve businesses and 325 residents and was the third largest town in San Jacinto County. In 1990 the population was 443. The population grew to 559 by 2000.