Post Oak School

Roane, at the junction of Farm roads 636 and 1129, eight miles northeast of Corsicana in northeastern Navarro County, was first settled in the early 1840s by the Beaslely family. A school, known as Post Oak School, began operating there around the time of the Civil War. In 1892 a post office, named Roane on the suggestion of local resident Will Holland, opened, and the following year the first gin was built. A four-teacher school was in operation in 1906 with an enrollment of 153. By 1914 Roane had three general stores, Baptist and Methodist churches, two blacksmith shops, and an estimated population of 150. During the 1930s the town had two churches, a school, and four or five stores. After World War II the post office and most of the stores closed. The population remained constant until the early 1950s, when it declined to 120. By the mid-1960s only a single store and a number of houses remained. In 1990 Roane was a dispersed community with an estimated population of 120. The population remained the same in 2000.