Sardis

Sardis is on State Highway 11 five miles east of Hughes Springs in southwestern Cass County. It was probably settled just before the Civil War, and the oldest known grave in the cemetery there dates from 1862. A post office was established there in 1876 with Hamilton C. Purdom as postmaster. The town, part of a lumbering and farming area, had two churches, a school, and a population of 200 in 1884. There were several sawmills, planing mills, and gristmills in the area. As towns along the railroad began to grow in the area, Sardis, which had been bypassed, began to decline. By 1896 the population of the community was reported as twelve. The post office was closed in January 1904. In 1936 and 1983 the community consisted of a church, a cemetery, and a few widely scattered houses. Sardis Cemetery was still shown on county highway maps in 2000.