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History in a Pecan
Shell
Settlement began in the early 1850s when the embryo community
was known as Willow Point. As new families moved into the area, the residents
started calling the town Ravenna, after a large ravine that split the community.
By 1885 the community had 150 residents and a post office. The town incorporated
in 1887 when local businesses included a cotton gin, grist and saw mill. The Ravenna
College, was established about that time, but relocated to Ector
in 1889.
In 1891 the Denison, Bonham and New Orleans Railroad arrived
and the population increased to 400. The 1900 population had declined to 290 but
it rebounded to 500 in the mid teens. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas had assumed
ownership of the railroad but it ended operations by the late 1920s when the population
was just over 400.
With the arrival of the Great Depression the population
sank to 254 and by the mid 1960s it was a mere 145. Ravenna’s population was 199
in 1990 and has since increased to 215 for the 2000 census. |
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