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SUNSET,
TEXAS
Montague County,
North
Central Texas
Highway 101 at the West end of FM 1749
15 Miles S of Montague
Just E of Highway 287
About 50 Miles NW of Fort
Worth
Population: 339 (2000)
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Entering
Sunset
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, October 2007 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The community could be considered to have been alongside the Butterfield
Overland stage route since there was once a stop two miles from Sunset’s
present location. Settlement began around 1870 and a store was in
operation soon after. Storekeeper Sam Smith applied for a post office
under the name Smithville,
but Bastrop County had beat them to it. The name Sunset was suggested
and accepted.
In 1882 the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad arrived, drawing off population
from the smaller town of Pella. The population in 1900 was estimated
to be over 600.
A surveyor’s mistake had placed Sunset in Wise county prior to 1990
but a ruling put it firmly inside Montague. From 1900 to 1940 the
town prospered, although a toll was taken by the boll
weevil in the 20s, the Drepession in the 30s, WWII
in the 40s and by the time the 50s had arrived, Sunset had an estimated
population of 260. By the 1980s it was down to a mere 200 – the number
given for the 1990 census. |
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Sunset
Volunteer Fir Department
Photo courtesy Mike
Price, October 2007 |
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