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Some of the remaining buildings on Main Street.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, August, 2009 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Established in 1872 as a stop on the International-Great
Northern Railroad, the name first given was Oakwoods but the "s"
was dropped in later years. The community was granted a post office that same
year.
First located closer to the river, flooding mandated a move two
miles west. The population of 542 in 1904 grew to a high of 1,100 by 1925.
Early cotton crops were flat-boated down the
Trinity to Houston and Galveston but the railroad helped make Oakwood the region’s
shipping center. The boll
weevil infestation in the 20s and the Great Depression severely depleted the
population. By 1931 there were less than 900 people and by the 1970 census it
had bottomed out at 400. It has since grown to 527 for the 1990 census. |
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