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LANEVILLE, TEXAS

Rusk County, East Texas

31° 58' 28" N, 94° 48' 50" W (31.974444, -94.813889)
FM 225 and 1798
Near the Angelina River
12 Miles S of Henderson the county seat
12 Miles NW of Mount Enterprise
NW of Nacogdoches
Population: 200 (est unchanged from 1950)

Laneville, Texas Area Hotels › Henderson Hotels
Laneville TX Old Store
Laneville Old Store
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, April 2011

History in a Pecan Shell

The town came into being as a crossroads community in the 1880s. The intersection of four "lanes" furnished the town's name. The town was granted a post office in 1888. According to the entry for Laneville in the Handbook of Texas, nothing much happened in Laneville from it's beginning until 1950. The big "event" that year was being included on the list of Rusk County's 14 operating post offices. Laneville's population reached its high-water mark with 320 people.

WPA came to Laneville

by Bob Bowman

A few weeks ago, we reported of the resurgence of outhouses as historical landmarks in East Texas.

Shortly after the column appeared, we learned of what may be the only existing East Texas outhouse ever built by the old Work Projects Administration, a Depression-era federal program which put the jobless to work building public projects.

In 1935, the WPA came to Laneville, a crossroads community in southern Rusk County, and began building rock fences, bridges and other needed projects.

J.M. (Murph) Bryan was the county's Precinct 4 commissioner at the time, and convinced the WPA's local foreman to build an outhouse for his family on a small farm east of Laneville. Bryan paid fifteen dollars for the one-holer.

Today, Bryan's daughter, Mary Lou Bryan, still lives on the family farm -- and has kept Murph's outhouse in tip-top condition....more
Laneville TX Old Store

Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, April 2011
More Texas Stores

Laneville TX Cowboy Church
Cowboy Church
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, April 2011
Laneville TX Cowboy Church sign
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, April 2011
Laneville TX - Methodist Church
Laneville Methodist Church
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, April 2011
Laneville TX First  Baptist Church
Laneville First Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, April 2011
More Texas Churches

Take a road trip

Laneville, Texas Nearby Towns:
Henderson the county seat
Mount Enterprise
Nacogdoches
See Rusk County | East Texas

Book Hotel Here:
Henderson Hotels | More Hotels
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