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PINE SPRINGS,
TEXAS
AKA Fruit, Texas
Smith
County, East Texas
32° 23' 52.8" N, 95° 16' 1.2" W (32.398, -95.267)
U.S. 271
About 6 Miles N of Tyler
ZIP code 75708
Area code 903
Population: 150 (2000)
Pine Springs, Texas Area Hotels ›
Tyler Hotels |
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Earliest settlement
was in the 1840s but it didn’t develop until 1881 when E. S. Cook
and Perry Ray bought land here for a planned community. The first
building was a school, that was also used for Baptist Church services.
The name was chosen by John Ray for a local spring and the woods
in which it flowed. Because of the orchards and a canning factory,
the post office granted under the name of Fruit, Texas when
it opened in 1894. (See 1907
Smith County Postal Map)
But blight
hit the orchards in the late 1890s, resulting in an exodus of farmers.
The cannery closed and the desperate fruitgrowers turned to roses.
This was the birth of the huge Tyler
rose industry.
During the
Great Depression, the town only had a single business to stand beside
the church, school and cemetery.
In the early
1950s, locals schools formed an Independent School District which
was absorbed into the Tyler School System in 1956.
The original school building has become a community center. The
town is currently far enough from Tyler
to be safe from annexation.
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Pine Springs
Baptist Church Historical Marker
Photo
courtesy Lori
Martin
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Historical Marker:
(Location - Pine Springs Rd. at Donaldson Lane, about 2 miles N
of Tyler)
Pine Springs
Baptist Church
In 1881, E.
S. Cook and Perry Ray, trustees for the Pine Springs School community,
purchased nearby land for the construction of a schoolhouse. Soon
after, the Pine Springs Baptist Church of Christ was organized under
the direction of the Rev. Marcus Morton Wadsworth (1841-1908), who
served as the first pastor.
Monthly worship
services were conducted in the schoolhouse until a separate sanctuary
was built at this site, north of the school, in the early 1890s.
About the same time, the congregational name was changed to the
Pine Springs Baptist Church.
The fellowship experienced steady growth during the pastorate of
the Rev. Tully Choice, 1894-1897. The development of the area fruit
growing and canning industry brought new members, and a Sunday School
and bimonthly services were established. Regular weekly services
began about 1935.
For over 100 years the Pine Springs Baptist Church has been active
in the growth and development of the surrounding area. Members here
have included early settlers, soldiers stationed at nearby Camp
Fannin during World
War II, several pioneers in the development of the area rose
industry, and many prominent community leaders.
1981
[ More Texas Churches
]
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Tyler
Rose Farm
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/%7Etxpstcrd/ |
Smith
County 1907 Postal Map showing Fruit, N of Tyler
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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