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Gentlemen in
the Gent Band
Courtesy
Arcadia Publishing & Cherokee County Historical Commission |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Gent aka Ghent, Texas was on Gent Mountain.
In the late 1840s people from Alabama and Tennessee made the long
journey to East Texas.
A place known as Sand Springs was established around 1854,
but the community didn't really develop until the late 1870s.
A post office opened in 1879 and whether the name was Gent or Ghent,
it doesn't make too much difference now. It was either named after
the Belgian city - or the greeting of "Howdy Gent," - a greeting that
is supposed to have been in en vogue at the time.
In 1890 Gent had 500 people and two stores, two churches, several
saw mills, and a school. Gent, like nearby Pine
Town, began to decline when Maydelle
appeared alongside the rails of the Texas
State Railroad in 1900.
Gent's post office closed in 1906, and by 1913 the town was a virtual
ghost. A Texas Historical Commission marker
has been placed (on FM 2138 about 3 miles N of Maydelle)
to identify the townsite. |
Historical
Marker:
Gent
Village
Located on top
of Gent Mountain between two creeks, the village of Gent was settled
in the 1850s primarily by families from Alabama and Tennessee in search
of good farmland. The early settlers quickly established religious
and educational institutions, and by 1900 the village boasted several
stores, mills and cotton gins as well. Construction of the Texas
State Railroad from Rusk
to Palestine
and the founding of the town of Maydelle
(1.5 mi. s.) in 1910 pulled business away from Gent. Gradually the
village was abandoned, and today not a single structure remains. |
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Cherokee
County 1907 Postal Map still showing Gent
(Above "H" in "CHEROKEE")
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office
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| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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