Small Town Salute: Oakwood was named for it’s railroad lumber

Michael Garcia
·1 min read

OAKWOOD, Texas (KETK) – Oakwood is a town that was named by the International Great Northern Railroad for the their abundance of Post Oak trees.

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Oakwood is located to the northeast of Palestine in Leon and Freestone counties. It was founded in 1870 as a ten-mile-station for the railroad but they later moved the town in 1878 because the ground near the Trinity River became too muddy when it rained.

The towns population peaked at 1,100 in 1925 but then started to drop in the 1930’s because of a boll weevil outbreak and the Great Depression, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

By 1970, the population was down to 400 but came back up to 527 in 1990 before starting to fall again to 471 in 2000. In 2020, the town’s population had fallen even further to 389.

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