CANNON, TEXAS

History in a Pecan Shell

Elijah Cannon is the town’s namesake. Cannon arrived from South Carolina in 1852 and earned the right of naming the town by building a grist mill and cotton gin. Having a ready source of grist, locals invested in a school and church. By the 1870s, the town became a market for far-flung famers of Grayson County (FFFGC) who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) make it to the county seat. The aptly named, Centennial Institute, was opened in 1876 but burned twelve years later.

In 1877 the community acquired a post office. Cannon grew to a respectable population of around 400 residents by the mid 1880s, reaching its high-water mark. Cannon then joined the list of towns across America whose sad story ended with the words: “then along came the railroad and bypassed the town.” In Cannon’s case, the decline wasn’t immediate, but when the town got down to less than 50 residents, the post office closed its doors (1907).

By 1910 the population was a mere 30 and over the next 80 years it slowly gathered 45 more people to place the 1990 Census at 75. The 2000 census counted 50 people calling Cannon home.


Photographer’s Note:
“About all that is left is the church and this cemetery.” - Barclay Gibson

Cannon Cemetery

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