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CRESSON, TEXAS
Hood
/ Johnson Counties,
Central Texas
North
32° 31' 57" N, 97° 37' 4" W (32.5325, -97.617778)
U.S. Hwy 377 and State Hwy 171
28 Miles SW of Fort Worth
13 Miles NE of Granbury
Hood County seat
20 Miles NW of Cleburne
Johnson County seat
ZIP code 76035
Area code 817
Population: 1,338 Est. (2019)
741 (2010) 208 (2000, 1990)
Cresson, Texas Area Hotels ›
Granbury Hotels |
Cresson
School
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, August 2013 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
John Cresson, the
town’s namesake, stopped his wagon train here prior to the Civil War
and returned in later years to open a general store. It became a hub
on a cluster of stagecoach routes including connections to Waco,
Cleburne, Granbury
and Stephenville.
As the railroad came through the region, stagecoach lines were made
obsolete. The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad connected Cresson
with Granbury in
1887, the same year it was granted a post office.
Cresson’s economy was given a substantial boost by its railroad connections
to Fort Worth and
Granbury. By 1890
Cresson was only able to count 35 people but by 1896 it had increased
to an even one hundred people.
Cresson continued to gather most essential businesses and by 1904
the population had reached 279 where it was reported for decades.
But it fell into a decline and by 1988, it was back to 200. For both
1990 and 2000, the population has been given as 208. |
Cresson, Texas
Landmarks
Photo Gallery |
Photographer's
Note:
" Cresson in located mostly near the northeast corner of Hood
County. A smaller portion of Cresson is at the northwest corner
of Johnson County.
It is a busy little town being at the intersection of two major highways,
US 377 and TX 171." - Barclay
Gibson |
Cresson
School Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, August 2013 |
Historical Marker:
9304 Pittsburgh St, Cresson
Cresson School
Approximately
ten years after settlers began moving to this area, Hood
County was formed from part of Johnson
County in 1866. Cresson was platted in the late 1880s, and surveyor
Madison Jones later deeded land at this site for school purposes.
Cresson, like many of the rural communities surrounding it, started
its school programs in one-room schoolhouses. Cresson's was located
just west of this site and was torn down in 1890 when a two-story
frame structure was erected here. This schoolhouse was used until
1918, when it was replaced by a larger, red brick building that burned
years later in October 1930. Students attended classes at local churches
while the school district worked to build a new schoolhouse.
The M.l. Wallace & Co. architectural firm from Dallas
served as designer, and county school superintendent Victor B. Penuel
chose the appearance for the new school building. The yellow-brick,
mission revival schoolhouse was completed in 1931, with an auditorium
and four large classrooms. Design elements include cartouches and
decorative elements in window surrounds. Fund-raisers held during
subsequent years added a kitchen and indoor restroom facilities. In
July 1965, a severe storm damaged several buildings in Cresson, and
lightning struck the school. The central parapet on the main façade,
designed to resemble the curved parapet of the Alamo
in San Antonio, was
damaged and later replaced.
After Cresson consolidated with Granbury
schools in 1967, the school building sat abandoned; a community group
organized in the late 1970s to work for its restoration. Today, the
school serves as a community center and as a link to Cresson's early
educational programs.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003 |
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