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History in
a Pecan Shell
Once part of the
Stephen
F. Austin Colony, the community didn’t develop until the 1890s
when Fort Bend County
landowner Freeman Irby Booth arrived, and opened a store. Booth also
opened a lumberyard, cotton gin and syrup mill.
A post office opened in 1894 when the population was estimated at
150. It doubled by 1914 and the town received telephone service as
well as a bank.
From 1925 through the Great Depression and WWII,
Booth’s population remained steady at 100 residents. By the late 1940s
it had fallen to a mere 40 residents and has remained under 100. The
1990 census reported 60 citizens. |
Historical Marker:
FM 2759 at Agnes Road
Booth
Founded by freeman
Irby Booth (1866 - 1931) about 1890, shortly after he bought the surrounding
property. In the early 1890s, Booth went to South Carolina and brought
back 30 families to settle his land. Early crops of cotton,
corn, and rice were shipped to
market via the Brazos River. The post office opened March 21, 1894.
By the early 1900s, the town of Booth had a syrup mill, sawmill, and
was serviced by the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, by which sugar
cane, alfalfa, and truck vegetables were shipped. Booth public school
opened in 1908 and operated until 1947.
1973
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