Montalba is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in central Anderson County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States. According to the

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

, the community had a population of 809 in 2019. It is located within the

Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the seat of Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named for Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that town. The city had a 2020 U.S. census population of 18,544, mak ...

micropolitan area.

History

Montalba was given this name when William J. Hamlett, Jr., applied to have a post office established in the community and for the building to be located east of the Trinity River and south of Beaver Creek as early as December 1881. The nearest post office at that time was in nearby Tennessee Colony, located west of Montalba. Hamlett named the settlement Montalba, and it is thought to be named this because of the white sand on a mountain located east of the community. The post office was originally located at Beaver Valley, a community located about two or three miles north of the settlement, in 1848. P.G. Oldham was one of the first settlers in the community, in which he built a home just northwest of the settlement in 1853. A church called Beaver Valley Primitive Baptist Church was located near the community. A cemetery was established in the settlement and became known as Holly Springs. The location of Beaver Valley and Montalba on a road between

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

made both of those communities central gathering places for farmers in the area. Beaver Valley did this first, then Montalba. The community's early industry is unknown, but there is a foundry that was used during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

to make firearms and ammunition within the community's loose boundaries. It is mostly agrarian, and the community is both a supply point and a local market. There were two gas stations, a combined gas station and general store, a 4-H Club building, a community center, a post office, numerous homes, and three churches in Montalba in 1978. It has had several populations. Its population nadir was 50 in both 1925 and 1933, and its population zenith was 300 in 1931. It reached 200 residents in 1964 and then plunged to 110 between 1974 and 1989. It had a population of 110 from that year through 2000. Although Montalba is unincorporated, it has a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, with the ZIP code of 75853.

Geography

Montalba lies along

Texas State Highway 19 State Highway 19 (SH 19) is a state highway in Texas runs from Huntsville to Paris in east Texas. Route description SH 19 begins at an interchange with Interstate 45 in southeast Huntsville. The highway runs through the eastern edge of the ...

, northwest of the city of

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Anderson County in the north central part of the county.Rand McNally. ''The Road Atlas '08.''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution c ...

, 2008, p. 100.

Education

The

Primitive Baptist Primitive Baptists – also known as Hard Shell Baptists, Foot Washing Baptists or Old School Baptists – are conservative Baptists adhering to a degree of Calvinist beliefs who coalesced out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 19th c ...

church located in the community in 1853 was also used as a school. The community's school originated when Mrs. Peter G. Adams and Mrs. B.H. Brooks worked together to join the schools in Black Rock and Pace's Chapel together since the surrounding school districts joined them as well. This district had 188 White and 183

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

children enrolled in 1933. Today the community is served by the

Palestine Independent School District Palestine Independent School District is a public school district based in Palestine, Texas (USA) that serves approximately 3,500 students in central Anderson County. In 2009, the school district was rated "academically acceptable" by the Te ...

Notable people

Elton Bomer Elton L. Bomer (born July 30, 1935) is an American politician in the state of Texas. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1981 to 1985 and 1991 to 1995 before serving as Secretary of State of Texas under Governor George W. Bush fr ...

, formerly

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

and

Texas Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Texas is one of the six members of the executive department of the State of Texas in the United States. Under the Constitution of Texas, the appointment is made by the governor of Texas, with confirmation by the Texas S ...

, resides in Montalba.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Anderson County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas