Mount Selman 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 ...

Cherokee County Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States: * Cherokee County, Alabama * Cherokee County, Georgia * Cherokee County, Iowa * Cherokee County, Kansas * Cherokee County, North Carolina * Cherokee County, Oklahoma * Cherokee Co ...

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 200 in 2000. It is located within the Tyler-Jacksonville combined statistical area.

History

Mount Selman was established in 1884 along the Kansas and Gulf Short Line Railroad. Dr. R.D. Bone, J.W. Wade, and J.N. and W.T. McKee named the community Selman for Dr. James Selman, who donated land for the community. Its

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 ...

opened the same year as its creation and was renamed Mount Selman because there was another community named Selman elsewhere in the state. In 1892, Mount Selman had 125 residents, alongside a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

and gin, a Presbyterian church, a general store, a drugstore, dry goods, and grocery stores. The community became a shipping center along the railroad for

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

es,

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

s, and

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es. Its population peaked at 500 in 1914, and the town began to decline after that point. It went down to 220 and had five businesses in the early 1950s, causing many of the remaining stores to close. The post office closed in 1973 while mail was sent from Bullard, and the population was estimated at 200 in 2000. It had several churches, a community center, and several scattered houses in 1990. In 1986 and 1990, Mount Selman had two of the tallest structures standing higher than 400 meters: Pinnacle Towers Mount Selman for

KETK-TV KETK-TV (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Jacksonville, Texas, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for East Texas. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Tyler-licensed low-power MyNetworkTV affiliate KTPN-LD (ch ...

and

KOOI KOOI (106.5 FM) is an Alpha Media radio station broadcasting a variety hits format. Licensed to Jacksonville, Texas, United States, the station serves the Tyler-Longview area, and is the East Texas broadcast radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. Stu ...

and Media General Operations Tower Youngstown (see

List of tallest structures – 400 to 500 metres This is a part of the list of tallest structures in the world, past and present of any type. This list includes quite a few masts. A Radio masts and towers, mast is a man-made support structure, commonly used on sailing ships as support for s ...

). On April 9, 2015, an EF-2 tornado struck Mount Selman, snapping and uprooting trees, damaging outbuildings, and removing the roof and collapsing a few exterior walls of a house.

Geography

Mount Selman is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 69 and Farm to Market Road 177, north of

Rusk A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the UK, the name also refers to a whea ...

in northern Cherokee County. It is also located north of

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Education

Today, the community is served by the

Jacksonville Independent School District Jacksonville Independent School District is a public school district based in Jacksonville, Texas, United States. Brad Stewart is currently the superintendent of JISD. In addition to Jacksonville, the district serves the towns of Cuney and Ga ...

References

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