Ratcliff 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 ...

Houston County, Texas Houston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 22,066. Its county seat is Crockett. Houston County was one of 46 entirely dry counties in the state of Texas, until voters in a November ...

, in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...

, 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 106 in 2000.

History

When a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

wagon train brought a group of immigrants into eastern Houston County around 1875, Ratcliff was established. It was given that name in honor of Jesse H. Ratcliff, who on February 6, 1889, erected a post office and built a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

in a region of virgin pines. The massive sawmilling enterprise known as Four C Mill was built on the foundation of Ratcliff's sawmill, which was sold to Central Coal and Coke Company in 1901. More than 5,000 people lived there during the boomtime of the sawmills. Up until the early 20th century, Ratcliff was a thriving lumber town. The of the surrounding forest had been cleared by 1920, and the town fell into decline until the middle of the 1930s. The establishment of

Davy Crockett National Forest Davy Crockett National Forest is off U.S. Highway 69 lying west of Lufkin, Texas and east of Crockett. It is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service local headquarters in Lufkin. There are local ranger distric ...

, land sales, and a reforestation project run by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

all contributed to the economy's recovery. A mile west of the town, the campground known as

Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area is a developed park within the Davy Crockett National Forest near Kennard, Texas, United States. The park surrounds a lake that was once a mill pond and source of water for a sawmill which operated from 1902 to 1920. ...

attracted tourists. Two Texas historical markers were placed in Ratcliff: one for the town itself in 1972 and another for the Four C Mill in 1973. Ratcliff had two enterprises in 1980, and 106 people lived there in 1990 and 2000. The community had three stores in operation around the time the post office opened. Ratcliff himself served as postmaster. Doctors H.L. McCall and Jake Jackson practiced medicine in the community. On April 13, 2019, an F1 tornado struck Ratcliff. This tornado snapped and uprooted trees and severely damaged a double-wide mobile home, pushing it into a wooded area. Four of its occupants were injured but later released from the hospital. Another EF0 tornado hit the Davy Crockett National Forest, but the full path is unknown.

Geography

Ratcliff is located at the intersection of

Farm to Market Road 227 A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

and

Texas State Highway 7 State Highway 7 (SH 7) is an east–west state highway that runs from Interstate 35 at Eddy to U.S. Highway 84 about west of the Texas-Louisiana state line. Between Crockett and Nacogdoches, SH 7 passes through the Davy Crocke ...

, east of Kennard, east of

Crockett Crockett may refer to: People and fictional characters *Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player *Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator *C ...

, and southwest of

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchitoch ...

in eastern Houston County.

Texas State Highway 103 State Highway 103 (SH 103) is a state highway that runs through east Texas from an intersection with SH 7 near the Neches River through Lufkin to an intersection with SH 21 near the Louisiana state border. The route was originally designated ...

also travels through the community.

Education

The Old Ratcliff School was established in 1890. Dora Hager was the teacher there. The school moved closer to the community in 1901, then joined the

Kennard Independent School District Kennard Independent School District is a public school district based in Kennard, Texas, United States. It has two campuses - Kennard High School (grades 7-12) and Kennard Elementary School (kindergarten-grade 6). It is mostly located in Housto ...

in 1955.

Notable person

Richard H. Keith, coal and lumberman.

Gallery

File:Ratcliff Lake sign IMG_0982.JPG, Entrance sign to Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area at Ratcliff, Texas File:Ratcliff Lake, Ratcliff, TX IMG_0985.JPG, Ratcliff Lake in the

File:Ratcliff, TX, Baptist Church IMG_7528.JPG, Ratcliff Baptist Church on

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Texas Unincorporated communities in Houston County, Texas Logging communities in the United States