Woodlake 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 Trinity 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. In 2000, the estimated population was 98 residents. It is located within the

Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas. The population was 45,941 as of the 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area. Huntsville is in the East Texas Piney Woods on Interstate 45 and home to ...

micropolitan area.

Historical development

The region was populated around the time of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, but it was only when John Martin Thompson and Henry Tucker created the Thompson and Tucker Lumber Company in the early 1880s that a settlement started to take shape. The Willard post office opened in 1889, and throughout the following 20 years, the community went by several names, including Old Willard and Jason. There were 250 residents living in the town by 1896, along with Presbyterian and Methodist churches, a lumberyard, a mill, and a general store. However, by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the majority of the local timber had been cut, the mill had closed, and the plant had been destroyed. Many of the locals relocated to nearby

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 ...

towns. According to one version, the post office was shut down in 1910, but reopened in 1920 under the name Jason, after eminent black resident Jason Hawthorne. Following the tiny reservoir that had supplied the mill, the name was changed to Woodlake in 1925. Helen Kerr Thompson, a descendant of the original mill owner, set up a model farm in the 1920s. The

Waco, Beaumont, Trinity and Sabine Railway The Waco, Beaumont, Trinity and Sabine Railway (WBT&S) was a standard gauge U.S. shortline railroad located in East Texas. The company was formed from two earlier shortlines that interchanged in Trinity, Texas, and had come under the control of ...

's failure, combined with the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

's impacts, caused the project to fail in the late 1920s after the construction of a trading station, a community center, and several homes. The initiative to assist farmers on relief registers was taken over by the American government in 1934. Numerous new homes were built, but the project collapsed once more. Many of the population had left by the late 1930s. The Baptist Church of East Texas built a youth camp using the majority of the community's structures and a large portion of its equipment, which were sold to them. With 301 residents, Woodlake was a small, dispersed town in 1990. The population fell to 98 people in 2000. Although Woodlake is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP Code 75865.

Geography

Woodlake is located on

U.S. Route 287 U.S. Route 287 (US 287) is a north–south (physically northwest–southeast) United States highway. At long, it is the second longest three-digit U.S. Route, behind US 281. It serves as the major truck route between Fort Worth and Ama ...

, four miles southeast of Groveton in southeastern Trinity County.

Education

Woodlake had a school hosting 11 grade levels in 1934. Today, the community is served by the

Groveton Independent School District Groveton Independent School District is a public school district based in Groveton, Texas ( US). The Football team of GISD won three state titles in 1984, 1989, and in 1990, the latter two led by future NFL player Rodney Thomas. In 2009, the sch ...

References

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