Prairieville is an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...

small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in Kaufman County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. There is a grocery store at Prairieville, a church, and several homes. 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 W ...

, the community had a population of 50 in 2000. It is located within the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

History

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

colony in Texas led by Johan Reinert Reiersen moved from Henderson County to the Four Mile Prairie in

Kaufman Kaufman or Kauffman may refer to: People *Kaufmann (surname) ''Includes Kaufman, Kauffman, Kauffmann'' Places * Kaufman, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Madison Count * Kaufman, Texas, a city in Kaufman County * Kaufman County, Texas, ...

and Van Zandt counties in 1848. It resulted in the establishment of Prairieville after they built homes and farms on the land. In the community's first years an epidemic swept through the area in the 1850s, and the survivors moved to Bosque County. The Prairieville community itself survived, which had a population of 206 by 1900 before it plunged to 50 in 1924. The community had several stores and businesses over the years, which included

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

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

s, general merchandise stores,

carding Carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passing the fibres between differentially moving surfaces covered with ...

and furniture factories and

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

shops. A post office was established at Prairieville in 1854 and remained in operation until 1954 with only one brief interruption. Prairieville was a quiet neighborhood of rural homes and had only one country store and a historical marker. The population remained at 50 in 1990 and 2000. The community had a church established in 1848 by local settlers. Resident Erick Bache built a hotel and had other jobs such as postmaster and was a station leader on two rail lines. Eighty people of

heritage lived in Prairieville in 1857, while the rest were from other European countries such as

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Geography

Prairieville is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 1836 and 90 near the

Van Zandt County Van Zandt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas, in the northeastern part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 59,541. Its county seat is Canton. The county is named for Isaac Van Zandt (1813–1847), a me ...

line, north of Mabank and southeast of

in the southeastern portion of Kaufman County.

Education

Prairieville had its own school in the 1850s and remained in operation until it joined the

Mabank Independent School District Introduction to Mabank ISD Mabank Independent School District is a public school district based in Mabank, Texas ( USA). In addition to Mabank, the district serves southeast Kaufman, southwest Van Zandt, and northwest Henderson counties, ...

in 1949. The community continues to be served by the Mabank ISD to this day.

References

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