Brachfield (formerly Murval and Needmore) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Rusk County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had a population of 40 in 2000. It is located within the

Longview, Texas metropolitan area The Longview metropolitan statistical area is a metropolitan area in Northeast Texas that covers four counties— Gregg, Harrison, Rusk, and Upshur. As of the 2010 census the MSA had a population of 280,000 (though a July 1, 2019 estimate place ...

History

The town was named after its creek, Murval Creek in the 1860s, it was nearby Gibson, which was also named after Murval Creek, and they both shared a post office in 1853, with Archibald H. Watkins as postmaster. Families surnamed Watkins, Miller, Brown, Welch, Hannah, and Debard were early settlers here. Trammel's Trace traveled through the community and may have been the source of settlement for the community. It was referred to as Needmore by its local county newspaper from 1892 to 1905 (because it seemingly "needed more" of everything), but to prevent confusion with the Needmore located in

Terry County Terry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,831. Its county seat is Brownfield. The county was demarked in 1876 and organized in 1904. It is named for Benjamin Franklin Terry, a co ...

, it was renamed again after the residents had stuck with the name. A passing hotel and store were built for people coming from the booming Welch Springs by Nathaniel Johnston, who took over as postmaster in 1896. The town is currently named Brachfield because in 1900 Charles L. Brachfield visited the town and stood in one of its fields to make a speech, a new post office was also named after him but closed in 1906. The locals call speeches like this 'stump speeches' because of the cleared field Brachfield spoke in. Population figures before the 1950s aren't available, but in the 1950s and '60s, the community population peaked at 80, but fell in the '70s and '80s and had 30 people in 1990, then rose again by 10 in the '90s to be 40 in 2000.

Geography

Brachfield is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 840 and

1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of ...

, southeast of

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...

, north of Mount Enterprise, southwest of Pine Hill, southwest of

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

, and north of

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a 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. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and specia ...

in far eastern Rusk County.

Education

Today, the community is served by the

Henderson Independent School District Henderson Independent School District is a public school district based in Henderson, Texas, Henderson, Texas (United States, USA). HISD is the largest school district in Rusk County. Current enrollment is 3,365 students and the district employe ...

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Rusk County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Longview metropolitan area, Texas

History

Geography

Education

See also

References