Woodlake 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
Trinity 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.
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, United States. Its population was 45,941 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville United States micropolitan area, micropolitan area ...
micropolitan area.
Historical development
The region was populated around the time of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, 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 logging, 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 ...
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's failure, combined with the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
'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, 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, United States. 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 200 ...
.
References
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Unincorporated communities in Trinity County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
Logging communities in the United States