Blooming Grove, Texas, Navarro County. (original) (raw)

BLOOMING GROVE, TEXAS

AKA Gradyville

Navarro County, Central Texas North

32�5'32"N 96�43'2"W (32.092084, -96.717088)

Highway 22 and FM 55
15 miles W of Corsicana the county seat
ZIP code 76626
Area code 903
Population: 857 (2020)
821 (2010) 833 (2000) 847 (1990)

First United Methodist Church in Blooming Grove Texas

The First United Methodist Church in Blooming Grove
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, July 2005

History in a Pecan Shell

The Methodist Mission (est. 1869) built a white church in the vicinity - which became known as White Church. Nearby, settlers grouped around a general store and in 1871 citizens voted on a name for their community - settling on Blooming Grove, named after Blooming Grove, Illinois, the hometown of popular resident and Doctor John Davis.

When the St. Louis Southwestern Railway arrived around 1881, the town moved a mile to be on the rail line and Blooming Grove merged with White Church community. From a population of 200 in 1884, it quadrupled to 800 in six short years.

The town was hit hard by the Great Depression and suffered a drastic reduction in population. From its high-water mark of 1,500 in 1933, by the mid 30s it had fallen to just over 800 - about the same number that appeared on the state map in 2004.

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