Cresson, Texas, a city in Hood/Johnson County. (original) (raw)
Hood / Johnson Counties, Central Texas North
32� 31' 57" N, 97� 37' 4" W (32.5325, -97.617778)
U.S. Hwy 377 and State Hwy 171
28 Miles SW of Fort Worth 13 Miles NE of Granbury Hood County seat
20 Miles NW of Cleburne Johnson County seat
ZIP code 76035
Area code 817
Population: 1,338 Est. (2019)
741 (2010) 208 (2000, 1990)
Cresson, Texas Area Hotels › Granbury Hotels
Cresson School
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, August 2013
History in a Pecan Shell
John Cresson, the town�s namesake, stopped his wagon train here prior to the Civil War and returned in later years to open a general store. It became a hub on a cluster of stagecoach routes including connections to Waco, Cleburne, Granbury and Stephenville.
As the railroad came through the region, stagecoach lines were made obsolete. The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad connected Cresson with Granbury in 1887, the same year it was granted a post office.
Cresson�s economy was given a substantial boost by its railroad connections to Fort Worth and Granbury. By 1890 Cresson was only able to count 35 people but by 1896 it had increased to an even one hundred people.
Cresson continued to gather most essential businesses and by 1904 the population had reached 279 where it was reported for decades. But it fell into a decline and by 1988, it was back to 200. For both 1990 and 2000, the population has been given as 208.
Cresson, Texas Landmarks
Photo Gallery
Photographer's Note:
" Cresson in located mostly near the northeast corner of Hood County. A smaller portion of Cresson is at the northwest corner of Johnson County. It is a busy little town being at the intersection of two major highways, US 377 and TX 171." - Barclay Gibson
Cresson School Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, August 2013
Historical Marker: 9304 Pittsburgh St, Cresson
Cresson School
Approximately ten years after settlers began moving to this area, Hood County was formed from part of Johnson County in 1866. Cresson was platted in the late 1880s, and surveyor Madison Jones later deeded land at this site for school purposes.
Cresson, like many of the rural communities surrounding it, started its school programs in one-room schoolhouses. Cresson's was located just west of this site and was torn down in 1890 when a two-story frame structure was erected here. This schoolhouse was used until 1918, when it was replaced by a larger, red brick building that burned years later in October 1930. Students attended classes at local churches while the school district worked to build a new schoolhouse.
The M.l. Wallace & Co. architectural firm from Dallas served as designer, and county school superintendent Victor B. Penuel chose the appearance for the new school building. The yellow-brick, mission revival schoolhouse was completed in 1931, with an auditorium and four large classrooms. Design elements include cartouches and decorative elements in window surrounds. Fund-raisers held during subsequent years added a kitchen and indoor restroom facilities. In July 1965, a severe storm damaged several buildings in Cresson, and lightning struck the school. The central parapet on the main fa�ade, designed to resemble the curved parapet of the Alamo in San Antonio, was damaged and later replaced.
After Cresson consolidated with Granbury schools in 1967, the school building sat abandoned; a community group organized in the late 1970s to work for its restoration. Today, the school serves as a community center and as a link to Cresson's early educational programs.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003
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