Randolph, Texas, a town in Fannin County. (original) (raw)

Randolph First Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007

History in a Pecan Shell

First settled in the late 1830s, a town named Lindsey School House for Thomas Lindsey who had donated land for a church, school, and cemetery in the 1840s appeared � of a mile from what would become Randolph.

The Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas railroad appeared in 1887 and a new community grew alongside the rails. The new town was named for Judge Tom Randolph of nearby Sherman.

A post office was granted that same year and within a year the new town had a saloon, a store and a school. The town acquired a lumber mill, a gin and a brickyard. In the course of the next 12 years with a bank a few years later. The population grew to over 200 by the mid 1920s. At the close of World War II the population remained at 225 although businesses had declined.

Rail traffic declined in the late 1940s and so did the town�s businesses. The population was down to 125 by the mid 1960s and down further to a mere 70 by 1980 � the same figure being used for the 2010 Census.

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