Nugent, Texas, Jones County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

John A. Roberts, one of Jones County�s first settlers arrived here with his brothers in 1879. The land owned by Roberts was considered too wild to farm due to thick undergrowth.

The dense wall of shrubs and undergrowth did protect from Indian attack, and the brothers benefited from water from the Clear Fork of the Brazos River.

In 1905 Roberts� widow officially founded the town of Nugent although she did not name it. That honor went to R.D. Jefferies, who happened to be the town�s first postmaster.

The school was called Green Valley until 1892 when it merged with the Rising Sun school. In 1893 the community was granted a post office.

Nugent had a population of nearly 100 in 1910, served by three ministers and a doctor as well as various skilled tradesmen.

By the 1920s, Nugent had suffered a decline resulting in but a single business open. Despite the economic downturn, Nugent residents invested in a new two-story brick school in 1922.

The population reached 94 but after WWII it had fallen to just 48. It rose to 61 by the mid 1980s and fell again to just 41 for the 2000 Census.

Nugent Old Store
Photo courtesy Kasey Dockens, July 2012
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Nugent Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Kasey Dockens, July 2012

Nugent Church Of Christ
Photo courtesy Kasey Dockens, July 2012
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