Romney, Texas, Eastland County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Romney was established in 1880 when former West Virginian J.W. White arrived and named the community after his former hometown. The community was granted a post office in the early 1890s which remained open through 1931.

Romney had always been an agricultural community, primarily cotton. At the turn of the 20th Century, it had most essential businesses as well as a school. A boll weevil infestation in 1914 curtailed growth although it limped along into the 1960s when it still had a gas station and two stores.

The 1940 population was given as 40 residents. A slow decline drove this number down to a mere 12 by the 1980 census - where it has remained. In 2012 during the Obama / Romney presidential election, the highway sign marking the community was defaced - resulting in it's removal.

1907 postal map showing Romney in SW Eastland County
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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