Jones Prairie “Last Day” [Cover]

Object/Artifact

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The Lew Anvil Collection

Name/Title

Jones Prairie “Last Day” [Cover]

Description

A “Last Day” cover postmarked on August 31, 1954, on the final day of business of the Jones Prairie Post Office. Signed by the postmaster.

Context

A post office was established at Jones Prairie in 1876. Area farmers shipped cotton and corn. By 1884 the community had a gristmill, a cotton gin, a district school, three churches, and 150 residents. Jones Prairie was on the stage line between Calvert and Cameron but was bypassed when the railroads were built through Milam County in the 1880s and 1890s. A population of 100 was reported at Jones Prairie from the mid-1920s to the mid-1960s. The post office was discontinued in the 1950s. Jones Prairie had thirty-five residents in 1990. The population remained the same in 2000.