Edgewood

          Area settlement began in the 1840’s along the Dallas to Shreveport road. The first site was two miles SE of the present-day town and was named Barren Ridge. The area’s first cemetery was located at this site as well as the Barren Ridge post office, which opened in 1850 and closed in 1857.

          The Texas and Pacific Railroad was completed in August 1873.  The switch named Stevenson was built in 1878, as well.  In 1875, Edgewood as laid out by two law partners from Tyler, Robertson and Herndon.  They sold every other lot to the T&P and retained the rest for themselves.  The Canton to Cane Bridge Road was changed to run through the new town of Edgewood.

         Edgewood was platted, a post office was granted and the old Star Route (presently known as FM 859) connected Edgewood and Canton. By 1881, Edgewood had a hotel and blacksmith and was firmly established as a T&P stop. The new railroad town attracted new settlers from Mississippi and by 1895 the wooden shanties began disappearing and were replaced by brick buildings. The population had soared to 650. A community church was built and Edgewood boasted all the essentials for a successful town.

          Edgewood established itself as a cotton trader’s paradise with the population flourishing from 1900-1929 when the Great Depression came.  In the 1930's, tomatoes were the big cash crop and Edgewood became known as the “Tomato Capital of East Texas”.

          World War II brought all this to a sudden halt with families being torn apart due to the war effort. The economy withered and remained stale until the Northeast Gas Field was discovered in 1960.

          With the opening of this rich gas field, farmers became ranchers, new homes were built, and a new school soon opened with integration in full swing.