Cason, Texas
Photo of Downtown Cason in 1932
This picture was taken by Jane Gladys Dunlap in 1932 and
submitted to the Pittsburg Gazette in Camp County.
Furnished courtesy of John Wardlow.
Cason is on State Highway 11 and the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway, five miles west of Daingerfield in southwestern
Morris County. The town grew up around a station on the East Line and Red River Railroad, which was constructed through
western Morris County in the late 1870s. Many of the early businesses were transferred from Snow Hill, three miles
north. When the post office, which had been in Snow Hill, was moved in 1878, the postmaster, William M. Cason, named the
new town Cason in honor of his father, J. W. By 1884 the settlement had an estimated population of 200, a church, a
district school, and businesses that included sawmills and gristmills and two cotton gins. By 1892 the population had
grown to 250, and a bedspring factory was in operation. The town reached its peak in the late 1920s, when the population
was estimated at 500. The population declined between World War IIqv and 1972, when a population of 160 and five rated
businesses were reported. In 1986 the population was estimated at 165, and Cason had four rated businesses. In 1990 and
2000 the population was 173.
Bibliography: Jean Connor, A Short History of Morris County (Daingerfield, Texas: Daingerfield Bicentennial Commission, 1975).
Cecil Harper, Jr.
Handbook of Texas Online
The news item says:
CASON BOOM DAYS - A typical scene during the 1932 oil boom in Cason is shown here in the picture submitted to
the Gazette by Mrs W R Fielder. During those days, hundreds of people roamed the streets - some selling or buying up
leases, some oil field workers and some just there to see the activity. Looks like even parking places were going at a
premium during those days. [The image is very large and worth viewing close-up.]
