Lone Oak

Lone Oak is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 69 and Farm roads 513 and 1567, ten miles southeast of Greenville in southeastern Hunt County. The first settlers arrived in the area in the late 1850s. By the eve of the Civil Warqv a community had developed and was named for an impressive oak tree that stood alone on the grass-covered prairie. Postal authorities established a branch at Lone Oak in 1869. Twelve years later the tracks of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad reached the community, which was incorporated in 1890. By that time Lone Oak had become a shipping point for area farmers. It had a steam gristmill, a cotton gin, 800 residents, three churches, a school, the weekly Lone Oak Call, and over forty businesses. The population increased to 1,200 by 1914, when the number of businesses surpassed sixty and included two banks. The population remained above 1,000 until the Great Depression and World War II.qqv In 1945 the number of residents had declined to 735 and businesses to twenty-four. The construction of Lake Tawakoni two miles southwest of the town in the early 1960s slowed the decline, and in 1988 Lone Oak had 467 residents and six businesses. In 1990 and again in 2000 the population was 521.**

Hawk Cove

Hawk Cove is a residential community located south of State Highway 276 and west of Farm Road 751 about sixteen miles south of Greenville in southern Hunt County. This development on Lake Tawakoni was begun in the early 1970s by property owners Sawyer and Culberson. Originally the residential properties were developed as Whiskers Retreat Nos. 1, 2, and 3. When the community incorporated in January 1999 the name was changed to Hawk Cove. In 2000 there were 457 residents. Hawk Cove has a mayor and city council and its own police services.**

East Tawakoni

East Tawakoni is on State Highway 276 nine miles west of Emory in western Rains County. It was founded in the 1960s as a residential community on newly built Lake Tawakoni. In 1970 the reported population was 278; by 1990 the settlement had grown to 642 residents. The population was 775 in 2000.**

Union Valley

Union Valley is on Farm Road 35 five miles west of Quinlan in southwest Hunt County. Its settlement occurred sometime in the 1880s. From its inception Union Valley has served area farmers as a school and church community. It was bypassed by the railroads that crisscrossed the county in the late 1880s and early 1890s and has never exceeded a population of fifty. In 1986 and 1990 twenty-five residents were reported.**

The area around Lake Tawakoni is rich in Native American history having been occupied by "prehistoric Indians" and used as a stop over for many of the historic Native American Indian tribes for which the lake is named. The name Tawakoni is means "river bend among red sand hills". The Oklahoma Historical Society and Access Genealogy have a good history of the Tawakoni Indian Tribe and name.

Prior to the Iron Bridge Dam construction, the surrounding land area had been settled by ranchers and farmers.

Lake Tawakoni is located on the Sabine River in Hunt, Rains and Van Zandt counties. A permit for project construction was issued to Forrest and Cotton by the State Board of Water Engineers on December 20, 1955. Land acquisition was initiated in 1956 and completed in October 1960. Construction on the earthfilled Iron Bridge Dam and concrete spillway began in January 1958 and was completed in October 1960. The water supply project is owned an operated by the Sabine River Authority and was funded through a water supply agreement with the City of Dallas to provide water for municipal and industrial purposes. The lake has a capacity of 936,200 acre-feet and a surface area of 36,700 acres. Crest elevation is 437.5 feet above mean sea level. The maximum depth is 70 feet. The 200-mile-long shoreline makes its way through Hunt, Rains, and Van Zandt counties.

Located some 50 miles east of Dallas and 12 miles south of Greenville (Lake Tawakon Map), the reservoir's primary purpose is to provide water for the surrounding communities and the City of Dallas. In addition the lake provides water-oriented recreation for much of central and northeast Texas. Fishing is the primary recreational sport with catfish being the lake specialty. West Tawakoni, located at the west end of the 2-mile Bridge, was awarded the distinction of being the Catfish Capital of Texas by the Texas State Legislature in 2001. In 1995, The Texas Legislature declared Wills Point the Bluebird Capital of Texas. The resolution noted that "the heroic effors of the Wills Point Wilderness Society; working with the National Bluebird Recovery Program, were successful when the National Audubon Society determined that the community has hosted more bluebirds than any other area in Texas.

Lake Tawakoni is still a virtually undiscovered lake in Texas. It is clean and un-crowded, its size making it ideal for recreational water sports. Lake Tawakoni State Park opened in 2001, providing public campgrounds and recreational facilities that Texas State Parks are famous for. The Predominant Fish Species are: Catfish, Striped & Hybrid Striped, White Bass, Crappie & Largemouth Bass.

Quinlan

Quinlan is on State Highway 34 four miles west of Lake Tawakoni and twelve miles south of Greenville in south central Hunt County. The site was first known as Roberts, after Texas governor O. M. Roberts,qv who on October 26, 1882, sold 100 acres of land in southern Hunt County to the Texas Central Railroad. This land, "situated between the South and Caddo forks on the Sabine River," served as the location of the new town of Roberts, to which the Northeastern Branch of the Texas Central built. The line was reorganized as the Texas Midland Railroad in 1886 by Hetty Green,qv a bondholder in the defunct railroad, and the new road extended its track northward from Roberts through Greenville to Paris by 1894. In 1892 Edward H. R. Green,qv Hetty Green's son and president of the Texas Midland, abandoned Roberts as a depot and established a new depot town, Quinlan, 1½ miles north of the older community. The new community took its name from George Austin Quinlan, vice president and general manager of the Houston and Texas Central Railway.

Settlers moved quickly into Quinlan. Some of the earliest, including John M. Cook and R. K. Epperson, moved their businesses from Roberts. The settlement received a post office in 1894, and by 1900 its population had reached 362. This growth, no doubt induced by the presence of the railroad, continued through the first quarter of the twentieth century. In 1904 463 persons lived in Quinlan. The number rose to 537 by 1910 and 600 by 1914, when Quinlan had twenty businesses, including a bank and a weekly newspaper. In 1925 this "retail trade center for southern Hunt, northern Kaufman and Van Zandt counties" had an elementary school, a high school, and thirty-five businesses and managed a cotton harvest of some 5,000 bales. In 1933 Quinlan had 512 residents and thirty businesses; in 1952 the population of 599 supported twenty-five businesses; in 1964 the community had 621 persons and twenty-two businesses. After the mid-1960s Quinlan grew considerably, largely due to its proximity to Lake Tawakoni. It had a population of 900 in 1976 and 1,002 in 1988, when it had fifty-one businesses. In 1990 the population was 1,360. The population was 1,370 in 2000.**

West Tawakoni

West Tawakoni is a lakeside community on State Highway 276 about six miles east of Quinlan and eighteen miles southeast of Greenville in southeastern Hunt County. Development in the area began in the 1960s after the completion of Lake Tawakoni,qv and West Tawakoni incorporated on March 11, 1967, so named because it rests on the west side of the lake's causeway. Shortly after incorporation the new city gained attention in Hunt County when citizens narrowly voted in favor of liquor sales. In 1970 the city had a population of 465. That figure increased steadily to 840 in 1980 and 932 in 1990. The community caters to many lake visitors with its various fishing and boating establishments. West Tawakoni has a mayor/council form of government, a police force, and a public library. In 2000 the population was 1,462.**

**Printed with permission from the Texas State Historical Association