Joinerville, Texas | |
|---|---|
  Joinerville, Texas Location within the state of Texas  Joinerville, Texas Joinerville, Texas (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 32°10′41″N 94°54′03″W / 32.17806°N 94.90083°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Rusk |
| Elevation | 500 ft (200 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 140 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes | 75658[1] |
| Area codes | 903, 430 |
Joinerville is an unincorporated community in East Texas. It is located in western Rusk County, Texas, United States.
Joinerville is located seven miles west of the city of Henderson. It was originally called Cyril, and then Miller or Miller Schoolhouse for either Andrew or John Cherry Miller. The latter owned seven enslaved persons and donated 1,000 acres (400 ha) of land for the Juan Ximenes Survey before the Civil War. The community is also located near the site of a former Cherokee Indian village.
In 1930, the name was officially changed to "Joinerville", in honor of Columbus Marion Joiner, the wildcatter who discovered the East Texas Oil Field. The dirt road to the discovery well, Daisy Bradford No. 3, intersected the Henderson-Tyler highway at Joinerville.[2]
During the oil-boom years that followed 1930, men and families flocked to East Texas to find work in the oilfields and Joinerville's population shot up to 1,500. During the 1930s, the community, which had been nothing more than a sleepy farm town, now had thirty-five businesses and a brand new post office (established in 1931 with Esther L. Berry as the first postmistress).
However, by 1940, new oil production had already peaked, and the town's population quickly dropped to just 500. Over the decade that followed, the number of residents continued its downward spiral to 350 and the number of reported businesses dropped to just four. After a slight upswing during the 1950s and 1960s, the population again fell greatly. From 1980 through 2000, Joinerville reported just 140 residents and four businesses.
By 1950, while the existing oil wells continued to pump 20 years after the discovery of the oilfield (many still pumping to this day), the need to drill new wells had long passed. With work drying up, most families who had lived and worked side-by-side for over a decade left Joinerville.
Over 20 years, Joinerville had exploded from nothing more than a speck on the map, to a boom-town, and back. Most of the old buildings from its heyday are long gone and all that remains are pastures and memories of a time when Joinerville mattered, not just to Texas but, because of World War II, the world. Oil was needed in large quantities to support the war effort and East Texas could produce it.
- ^ "Joinerville Zipcode". Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ Clark, James; Halbouty, Michael (1972). The Last Oil Boom. New York: Random House. p. 67. ISBN 0394482328.