Romney

Romney, on U.S. Highway 183 in central Eastland County, was settled in 1880 by J. W. White, who named the community for his hometown in West Virginia. Other early settlers were A. J. Fembling and a Mr. Ballard. In 1890 T. D. Freeman was made postmaster of the newly established post office, which operated until 1931. By 1904 Romney had a school, a gin, a blacksmith shop, and an economy dependent on agriculture. The arrival of the boll weevil in Eastland County around 1914 arrested growth of the community as a ginning center, and although in 1969 the town still had a school, two general stores, and a gas station, between 1940 and 1980 the population dropped from twenty to twelve. Through 2000 the population was still a reported twelve.