Turnertown

Turnertown (Turnerstown) is at the intersection of State highways 42 and 64, ten miles west of Henderson in western Rusk County. It developed from a community further to the east, which moved to the site of the highway intersection when the roads were built. Turnertown boomed after the East Texas oilfield was discovered in 1930. The townsite was platted and lots were sold by the Turner brothers, Horace and Boger, Sr., Henderson landowners. In 1936 the town had a population of 1,500 and twenty-five businesses. By the early 1940s the population had dropped to 350, though in the 1940s and 1950s the town still had three churches, several oilfield supply houses and machine shops, and a dozen stores. By the mid-1960s Turnertown reported 150 residents, and by the late 1960s, seventy-six. It continued to report this population level through 2000. Beginning in the late 1960s or early 1970s Turnertown received its mail via Selman City.