Magnolia

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of how a little Montgomery County community found the name that stuck. Back in the early days, this patch of Texas went by Mink's Prairie. Somewhere along the way, folks got tired of saying all those syllables, and by 1850 it had been trimmed down to just plain Mink.

Short, simple, done. Or so it seemed. In 1902, the railroad came through and decided the place deserved a fresh identity.

They named it Melton, in honor of Jim Melton, a large landowner in the county. A fine tribute. A solid name.

There was just one problem. The United States Post Office kept mixing Melton up with a town called Milton. Now, you can imagine the headaches.

Mail going astray, letters piling up in the wrong place, people wondering where their packages got to. The citizens had had enough. So they looked around at what they actually had, right there beside nearby Mill Creek, and what they had was magnolia trees.

A whole lot of magnolia trees. And just like that, Magnolia it was. Sometimes the land itself tells you what a place ought to be called.

What the marker says

In early days, known as Mink's Prairie, and by 1850, shortened to Mink. In 1902, railroad named it Melton to honor Jim Melton, a large landowner in the county, but U. S. Post Office confused it with town of Milton. Citizens renamed it Magnolia for the many magnolia trees beside nearby Mill Creek.