New Caney

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about New Caney, up in Montgomery County. Pull up a chair, because this one starts with a family, a stretch of open range, and a stand of cane so thick it named a town. Permanent settlement in what is now New Caney began in the 1860s.

And when folks first started putting down roots, they didn't call the place New Caney. They called it Presswood, after Austin and Sarah Waters Presswood, the pioneer family who gave the area its first name. The Presswoods came to Texas in 1862, bought land out there, and ran cattle on the open ranges.

That kind of life, wide and unhurried, was the heartbeat of that whole corner of East Texas. The family of John Wesley Robinson, born in 1819 and gone from this world in 1903, also settled in during the 1860s and got right to work. Farming, cattle raising, cotton ginning.

The full measure of frontier enterprise. Then the railroad came through. When the Houston, East and West Texas Railway laid its line through Montgomery County in the 1870s, the community stepped into a new role.

It became a shipping point for livestock, and with that new purpose came a new name. For many years, the place was known as Caney Station, named for the dense cane brakes growing along nearby creeks. You can almost picture it.

Those thick, tangled cane stands crowding the water, close enough to brush your stirrups. The name fit. Then in 1882, a post office was established, and the name New Caney was adopted.

Official now. On the map. Early industries in New Caney were confined chiefly to those that were necessary to carry on farming and cattle raising.

But when the timber industry began to flourish, something a little unexpected started rolling out of town. Mining props. Timber supports used to shore up the earth along the sides and roofs of mining tunnels, shipped right out of New Caney to wherever men were digging in the dark.

A cattle town, a farm town, a timber town. New Caney grew into whatever the land and the age required of it. The marker calls all of this an important reminder of the rich heritage of this part of East Texas and Montgomery County.

And it's hard to argue with that.

What the marker says

Permanent settlement in what is now New Caney began in the 1860s. The area was first called Presswood for the pioneer family of Austin and Sarah (Waters) Presswood. The Presswoods came to Texas in 1862, purchased land in the area, and raised cattle on the open ranges. The family of John Wesley Robinson (1819-1903) also settled here in the 1860s and began farming, cattle raising, and cotton ginning operations. When the Houston, East and West Texas Railway line was laid through Montgomery County in the 1870s, the community became a shipping point for livestock. It then was known for many years as Caney Station, named for the dense cane brakes growing along nearby creeks. In 1882, when a post office was established, the name New Caney was adopted. Early industries in New Caney were confined chiefly to those that were necessary to carry on farming and cattle raising. As the timber industry began to flourish, however, mining props, used to support the earth along the side and roof of mining tunnels, were shipped out of New Caney. The settlement and early history of New Caney are important reminders of the rich heritage of this part of East Texas and Montgomery County. (1984)