DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the one passing it along. Now, before there was an Omen, before there was even a Troup or a Clopton, there was a Canton — and three men with a plan. Alexander Douglas, Thomas Weatherby, and Mitus White platted that townsite in 1850, right near the junction of two main roads, one of which ran straight to the county seat at Tyler.
Good location. Smart thinking. These were promoters in the truest sense.
The post office got renamed Clopton in 1852, then turned around and changed again to Troup in 1854. But here's the thing about a name people love — it doesn't go away just because somebody official decided otherwise. The village kept on being called Canton for years.
Some places just hold onto their identity like that. And Canton was building itself into something real. The first store opened in 1852, and from there the community put together quite a little operation: a tanyard, a blacksmith shop, a cabinet and wagon shop, a hotel, a school, doctors, churches, and a Masonic Lodge.
The 1860 census counted 34 households in that town. Not enormous, but solid. A community with roots.
Then came the International and Great Northern Railroad — and it did not come through Canton. In the 1870s, that railroad bypassed the town, and businesses followed the tracks the way businesses do. They moved away.
By 1880, the town and post office both made it official and adopted a new name: Omen. Now that is a word that carries some weight, and this community would go on to earn it in both directions. Because even as Canton's old bones were settling, something genuinely notable took root in Omen.
For thirty years, this little community was home to the Summer Hill Select School — a coeducational boarding school, which in itself was no small thing. It was directed by A. W.
Orr of Georgia, born in 1849, died in 1924. Highly regarded. Students came from all parts of Texas and from out of state to attend.
Thirty years is a long run for any institution, and the reach of that school went well beyond Smith County. But the post office closed in 1906, and the school closed too, and together those two losses hastened Omen's decline. The anchor was gone.
The address was gone. Then the 1930s brought oil discoveries, and for a brief spell Omen came back to life. But the depression was running alongside that revival, and the population dwindled further.
Omen settled into what it became: a rural village. From Canton to Clopton to Troup to Canton-that-wouldn't-quit to Omen — this community tried on more names than most towns ever get, built something real more than once, and landed quiet. The marker stands there in Smith County, keeping the whole account.
What the marker says
Promoters Alexander Douglas, Thomas Weatherby, and Mitus White platted the townsite of Canton in 1850 near the junction of two main roads, one leading to the county seat at Tyler. Although the post office was renamed Clopton in 1852 and the name was changed to Troup in 1854, the village continued to be known as Canton for many years. The first store opened in 1852 and soon the community had a tanyard, blacksmith shop, cabinet and wagon shop, hotel, school, several doctors, churches, and a Masonic Lodge. The 1860 census showed 34 households in the town. When the International & Great Northern Railroad bypassed Canton in the 1870s, many businesses moved away. In 1880 the town and post office adopted the name Omen. For 30 years, Omen was the location of the Summer Hill Select School, a coeducational boarding school directed by A. W. Orr (1849-1924) of Georgia. This highly-regarded institution drew students from all parts of Texas as well as from out of state. The closing of the post office in 1906 and the school hastened Omen's decline. Oil discoveries during the 1930s revived the community briefly, but with the depression the population dwindled further and Omen became a rural village.