San Pedro Community

In the 1830s immigrants from the southeastern U.S. settled here along San Pedro Creek and the stage route to nearby Rusk. A stage stop and general store established by Joel W. Stowe became site of the San Pedro post office in 1842. Settlers made molasses from native ribbon cane, grew cotton and corn, and milled lumber. The Presbyterian Church (1870s), cemetery (1872), San Pedro School (1888), and Baptist church (1904) were community centers. The population fell during World Wars I and II before rebounding in the 1960s. A new Baptist sanctuary was completed in 1979.