APOLONIA, TEXAS. Apolonia, three miles east of Anderson in south central Grimes County, was founded as a lumbering center about 1835, although settlement had begun in the area in the early 1830s. The Pine Grove Baptist Church was built in the early 1840s, and later a school was established in the vicinity. A black Methodist church, known as Yarborough's Chapel, was constructed after the Civil War. The settlement was invigorated in the 1880s and 1890s by an influx of Polish immigrants. A local post office established in 1889 was named by Polish Catholic residents in honor of Saint Appolonia. At the turn of the century the community had three general stores and two sawmills. In 1907, however, the post office was discontinued, and mail was redirected through Anderson. In 1910 Apolonia reported a population of thirty. In 1920 two businesses were operating in the town. In 1948, the last year for which figures are available, an estimated twenty-five residents and one accredited business remained.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grimes County Historical Commission, History of Grimes County, Land of Heritage and Progress (Dallas: Taylor, 1982 Fred Tarpley, 1001 Texas Place Names (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1980).
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