BURKETT, TEXAS. Burkett, on State Highway 206 in northeastern Coleman County, was named in 1886 for its first postmaster, William Burkett. The original name, Pleasant Valley, was rejected by the post office. The first settlers were cowboys of the McClennan ranch, who secured land in the area and established a community around the store H. H. Sackett had moved from Camp Colorado. The town progressed as a trading center for several decades. In 1940 it had three churches, a school, five businesses, and 200 residents. Subsequently, the region's rural population declined sharply. The high school closed in 1957 after consolidation with schools in Coleman and Cross Plains. By the 1980s Burkett had a post office, three churches, a community center, a gas station-grocery, and a well-kept cemetery. Farming, ranching, and oil products sustain the community. In 1980, 1990, and 2000 the population was thirty.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Kathleen E. and Clifton R. St. Clair, eds., Little Towns of Texas (Jacksonville, Texas: Jayroe Graphic Arts, 1982).

William R. Hunt