CHRONISTER, TEXAS. Chronister was a lumber community just north of Wildhurst in southern Cherokee County. It was named for C. J. Chronister, owner of the C. J. Chronister Lumber Companies, which built a large sawmill at the site in the late 1890s. In addition to the mill the company also erected managers' and workers' houses and later added a planing mill and a commissary. Just after 1900 the operation was bought by Joe Lipshitz (Lipshure), whose family continued to operate the mill until World War II. After 1900, however, Chronister lost its separate identity and by 1910 had been completely absorbed by Wildhurst. Both were gone by the early 1990s, when the surrounding area was covered with dense forests.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cherokee County History (Jacksonville, Texas: Cherokee County Historical Commission, 1986).
