GASTON, TEXAS (Rusk County). Gaston is six miles west of Henderson in western Rusk County. More a school district than a town, Gaston enjoyed a brief period of prosperity when a nearby oilfield flourished during the 1930s. Before this time, the area had been served by one of the larger schools in the vicinity, established in 1892 and called Forest. By 1909 a second school, called Miller, had been built at the Miller farm in the area. Another school, closer to Henderson, was called Mount Hope. By 1925 the Miller and Mount Hope schools had consolidated. Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Gaston donated land for a new school, and within twelve years the staff of the Gaston school had grown from four to sixty-five, to serve the needs of the increasing oilfield population. The school's enrollment during this period jumped from eighty-five to 1,600. The 1984 county highway map showed a school building and a business at Gaston. By 1986 the Gaston school had been consolidated with those of New London to form the West Rusk Independent School District. Gaston has been served throughout its history by a mail route from Joinerville.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Garland Roscoe Farmer, The Realm of Rusk County (Henderson, Texas: Henderson Times, 1951).

Megan Biesele