MOUNT GILLION, TEXAS (Shelby County). Mount Gillion is on State Highway 86 between Center and Timpson in northeastern Shelby County. This dispersed, rural, predominantly black community was founded by former slaves in the latter part of the 1800s. Though the community had several small stores over the years, its most important centers of activity were its school and the Mount Gillion Baptist Church. The school was operated by the Huber common school district, which in 1899 served thirteen black children; by 1903 the number of students had increased to fifty-five. During the years when the Rosenwald Fund was actively aiding black educational efforts in Texas, members of the Mount Gillion community participated in this self-help program, and a new school was built in the community. In 1938 Huber No. 10, as it was often called, had increased to sixty-seven students. The rural population of the county began to decline during the 1940s, and by 1955 the school was closed, as its district had been consolidated with other area districts. After the school closed, the building was moved and was used for a Church of God in Christ. In 1984 the community consisted of the two churches and scattered houses.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Charles E. Tatum, Shelby County: In the East Texas Hills (Austin: Eakin, 1984).
