PEASTER, TEXAS. Peaster is on Farm Road 920 nine miles northwest of Weatherford in northwestern Parker County. Settlement began in the 1870s when Georgia native H. H. Peaster bought 160 acres of land and built a house. The community that developed near the site of his home was originally called Freemont; in 1885 the name was changed to Peasterville. Postal service began in the 1880s. By the mid-1890s the town had over 100 residents who were served by three churches, a steam gin, a gristmill, a school, and a half dozen businesses. Throughout the twentieth century Peaster has served area farmers as a school and church community. During the mid-1920s the town had over 300 residents. After the Great Depression^qv the population was below 100. From 1975 to 1990 it was reported as eighty, and no businesses were reported. By 2000 the population was 102. Writer Robert E. Howard^qv was born in Peaster.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Gustavus Adolphus Holland, History of Parker County and the Double Log Cabin (Weatherford, Texas: Herald, 1931; rpt. 1937).

David Minor