RIVERSIDE, TEXAS (Walker County). Riverside is on Farm Road 405 east of State Highway 19, thirteen miles northeast of Huntsville in Walker County. It was founded by the Houston and Great Northern Railroad in 1872 on the west bank of the Trinity River, and thus situated the community provided easy access for rail and river freight. A post office was moved from Newport to Riverside in 1872, and William D. Shaw was the first Riverside postmaster. Early in its history Riverside was surrounded by cotton fields; later, lumber gradually replaced cotton in economic importance but then eventually declined as well. Then stock raising became important, and the town provided stockyards. By the mid-1880s Riverside had a population of 200, a gristmill, two hotels, and two general stores. Ten years later it had three churches, two schools, two sawmills, a cotton gin, a saloon, and a restaurant. By 1914 its population had declined to fifty.The community received a boost in 1920 when fuller's earth was discovered in the area and two refining plants were established near the town. In 1933 Riverside had seven businesses, three churches, two schools, and a population of 300. The population remained at about that level until the 1960s, when the community schools were consolidated into the Huntsville system. In 1968 Riverside voted to incorporate, and in 1973 a community fire department was organized. Riverside reported five businesses and 451 residents in 1990. In 2000 the population was 425.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: D'Anne McAdams Crews, ed., Huntsville and Walker County, Texas: A Bicentennial History (Huntsville, Texas: Sam Houston State University, 1976 Kathleen E. and Clifton R. St. Clair, eds., Little Towns of Texas (Jacksonville, Texas: Jayroe Graphic Arts, 1982 Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Walker County Genealogical Society and Walker County Historical Commission, Walker County (Dallas, 1986).
