DONIE, TEXAS. Donie is on State Highway 164 eleven miles south of Teague in southwest Freestone County. The site was probably settled in the 1880s. The Dewey Prairie Baptist Church was organized in 1886, and in 1898 the residents applied for a post office under the name of Douie, which was misread in Washington as Donie. John W. Bond was the first postmaster. In 1907 the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway built a line a couple of miles east of the town, so the townspeople all moved to the new location. In 1909 the name of the church was changed from Dewey Prairie to First Baptist Church of Donie, and by 1913 the building had been moved to the new location. In 1914 the town had a population of 600, seven businesses, and a blacksmith shop. It had a population of 400 in 1927 and by 1936 had two churches, two schools, and seven businesses. In 1969 the community comprised 230 people, seven businesses, three churches, and a school; the Donie Chair Company, in existence since 1902, was known for its colonial-style chairs, which were shipped throughout the Southwest. The population of Donie was somewhat more than 200 from 1972 to 1989. In 1990 it was 206.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Freestone County Historical Commission, History of Freestone County, Texas (Fairfield, Texas, 1978).

Chris Cravens