IRON BRIDGE, TEXAS. Iron Bridge, originally known as Cotton Plant, was on the Sabine River six miles south of Longview in eastern Gregg County. Cotton Plant was advertised in broadsides in 1839 and had a post office from 1850 to 1866. A new post office called Iron Bridge was opened in February of 1876, and by 1884 the community had a shingle mill, two steam gristmills, two churches, a public school, and an estimated population of 150. The post office closed in 1891, and the community received mail from Elderville. In 1905 Iron Bridge had a school for twenty-five white pupils and another for 104 black pupils. The schools had closed and the community was no longer listed on maps by the 1930s.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: John Dickson, History of Gregg County, Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1957).

Norman W. Black