Apple Springs, TX

Apple Springs, also known as May Apple Springs, is at the junction of State Highway 94 and Farm roads 357 and 2501, fifteen miles northeast of Groveton in northeastern Trinity County. The community was established after the Civil War and was originally known as May Apple Springs for the abundant may apples that grew on the banks of a nearby spring-fed creek. When a post office opened in 1884 the name was shortened to Apple Springs. A school began operating around the same time; in 1896 it had an enrollment of twenty-eight. When the Groveton, Lufkin and Northern Railway was built between Groveton and Vair, the town was moved a short distance to the railroad. By the time of World War I the community had three general stores, a gin, a bank, a cafe, and a population of seventy-five. When the railroad was abandoned in 1931, the town was moved to State Highway 94, which had been constructed two years before. During the mid-1930s Apple Springs had twelve rated businesses and 150 residents. The population continued to grow during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a high of 285 in 1965. In the early 1990s the town had a reported population of 130 and nine businesses. In 2000 the population grew to 185 with twenty-one businesses.