Pruitt, TX (Van Zandt County)

Pruitt, a rural community in east central Van Zandt County thirteen miles northeast of Canton on State Highway 110, was said to have been named for an early settler. A post office operated from 1888 until 1905, after which mail was delivered from Grand Saline. A local school had an enrollment of 101 in 1906 but was consolidated with the Van Independent School District by the 1950s. Two gristmills and gins were constructed by 1892. The community had two churches, three businesses, a school, and several residences in 1936. The population reached a high of 100 in 1933, probably due to activity in the nearby Van oilfield, but between 1945 and 1949 it dwindled from seventy-five to forty-nine. In 1965 the area had a church, a single business, and scattered dwellings.