Sacul

Sacul, at the junction of Farm roads 204 and 1648, twenty-one miles northwest of Nacogdoches in northwestern Nacogdoches County, was founded just after 1900. It began when the Texas and New Orleans Railroad was built through the area. The townspeople originally wanted to name their community Lucas after the original owners of the land, but postal officials denied the application because there was already another town with that name. The citizens then resubmitted their application with the name Sacul-Lucas spelled backwards. The Sacul post office was established in 1903, and a school had opened by the next year. By 1914 Sacul had an estimated population of 400, served by Baptist and Methodist churches, six general stores, three grocers, two cotton gins, a hardware store, a bank, a sawmill, and a blacksmith. Sacul continued to prosper during the 1920s, but its population began to decline during the 1930s as a result of the Great Depression. In the mid-1930s Sacul had ten businesses and an estimated 250 residents. After World War II its population continued to decline, and many of its businesses closed. By 1965 the town reported 170 residents and four businesses; in 1990 its population was still estimated at 170.