Era

Era is on Highway 51 twelve miles from Gainesville in southwestern Cooke County. It was named after Era Hargrave, the daughter of an early settler. Judge J. M. Lindsay's donation of six acres for a school in 1878 marked the beginning of the town, although settlers had been in the area since the early 1850s. The most notable person to be born in Era was Robert Ewing Thomason, speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, mayor of El Paso, member of Congress, and federal judge. In 1990 Era had 200 residents, several businesses and churches, a post office, its own schools, and a Masonic lodge. The population remained the same in 2000.