Springtown

Springtown is on State Highway 199 twenty-seven miles northwest of Fort Worth near the northern border of Parker County. In 1856 Joseph Ward of New Jersey settled on the site, on a creek fed by numerous springs seventeen miles northeast of Weatherford. Three years later Ward designed the town square and named the place Littleton's Springs after a pioneer family. In the mid-1870s the name was changed to Springtown following a petition by a majority of the 200 residents. The town's post office has operated continuously since its establishment in June 1875. In 1884 Springtown was incorporated, and the community elected J. A. Graves its first mayor. Springtown Male and Female Institute opened that year and served the northern part of the county for a decade. Public schools eventually developed, and in 1936 Springtown High School was incorporated in the Parker County school system. The first town newspaper, established in 1881, was the Springtown Sentinel. Newspapers that followed included the Pilot, Local, and Journal. By 1890 the community had four churches, two cotton gins, one steam corn mill, a daily stage to Weatherford costing one dollar, and a triweekly stage to Decatur. Springtown grew from a population of 500 in 1890 to nearly 800 in 1940. From the Great Depression through 1960 the population growth slowed. Afterward, primarily because of an increase in the Springtown-Fort Worth commuter population, the number of residents nearly doubled. Springtown had a population of 1,658 in 1986. In 1990 the population was 1,740. The population reached 2,062 in 2000.