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Town of Security, Montgomery County Texas
aka Old Security and Bennette

From Heritage Museum of Montgomery
http://www.heritagemuseum.us/countyhistory.shtml

SECURITY aka Old Security. Security was on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, thirteen miles east of Conroe, in eastern Montgomery County. Although settlement in the vicinity began in the mid-nineteenth century, Security was not formed until after 1889, when the GC&SF completed its branch line from Conroe to Cleveland across eastern Montgomery County. Around 1900, a lumber boom in this heavily wooded region brought an influx of settlers. By 1900, the community had a post office known as Pocahontas. In 1902, the name was changed to Bennette, in honor of J. O. H. Bennette, on whose property the town developed. Bennette sold his holdings to the Security Land Company in 1907, and the post office closed. In 1910, a new post office was established under the name Security.

In 1914, the schools at nearby Timber and White Oak were consolidated into the Security common school. By that date, the community had a depot, a sawmill, a cotton gin, two gristmills, two grocery stores, a general store, a hotel, and a population of 150. In the late 1920s, the Security school was merged into the Splendora Consolidated School District.

During the 1920s, the local timber supply started to dwindle; soon the mill was forced to close, and the town declined. By the late 1920s, the population had fallen to an estimated 100. When State Highway 105 bypassed the town in the early 1940s, most remaining residents moved two miles northward to the roadway. The Security post office was discontinued in 1954. Subsequently, only a handful of scattered dwellings, the Calvary Church, and the Security Cemetery remained within a mile of the Security siding on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe tracks.

In the late 1940s, the new community, established on Highway 105 by former residents of the old town and known as Security or as New Security, reported a population of twenty. From the late 1960s to 1990, its population remained an estimated twenty-four.

 

Excerpts from “A History of Montgomery County, Texas” Chapter V, Cities, Towns, and Communities,
by William Harley Gandy”: For Sources, see Endnotes:

 

Security, Texas, was a sawmill town, and about all that remains today is the name. It is a community that has suffered untold difficulties. Prior to 1910 Security was called Bennette's in honor of J. O. H. Bennette who owned a sawmill along the Santa Fe railroad track. In 1910 the Security Land Company bought Bennette's holdings and the community was renamed Security in honor of this company. 84

 

The Security Land Company desired to develop the vicinity, so the company sent land agents up North to sell to prospective immigrants, sight unseen, land in the new community. The agents, John Booth, W. E. Wrenn, and J. G. Hannagen traveled through the northern states and parts of Canada, selling the land to almost a hundred families. The agents had a patented sales talk, for they described the Security area as a Garden of Eden or a Hanging Garden of Babylon. The agents stated to the Northerners that about Security wild oats grew shoulder high, wild cabbage two feet across, and a profusion of luscious citrus fruits, grapes, and wild figs could be picked the year around. These agents produced pictures which had been cut from magazines and enlarged, to give evidence to their stories. Each prospective immigrant, upon purchasing land, was given a map and a picture of his tract. 85

 

The land agents also described to the immigrants what to expect of the old settlers at Security. The agents pictured them as being unfit neighbors and advised the immigrants not to associate with them. They stated that the men were so lazy that they sat on their front porches most of the time; and, occasionally, went out and killed a deer or bear for meat. Thus the immigrants formed the opinion that the Texans were quire rugged people. 86

 

In the winter of 1912 the new comers arrived at Security on a long train with all their household belongings loaded in box cars. All the old settlers were gathered around the depot with the intention of welcoming their new friends to be, but to their surprise the crowd that got off the train seemed to be in a very haughty mood. With their maps and pictures of their land in hand, they scattered about the country side searching for their "Garden of Eden, " but to their disappointment all they found was a low, grassy swamp in a button willow thicket. 87

 

One man had brought his dairy of fifty fine milk cows with the intention of grazing them on the wild oats, but he found no oats to graze. The woods had burned off the previous fall and his cows almost starved that winter for lack of green foliage. Dora Powers, a citizen of Security who came as one of the immigrants, stated that many thought of turning the train around and going back North that very first day. 88

 

It might have been well if they had departed immediately, because at the end of the next year and after suffering untold hardships, due to their lack of familiarity with the new environment, they pooled their money and caught the train back North.

 

The local citizens say that there was much contention between then and the "Yankees". Both sides were as insulting to each other as they could possibly be. The citizens laugh today in telling how they- played a trick on the Yankees, by harvesting a part of their sweet potato crop early and causing the Northerners to lose all of theirs. The Yankees watched the settlers closely, because they did not know the farming methods of the area. Having followed the example of the local farmers by digging their potatoes, that winter the newcomers saw their crop destroyed by rotting.89

 

Security at its zenith had one hotel, several business houses, a barber shop, ice cream parlor, post office, school, depot, and a population of several hundred people. 90 After the timber in the area was exhausted, the sawmills shut clown, and when state highway 105 was constructed through the county, it by-passed Security about two miles, causing most of the residents to move, and today only a very few of the citizens are left.

 

More on the Town of Security

SECURITY, TEXAS. Security was on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway thirteen miles east of Conroe in eastern Montgomery County. Although settlement in the vicinity began in the mid-nineteenth century, Security was not formed until after 1889, when the GC&SF completed its branch line from Conroe to Cleveland across eastern Montgomery County. Around 1900 a lumber boom in this heavily wooded region brought an influx of settlers. By 1900 the community had a post office known as Pocahontas. In 1902 the name was changed to Bennette, in honor of J. O. H. Bennette, on whose property the town developed. Bennette sold his holdings to the Security Land Company in 1907, and the post office closed. In 1910 a new post office was established under the name Security.

In 1914 the schools at nearby Timber and White Oak were consolidated into the Security common school. By that date the community had a depot, a sawmill, a cotton gin, two gristmills, two grocery stores, a general store, a hotel, and a population of 150. In the late 1920s the Security school was merged into the Splendora Consolidated School District.

During the 1920s the local timber supply started to dwindle; soon the mill was forced to close, and the town declined. By the late 1920s the population had fallen to an estimated 100. When State Highway 105 bypassed the town in the early 1940s, most remaining residents moved two miles northward to the roadway. The Security post office was discontinued in 1954. Subsequently only a handful of scattered dwellings, the Calvary Church, and the Security Cemetery remained within a mile of the Security siding on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe tracks.

In the late 1940s the new community, established on Highway 105 by former residents of the old town and known as Security or as New Security, reported a population of twenty. From the late 1960s to 1990 its population remained an estimated twenty-four.

Charles Christopher Jackson

 

 
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Page Modified: 18 October 2016