Ponta, Texas

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History

Ponta had its beginning in 1901 in the would-be village of Donoho, so named because of its location on the Donoho survey. When the final survey of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad missed Donoho, L. D. and W. T. Guinn, together with W. T. Norman, promoted the present town site, first named Hubb for Hubbard Guinn, the surveyor, and afterward changed to Ponta.

Pioneer families in the Ponta territory included the Dalbys, Jones, Baileys, Montgomerys, Summers, and Bowlings. E. P. Dalby opened the first store. He was soon followed by D. T. Applewhite, Robert Montgomery, who moved his business from Donoho, C. S. Bolton and Tipton & Adams. Among the town's colorful characters was John Atchinson, who for more than two decades supplied picnic and fishing parties on Stafford Lake with boats. Ponta business and professional men of today include A. R. Redden, J. L. Bailey, W. G. Waldrop, C. W. Darby, M. V. Sessions, Jerry Liles, B. H. Everett and Doctor P. E. Jones. The town has three churches, a Masonic Lodge and a five-teacher school. When the timber business was at its peak, Ponta was a leading shipping point. In recent years plant farms have effected a significant increase in its volume of business. - A History of Cherokee County, 1934 by Hattie Joplin Roach

Ponta. In 1901, a new townsite was laid out on the Texas & New Orleans Railroad. Promoted by brothers Lee D. and William T. Guinn, it was named Hubb for county surveyor Hubbard S. Guinn. It was renamed Ponta (an adaptation of the Latin "Ponte," which means bridge) when the post office was established in 1903. Ponta was a shipping center for such local products as lumber, cotton, tomatoes and peaches. In time, the town boasted such businesses as general stores, restaurants, banks, blacksmiths, cotton gins and sawmills, as well as a hotel, a Masonic lodge, churches and schools. Large scale greenhouse cultivation began in the area in the 1950s. The railroad ceased operation after World War II and the post office closed in 1972. Ponta Plant Nurseries remain a major factor in the Cherokee County economy. - Historical Marker Text. Marker erected 1999. Located on CR 4401, Ponta, 1 block NE of SH 204