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Decatur in Wise County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
 

Greenwood

 
 
Greenwood Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Morgan Petermann, November 20, 2024
1. Greenwood Marker
Inscription. Pioneer settlers came to this area as early as the 1850s. Local tradition states that the Greenwood and Hart families were among the first settlers in the area, and that the community was named for the Greenwood family and the creek was named for the Hart family.

As the town of Greenwood began to grow, businesses, churches, a cemetery, school, and Masonic Lodge were established. A post office was opened in 1877, and a town well was dug by John Karr Berry in the early 1890s. At its peak, the town boasted two saloons, four grocery stores, two drug stores, a hotel, bank, hardware store, barber shop, blacksmith shop, cotton gin, and the Greenwood Gazette newspaper. The Greenwood Male and Female College, although in operation for less than twenty years, provided quality education for young people of the community.

This small settlement has served as a supply center for surrounding farming communities for over one hundred years. It has also been a center of social and religious activities. Three churches serve the Greenwood area: Greenwood Baptist Church, founded as Hart's Creek Missionary Baptist Church about 1872; Greenwood
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Methodist Church, founded about 1880; and Greenwood Church of Christ, founded in 1896.
 
Erected 1988 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 2274.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers.
 
Location. 33° 22.81′ N, 97° 28.416′ W. Marker is in Decatur, Texas, in Wise County. It is on County Road 2640 east of Farm to Market Road 1204, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 130 Co Rd 2640, Decatur TX 76234, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Prairies & Lakes Region and in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Republic of Texas, and one of the Confederate States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Greenwood Masonic Lodge #779 (within shouting distance of
Greenwood Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Morgan Petermann, November 20, 2024
2. Greenwood Marker
this marker); Slidell (approx. 4.8 miles away); A. H. Fortenberry (approx. 5.2 miles away); Butterfield Overland Stage Line Crossing (approx. 6.8 miles away); Waggoner Cemetery (approx. 8.4 miles away); Oak Grove United Methodist Church (approx. 8.7 miles away); Chisholm Trail in Denton County (approx. 9.3 miles away); Hopewell Baptist Church (approx. 9.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Decatur.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 22, 2024. It was originally submitted on November 20, 2024, by Morgan Petermann of Hurst, Texas. This page has been viewed 391 times since then and 68 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on November 20, 2024, by Morgan Petermann of Hurst, Texas. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
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Jul. 7, 2026