The History of Deport, Texas

Deport was founded in the late 1800s by Col. Dee Thompson, who settled on Mustang Creek — by local account, so that his horses would always have a supply of water. A post office was established in 1883 and named Deport in his honor, and the little settlement on the creek began to grow as farm families filled in the surrounding country.

The name has long invited a second explanation. Because a railroad depot later stood at the heart of town, many residents have associated 'Deport' with 'depot.' But the post office and name predate the rails by nearly three decades, and the historical record ties the name to Thompson and his settlement on Mustang Creek.

By 1890 Deport had about 350 residents, two churches, four general stores, a gristmill and gin, and a weekly newspaper, the Deport Times. The surrounding country produced cotton, corn, and high-grade livestock, and the town served as a trade and shipping point for the farms around it.

Growth came quickly. By 1896 the population had reached roughly 600, with around twenty businesses — including several physicians, a hotel, and even music teachers and a milliner — plus a school with three teachers serving nearly 150 students. For a small Lamar County town, Deport had become a real local hub.

Deport reached its peak in the early twentieth century. The town incorporated in 1911, the same year the Paris and Mount Pleasant Railway was built through it, and by 1914 the population had climbed to about 1,200 with some forty businesses. The rails connected Deport's cotton and livestock to wider markets and made it a busy little trade center.

Hard times followed the good. A disastrous fire in 1929 caused heavy damage along Main Street, the Depression thinned the population, and when the railroad line was discontinued in 1956, the town settled into the quieter life of a small farming community. Today Deport is a tidy town of a few hundred people, proud of its history and its country roots on the Lamar–Red River line.