Cuney is a town located in northwestern Cherokee County, Texas, United States. With a population of 116 at the 2020 U.S. census, Cuney was the only "wet" town in Cherokee County from the mid-1980s until 2009, when voters in Rusk came out in favor of beer/wine sales. After that result, voters in Jacksonville and Frankston have since voted in favor of beer/wine sales, and Rusk voters returned to the polls to vote in favor of liquor sales.

History

The site was first settled by freed slaves just after the Civil War. The settlement was initially known as Andy, after Andrew "Andy" Bragg, one of the area's first black homeowners, who arrived in 1870. A community did not develop until 1902, when the site became a flag stop on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, which became part of the Southern Pacific system in 1961.

Around 1914, Palestine cashier H.L. Price and several local investors formed a company and platted a town site. They named the town Cuney, after Price's son, Cuney Price, who in turn had been named for Norris Wright Cuney, a prominent black politician and head of the state's Republican Party. A post office was established in 1917 and a number of businesses were operating in the community by the early 1920s. With the paving of State Highway 40 in 1929, which would eventually become U.S. Highway 175, most of the businesses moved a mile north of the railroad to take advantage of the increased traffic. The population was estimated at 100 in 1929, but declined to only 25 by the mid-1930s.

A number of businesses closed after World War II as agricultural prices decreased and residents moved to other cities with greater employment opportunities. Cuney had a population of 75 in the early 1950s. From that period, the community steadily grew, and Cuney was incorporated in November 1983. and southeast of Athens.

thumb|Site of Cuney's Community Center, which was dedicated in 2012. The center is located where Cuney's school once stood.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. The Neches River forms the northwest border of the town and the Cherokee/Anderson County line.

Demographics

{| class="wikitable"

|+Cuney racial composition as of 2020<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Race

!Number

!Percentage

|-

|White (NH)

|20

|17.24%

|-

|Black or African American (NH)

|69

|59.48%

|-

|Some Other Race (NH)

|1

|0.86%

|-

|Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH)

|5

|4.31%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino

|21

|18.1%

|-

|Total

|116

|

|}

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 116 people, 37 households, and 31 families residing in the town.

At the 2000 U.S. census, 145 people, 59 households, and 36 families resided in the town.

Education

For many years, Cuney had its own school, but is now served by the Jacksonville Independent School District.

References

  • Cuney historical marker from Texas Historic Sites Atlas (Texas Historical Commission)