History of Manson, Texas: From Stock Pens to Ghost Town


By: Stephen L. Hardin

Published: 1952

Updated: February 1, 1995

The site of Manson, two miles from Edna in central Jackson County, was known as Edna Stock Pens as late as 1883. When, however, the Texas and New Orleans Railroad erected a station on the site soon afterward, locals renamed the community that grew up around it Manson, after A. L. Manson, a dispatcher employed by the Southern Pacific line. In 1936 the hamlet consisted of two business establishments, a farmhouse, and a row of dwellings built along U.S. Highway 59. By 1988 Manson had apparently ceased to exist as a community.

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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Stephen L. Hardin, “Manson, TX,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed April 11, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/manson-tx.

TID: HTM09

1952
February 1, 1995