| Marker Text |
Freeman Irby (F.I.) Booth came in 1885 to Richmond, where he met and wed Mildred Ryon Wheat in 1889. They purchased land and built a home here. In the 1890s, Booth brought 30 families from South Carolina to work the land, planting cotton, corn and rice. These families built houses and the Mt. Zion Church, and the settlement grew. By the early 1900s, the town had a post office, sawmill, lumberyard and cane syrup mill, and the Booth Public School operated from 1908 to 1947. The Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad served the town; local products included sugar cane and cattle. F.I. Booth died in 1931, and the town's economic focus gradually changed. Its early agricultural foundation is still remembered. (2003) |
