Freestone County, Texas Towns Greenbriar / Gourdneck / Goardneck / Harp / Cedar Grove Greenbriar The Greenbriar Church is located down County Road 185 south of Winkler. Post Office: none School: Church: Thomas Chapel Methodist (later Mount Lebanon Methodist) Greenbriar Church (appears on 1982 US Geological Survey - Winkler Quadrangle map) Cemetery: Greenbriar Cemetery (is located in the area about a mile and a half from the church.) Nearby Cemeteries: Lee Cemetery Social Organizations: Businesses: Nearby Communities: Gourdneck Harp Cedar Grove Winkler Known Former Residents: ---------------------------------------------------- Gourdneck / Goardneck Rather than be a community, Gourdneck refers to the lower area of the Winkler and St. Elmo area. Post Office: none School: Gourdneck was listed as part of Trinity River District #21 Church: Trinity Baptist Church Social Organizations: Businesses: Nearby Communities: Known Former Residents: Greenbriar Harp Cedar Grove ---------------------------------------------------- Harp Harp was located east of St. Elmo and Winkler. Southwest of the intersection of 416 and 488. The Harp church appears on the 1982 U.S. Geological Survey on the Roustabout Camp Quadrangle map. Harp is north of Tehuacana Creek and Little Sandy Creek, but south of Richland Creek. Charles A. Harp (born 28 Nov 1856) secured the post office for the town named after him. Charles was a farmer by neccesity and an inventor by choice. He invented a chicken coop, a perpetual motion machine, and a brick kiln. Charles settled in the "Gourdneck" from Lewisville, Kentucky with his parents Tom Harp and Mary O'Neil in 1869. After moving to Freestone County, he married Lula May Platt (daughter of Charles Benjamin and Sarah Platt) but his wife died after the birth of their fifth child in 1904 of blood poisoning. After Lula's death, Charles interest waned and eventually the community declined. The children moved and Charles eventually followed passing away at his daughter's home (Nettie Ann Holder) in Dallas and is buried in Oakland Cemetery. The Harp post office that was established July 31, 1899 by William T. Rooney, postmaster and discontinued in Aug 15, 1907 with Pinkney H. Vinson as postmaster. Mail was rerouted to Winkler afterwards. Local newspaper articles mention Harp in 1904 and 1906. Post Office: 31 July 1899 *1* *4* to 15 Aug 1907 *3* (mail sent to Winkler) School: Harp School Not on school lists for 1887, 1891, or 1893. On July 16, 1929, Mose Bryant and his wife donated an acre of land for the school. Prior to that donation, black students in the area had to attend Sugar Mound near Harp or Greenbriar near Winkler. Always was a small school. Mrs. Jessie Manahan Winkler was a teacher there Churches: Harp church / Center Grove Baptist church (started abt 1908 - ended about late 1980s) Cemeteries: Harp / Cedar Grove Cemetery Social Organizations: Businesses: Nearby Communities: Harp Cedar Grove Known Former Residents: Anders, Jacob W. Green, Fred (was a student at the Harp school) Grayson, Doretha Harp, Charles A. Knight, Lealon Bryan (moved to the old Harp in 1910) McDowell, John Preston, Henry Preston, Lee Pringle, Callie Ransom Riddle, Corine Rooney, Oliver Thomas Rooney, Robert Jr. Rooney, William T. Salter, Green Thomas, Wesley Vinson, Pinkey H. ---------------------------------------------------- Cedar Grove Cedar Grove is another name for the old community of Harp after its church. School: An African-American school was started when Mose Bryant and his wife sold an acre of land for a school on July 16, 1929. The name of the school could have been Cedar Grove, Harp or Greenbriar. Churches: Cedar Grove Baptist Church started about 1908 by Rev. Charley Bryant only had 15 members at its height eventually moved to Winkler, Texas Cemeteries: Harp / Cedar Grove Cemetery Social Organizations: Businesses: Nearby Communities: Greenbriar Gourdneck Harp Known Former Residents: Bryant, Rev. Charley Bryant, Emma Bryant, Floyd Bryant, Killis Bryant, Moses Green, Fred Green, Will Johnson, May Wilson, Emmett Wilson, Worthey ===================================================== SOURCES: *1* = Dallas Morning News - September 13, 1899 National Capital News A postoffice has been established at Harp, Freestone county, Tex., and Wm. T. Roney commissioned postmaster. *2* = Dallas Morning News - October 20, 1899 [Advertising section] WANT to correspond with good pottery man. Address C. A. HARP, Harp, Freestone county, Tex. *3* = Dallas Morning News - August 15, 1907 Texas Affairs in Washington The postoffices at Alverde, Lampasas County, Harp, Freestone County, Vigo, Concho County, Tex., will be discontinued Aug. 31. *4* = Fairfield Recorder - September 8, 1899 Winkler Locals: Lower Gourdneck has a new postoffice, which has been chirstened Harp, in honor of C. A. Harp, the patentee of the chicken coop. W. T. Roney has been appointed postmaster.