Corsicana - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

CORSICANA, a city and the county-seat of Navarro county, Texas, U.S.A., situated in the N.E. part of the state, about 55 m. S. of Dallas. Pop. (1890) 6285; (1900) 9313, of whom 2 399 were of negro descent; (estimated 1906), 12,275. It is served by the Houston & Texas Central, the St Louis South Western, and the Trinity & Brazos Valley railways. It is the centre of a large and productive wheatand cotton-growing region, which has also numerous oil wells (with a total production in 1907 of 2 26,311 barrels). The city has two oil refineries, a large cottonj gin and a cotton compress, and among its manufactures are cotton-seed oil, cotton-cloth, flour and ice. The total value of the factory product in 1905 was $1,796,805. being an increase of 50.3% since 1900. Natural gas is extensively used for fuel and for lighting. Corsicana is the seat of the Texas state orphan home and of an Odd Fellows widows' and orphans' home, and has a Carnegie library. Corsicana was named in honour of the wife of a Mexican, Navarro, who owned a large tract of land in the county and from whom the county was named. The first permanent settlement here was made in 1848, and Corsicana was incorporated as a village in 1850 and chartered as a city in 1871.