The Annetta Community was established by A.B. Fraser around 1880, when the Texas & Pacific Railroad was built through Parker County from Fort Worth. Mr. Fraser was originally from Nova Scotia, but emigrated to Louisiana and became an ardent Southerner. He fought for the Confederacy in the War Between the States, and after the War, he was one of those who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the Union. In order to avoid this he went to Honduras, where he had heard the British government was building a railroad.

During the five or six years he lived in Honduras building bridges for the railway, his daughter, Anneta Fraser was born. The name Anneta is composed of the English name Annie, along with the Spanish suffix -ita, meaning “little.” Thus, this name meant “little Annie.”

Mr. Fraser and his family moved back to the United States in 1872, and settled in Fort Worth, where he served as one of the first aldermen. In 1876, he moved to Parker County, several miles east of Weatherford, where he built a station and a store for the convenience of the freighters which came eastward with ox-trains. These freighters would carry buffalo hides east, and then return westward with various kinds of merchandise for Weatherford and beyond. Mr. Fraser called the station “Anneta,” after his daughter.

In 1880, the Texas & Pacific Railroad built a new line west from Fort Worth, and Mr. S.A. Winslow gave the right-of-way through his farm on the condition that the company would establish a station on the far west side of the property. This was done, and Mr. Fraser built a post office and general store there also. The railroad adopted the name “Anneta” from Fraser’s station which had been built not far from the railroad, about four years before.

Thus, a community called Annetta developed around the station. In the past, the spellings “Anneta,” “Annetta,” and “Anetta” have all been used, although today “Annetta” has been settled on. The sign at the cemetery in Annetta displayed the name “Anneta Cemetery” until just recently. However, it has since been changed to “Annetta.”

The community was small, and the population remained around 50 until the late 1900s. However, it had a post office, which operated from 1876 until 1907, a school district, which covered twelve square miles, and three church buildings. It was a shipping point for cotton and local crops, and served the surrounding area as a “school and church community.”

Today, the general store, post office, and school are gone, but one building that is still standing is the old building of the Annetta Methodist Church. The church was established in 1886, and a wooden building was built in 1894. In 1937, it was torn down and a rock building was built in its place. This 72-year old building is still used by the Methodist Church, and is also the meeting place of the Annetta North Town Council.

In the 1970s, the population of Annetta and the surrounding area greatly increased. As more and more people moved to east Parker County, and as Fort Worth’s extraterritorial jurisdiction got closer to Annetta, the residents decided to incorporate the area. On August 11th, 1979, the Annetta Community was incorporated as three towns: Annetta, Annetta North, and Annetta South. These cover more area than the original community. The central part of Annetta North and the northern part of Annetta are where the original community was. Annetta South is a few miles south of the original Annetta community.

— Benjamin Bruce

 

References

• Abernathy, Myrtle V. “History of the Anneta Community.” Aledo, Texas, no date (written in the 1930s).
• Chapman family. “The Annetta Community.” History of Parker County.
• Duncan, Theola Campbell. “The Annetta United Methodist Church.” History of Parker County.
• Minor, David. “Annetta, Texas.” Internet: http://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/AA/hla19.html October 26, 2005.
• “Mrs. Anneta Anderson for Whom Anneta Was Named Is Now a Resident of Fort Worth.” The Daily Herald. Feb. 9, 1932.
• “Waltz Across Texas.” Internet: http://www.texaspacificrailway.org/tpry_history_display.php?id=3 October 26, 2005.