City Tour of Magnolia


With a modest beginning in the timber industry, Magnolia has grown from its settler and sawmill beginnings to a sprawling center of commerce. The community was first settled in the late 1840s and named Mink’s Prairie for one of its early settlers, Joseph Mink. The town’s name shortened to Mink by 1850 and the first post office was established in 1858. The community’s population had grown to 25 by the turn of the century. By 1903, the town of Mink had become Magnolia and a local flurry of excitement welcomed the I&GN Railroad, as the town grew up nearby, welcoming a steady influx of new residents, churches and commercial businesses. By 1915, the population had grown to 150 residents and many of the residents worked in the Grogan-Cochran sawmill, the town’s largest commercial industry.

The railroad made it easier to move workers and lumber, and the available land made Magnolia an ideal site to accommodate the sprawling timber industry. The original 1901 train depot, now restored and located to its original site in the downtown area, greets visitors coming to Magnolia on FM 1774. The site stands today as a Texas Historical Landmark. Located at the junction of Farm roads 1774 and 1488, Magnolia is situated twenty miles southwest of Conroe in southwestern Montgomery County. The town boasts a city limit one-mile-square radius of 1,111 people reflected by the 2000 U.S. census. But the greater Magnolia area roughly spans 12 miles in all directions, encompassing a population of more than 65,000. In fact, the Magnolia Independent School District celebrated its 2002-2003 school year in classification 5A, as the steady 7 to 10 percent growth remained constant. Enrollment this year topped 8,000 students. The school district stretches for 147 square miles and is ranked second in the state in growth, along with Katy ISD, behind Frisco ISD, which is located near the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex.


Magnolia Links
City of Magnolia
Magnolia Chamber of Commerce
Magnolia Independent School District