Edom Missed the Railroad and Became a Craft Crossroads

Edom moved before it settled at the crossing of FM 279, FM 314, and FM 2339. The community began several miles away in 1849. Its post office opened as Hamburg in 1852, moved again, took the name Edom, and eventually reached the present road junction southeast of Canton.

The Porter's Bluff and Tyler Road brought lumberjacks, freight wagons, and traders through the settlement. By 1860, Edom had two churches, a hotel, a Masonic lodge, a sawmill, a tanyard, a wagon factory, and a shop making boots, shoes, and saddles. It was a working road stop with a surprising number of trades.

The railroad never reached Edom. The community remained small while tracks reshaped other Van Zandt towns. Then, in the 1960s, artisans working in pottery, silver jewelry, glassware, macrame, and leather began settling there. They started an arts and crafts fair in 1972. Freight traffic once fed saddlers and wagon makers; later the crossing gathered pottery, jewelry, leatherwork, and fair booths. The trades changed, but the crossing kept doing its old job.