Reagan Once Counted Nine Cotton Gins

Reagan began in 1873, shortly after the Waco and Northwestern Railroad completed track between Bremond and Ross. A post office opened that year and took the name of William Reason Reagan, who donated the townsite land.

By the mid-1880s, Reagan had two steam gristmills, nine cotton gins, five general stores, two hotels, a church, a district school, and about 250 residents. By 1890, the population had reached 500 and the town had a weekly newspaper called the Herald.

Reagan's schools joined Marlin ISD in 1948, and rail service ended in 1965. The old inventory changes the scale of the Highway 6 crossroads: nine gins and two hotels belonged to a place drawing crops and travelers from well beyond its own streets.