Uz Community
Forestburg, Montague County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Named by early settlers for a town mentioned in the Biblical Book of Job, Uz was a farming community whose economy was based on the cotton crop. In existence by the 1870s, the town reached its peak in the early 1900s. At its height the community included homes, stores, churches, a cotton gin, school, post office, and telephone exchange. The post office was discontinued in 1907, and the school was merged with the Forestburg schools in 1931. A boll weevil infestation in the 1930s destroyed the cotton crop and signalled the decline of the Uz community. (1990)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Named by its settlers for a place in the Book of Job, Uz was a cotton-farming community in Montague County that took root by the 1870s and peaked in the early 1900s. At its height it held homes, stores, churches, a gin, a school, a post office, and even a telephone exchange. The post office closed in 1907 and the school merged in 1931, and when boll weevils ruined the cotton in the 1930s the town faded away.
Why it matters
Uz is a classic example of the cotton-belt farm towns that flourished and then vanished across Texas as one-crop economies gave way to pests and mechanization.
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