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History · Retreat

Half of Retreat’s homes were built after 1988

Most of Retreat was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988.

0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940

What stands out about Retreat’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

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Start Retreat’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Retreat’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The story

How Retreat came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Retreat.

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Retreat is located on Farm to Market Road 709, just south of Corsicana in south central Navarro County. The site was settled in the 1840s and originally known as Beeman's School House. For many years, the log school building, which was also used as a church, was the only church or school in the area. As a result of shifting population, the building was moved more than once. When someone consequently suggested calling the settlement Retreat, the name stuck. A public school was in operation by 1900, and in 1906, it had an enrollment of 50. In the mid-1930s, Retreat had a store, a gin, a cemetery, and a number of houses. After World War II, the store closed, but the population in recent years has increased because of the community's proximity to Corsicana. In the mid-1960s, the estimated population was 100; by 1990, it had grown to 334. Most of the residents worked in Corsicana.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Retreat

Nobody well known was born in Retreat itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Retreat’s history

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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.