| This town came into being on the outskirts of Hemphill
around 1912 when the Knox Lumber Company began to operate a sawmill there.
The mill, together with the Knox timber holdings, was sold to the Temple
Lumber Company around 1922. Temple Lumber Company continued to operate the
sawmill until 1937 when it was destroyed by fire. With the timber area nearly
exhausted, the mill was never rebuilt.
East Mayfield was named after a former state senator,
Earle B. Mayfield, and at its peak probably had a population of six or
seven hundred with those in the work force being employed by the lumber
company.
The town was incorporated as a municipality on January
8, 1919, following an election in which fifty-five voted "For"
incorporation with "None" opposed. On November 13, 1939, a petition
was submitted to the commissioners court requesting an election to determine
the corporate existence of the town. An election was held on November
20, 1939, with twenty-eight voting "For" abolishment of the
incorporated status and twenty-three "For" its retention. The
court then declared the corporate existence of East Mayfield to be abolished.
The area that formerly encompassed this town is now part of the city of
Hemphill.
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