Singletons was the first name given to this village located in the northwestern part of Ellis County. John H. Singleton was the first postmaster, appointed March 18, 1878.1
The first house was built by Granville Pettes in January 1875.2
In 1881 there were two churches, the Methodist and the Baptist, three schools with one hundred forty-four pupils, one general store, operated by Robinett and Bagett, one cotton gin operated by Burkes and Lowe.3
According to John Morris in the 1880's his father bought land here for ten dollars an acre. George Edwards built a gin near the Morris home but soon realized he had made a few mistakes. One of these mistakes was that there were no parts houses in Texas, another sad thing the boiler had to be shut down to add more water thus causing considerable ginning delay.4
The name Singletons was changed to Mountain Peak May 2, 1878, the name being suggested by G. J. Penn, postmaster at Waxahachie.
Appointed postmasters of Mountain Peak:
Wm. H. Robinett, May 2, 1878;
William L. Kizziar, April 20, 1881; W. B. Mansell, October 10,
1881;
William W. Major, April 14, 1883; Geo. A. Burks, February 15,
1884;
Ed. C. Vance, December 14, 1885; Frank C. Whipple, May 10, 1887;
James A. Orr, November 8, 1887; Robert W. Dillard, April 3,1890;
Rowler P. Burks, October 23, 1893; William M. Cathey, August 21,
1897;
Robert W. Dillard, January 15,1900; Rufus H. Morton, March 6,
1903;
office discontinued, mail to Midlothian August 6, 1906.'
The Phelps family had a grocery store but went out of business in 1960. The old store building is now occupied by the Widow Phelps, and the home of Mr. and Mrs. Phelps, who ran the store, is located behind the old building.
The Baptist Church has regular worship services with Reverend Arval Wadsworth pastor.5
Notes
1. U. S. Postal Service, Washington, DC
2. Memorial and Biographical History Ellis County, 1892, page
236
3. Ellis County Illustrated Annual and Saturday Review Yr. Book,
1881
4. Midlothian Mirror, Nov. 29, 1957
5. Interview Mr. and Mrs. Phelps
This transcription was provided by Ann Turk <aturk@worldnet.att.net> from:
History of Ellis County Texas, By The Ellis County History Workshop, Edna Davis Hawkins, Ruth Stone, Ida M. Brookshire, Lillie Tolleson, Copyright 1972 by the Ennis Chamber of Commerce, pages 220-221
Additional historical information on Mt. Peak may also be found at the TSHA web site at: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/MM/hnm69.html