Canton, Van Zandt County
WENTWORTH COMMUNITY IN 1858, MILO AND MARTHA MANNING ARRIVED FROM KENTUCKY WITH EIGHT CHILDREN, INCLUDING SON WENTWORTH (1847-1921), FOR WHOM THE COMMUNITY IS NAMED. HE BECAME A BUSINESSMAN AND LAND OWNER. STARR SCHOOL, THE FIRST FREE SCHOOL IN THE AREA, OPENED HERE IN 1886. THE SCHOOLHOUSE WAS ALSO AN EARLY HOUSE OF WORSHIP. WORTHY GREEN KENNEDY’S GENERAL STORE OPENED IN 1903 AND HOUSED THE MONICO POST OFFICE FOR TWO YEARS. TODD HILL SCHOOL OPENED IN 1907, LATER MERGING WITH STARR TO FORM WENTWORTH SCHOOL IN 1917. THERE WERE ALSO CHURCHES, A GRIST MILL, COTTON GIN, BLACKSMITH AND SAWMILL. THE SCHOOL CONSOLIDATED WITH CANTON IN 1949, AND THE KENNEDY STORE, WHICH ALSO SERVED AS A COMMUNITY CENTER, CLOSED IN 1952. WENTWORTH REMAINS A TESTAMENT TO GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011