Founded in 1902 and named for W. M. Rhone, the only sawmill operator in the area until 1901, Rhonesboro emerged when the arrival of the Marshall & East Texas Railroad created a town that grew to include 15 sawmills, 10 stores, 2 churches, a school, hotel, bank, gin, and cotton yard. Its mill operators included Connally; Barton and Smith; McWhorter; Cone and Watkins; Whitter; Dacus; Waterman; Nolan; James; Swann; Beavers and Meek; P. K. Williams; M. C. and F. C. Florence; and Roger and J. O. Schrum. After the pine forest there was depleted in 1917, the mills moved away and the railroad was abandoned.