Dew is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in southern Freestone County

Freestone County, Texas

Freestone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 17,867. Its county seat is Fairfield.-Geography:...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located at the junction of State Highway 75

State Highway 75 (Texas)

State Highway 75 is a Texas state route remnant of the old U.S. Highway 75. State Highway 75 retained the number as a state highway when Interstate 45 supplanted U.S. Highway 75 south of Dallas except in Dallas, where old U.S. Highway 75 is now State Highway 310, and through Ferris, Palmer, Ennis,...

 and Farm to Market Road 489, nine miles south of Fairfield

Fairfield, Texas

Fairfield is a city in Freestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,094 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Freestone County.-Geography:Fairfield is located at ....

, the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

.

Originally known as Avant or Avant Prairie, the area was first settled in the 1850s by pioneers from Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. It hosted a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

 under the name "Avant" from 1853 through January of 1885 http://www.rootsweb.com/~txpost/freestone.html. In 1870, the settlement's name was changed to Sunshine after a local Methodist church. A post office was reestablished in December of 1885 with the town renamed Dew. Locals requested the name "Drew" to honor a local resident, but the postal authorities misread the application.

The population of Dew peaked in 1947, when it was home to 195 residents. Approximately 70 people reside in Dew today. The Dew Independent School District

Dew Independent School District

Dew Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Dew, Texas .Located in southern Freestone County, the district has one school that serves students in Pre-Kindergarten through eighth grade....

serves area students.