The area was first settled in 1837 by Adam LaGrone and his family, who built a homestead not far from Socogee Creek, after they were granted around 10,000 acres from the Mexican government.

After the end of the Civil War, a grandson of Adam, Confederate veteran Hiram Clark LaGrone, built a mill and gin that became the nucleus of the later town.

Charlie and Clara Alexander LaGrone Family Community Center adjoins the Deadwood Methodist Church.

Locally, two LaGrone men, direct descendants of Deadwood's founder, sit on the Commissioners' Court of Panola County.

After World War II, the community's school was consolidated with the Carthage district, and the remaining businesses at Deadwood closed.