[2] The community's location is within the boundaries of the 1835 Mexican Texas property grant to José Martín Prado that A. F. Westall and Daniel Daily (Dailey) acquired in 1855.

Pennington, which has had a post office since 1873, had its zenith between May 1874 and October 1882, when it served as the county seat and had a population that may have reached 1,000 to 1,500.

[7] Although it began operations as a coeducational institution in 1866, Pennington College, later known as Steele Academy, did not get a legislative charter until 1870.

The institution ran until 1882 under the leadership of teacher and subsequently president Daniel Webster Steele and his successors.

[3] The Groveton Independent School District serves students on both the Houston and Trinity County sides of the community.