From the Annals of Electrification – In 1936, the first power line in Texas under the Rural Electrification Administration was energized.  The project was a 58 mile line near Bartlett.  The REA was create to bring electric power to rural America.  When President Franklin D. Roosevelt began the REA in May 1935, only about 2 percent of the farms in Texas had electricity. The REA was established as a lending agency. The $33,000 loan to a group of farmers at Bartlett was one of the first ten loans made by the REA.  By 1965, instead of only 2 percent of Texas farms with electricity, there were only 2 percent without electricity.