The Neutral Ground - America's First No Man's Land RoadyGoat

1806

The Sabine River became the Texas-Louisiana border almost by accident, and for fifteen years the land around it belonged to no one at all. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States and Spain could not agree where Louisiana ended and Spanish Texas began. Both sides sent troops to the Sabine. In November 1806, American General James Wilkinson and Spanish Lieutenant Colonel Simon de Herrera cut a deal to avoid a war neither side wanted. The strip of land between the Sabine River and the Arroyo Hondo, roughly fifty miles wide, would be declared Neutral Ground. Neither country would govern it, patrol it, or enforce any law within it. It was the worst possible solution. Within months the Neutral Ground became a haven for outlaws, smugglers, slave traders, deserters, and fugitives from both nations. Pirates operated openly. Murder went unpunished. The strip was so lawless that both governments occasionally sent unauthorized raids into it to clean out the worst offenders, then retreated. This lasted until the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819, ratified in 1821, which formally set the Sabine River as the boundary. Spain ceded Florida to the United States, and the Neutral Ground became part of Louisiana. The outlaws scattered. But for fifteen years, this river marked the edge of civilization in both directions.

10.9 mi away

World War II Turned Orange Into an Instant Industrial City RoadyGoat

When the United States entered World War II, the shipyards at Orange exploded in size almost overnight. Consolidated Steel built 39 destroyers and roughly a hundred destroyer escorts, while Levingston Shipbuilding turned out military, cargo, and support vessels. Women moved into welding, electrical, and inspection jobs, and thousands of workers poured in from Texas, Louisiana, and far beyond. The numbers are staggering for a small river town: Orange's population jumped from about 7,000 before the buildup to around 60,000 at the wartime peak. Federal housing projects, schools, roads, and utilities had to be thrown up almost immediately, which is how Navy Park and the now-demolished Riverside development came to exist. The USS Aulick, launched here on Texas Independence Day in 1942, was the first naval destroyer built in Texas. After the war the Navy chose Orange as a reserve-fleet site, and rows of inactive 'mothball fleet' ships sat tied along the river for decades. The last reserve vessels are long gone, but marine fabrication still defines this industrial shoreline. (Source: City of Orange; Texas State Historical Association.)

RoadyGoat → · 10.9 mi away

When the River Filled With Warships RoadyGoat

1940

In 1940, the little city of Orange, just northeast of here, held about 7,400 people. By the end of World War II it had swollen past 60,000. The engine of that boom stood on the Sabine River, where Consolidated Steel, Levingston, and Weaver Shipyards took Navy contracts and turned mud flats into the only warship-building coast in Texas. Consolidated alone employed roughly 20,000 workers at its peak. The tidal wave of labor overwhelmed local housing, so in 1942 the federal government bulldozed a Sabine River marsh and threw up thousands of prefabricated 'demountable' duplexes in a development called Riverside, within walking distance of the yards to conserve rationed fuel and tires. West Orange, platted decades earlier as a residential addition, absorbed families riding that same wartime surge, and its own population doubled in the decade that followed.

11.2 mi away

Emma Henderson Wallace

1896

A native of Waxahachie, Texas, Emma Smiley Henderson Wallace (1876-1968) attended school at Prairie View College before becoming a teacher in 1896. She taught in Tyler, Ellis and Jefferson Counties before moving to Orange in 1901 to become one of four teachers at Orange Colored School, which was housed in the Salem Methodist and Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Churches. She joined the Orange Public School faculty in 1914. The widow of Lofty Henderson, Emma married Anderson Wallace in the 1920s. After serving first as a teacher at Moton High School, named for educator Robert Russa Moton, she was appointed Principal in 1933. Under Wallace's 13-year leadership, the campus developed with a library, basketball and tennis courts, a band, choir, drama group and student clubs. A drill corps, which supported the school's longtime Dragons football team, formed in 1946. That same year, at the request of the Moton School Parent-Teacher Association, the school was renamed Emma H. Wallace High School in her honor. Emma Wallace retired from Orange Public Schools in 1952. In addition to her role as educator, she was also an active member in Mount Zion Baptist Church, Civic Betterment League, Order of the Eastern Star and other organizations. She moved to Dallas in 1959 and died there in 1968. The community Wallace served for the better part of a century continues to honor her memory. Her legacy is remembered by the many students whose lives she affected though her dedication to educating the youth of Orange's African American community and her devotion to her pupils'success. (2004)

Historical Marker → · 10.6 mi away

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

1920

Well-known for his expertise on the guitar and his multi-genre music, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown had a recording career that spanned more than 50 years. Born in Vinton, Louisiana, he and his family moved to Orange when he was an infant. Here, Brown was shaped by a mix of Texan and Cajun cultures. He learned from his musician father and became known for his guitar and fiddle playing, as well as his deep singing voice; he also played the drums, violin, mandolin and harmonica. Brown’s music reflected African-American folk traditions of the southwest. After returning from World War II, Brown settled in Houston as a professional musician. He recorded with Peacock Records, where he had his first hit, “Mary is fine.” In the 1960s, Brown’s career slumped and he changed genres, recording country music. By the 1970s, Brown gained a larger fanbase, touring in Europe, Africa and the U.S.S.R., and appearing on the popular programs, Hee Haw and Austin City Limits. He also began a series of recordings in Bogalusa, Louisiana that displayed his ability to play music in a variety of genres, including blues, western swing, rhythm and blues, country and cajun. In 1982, he won the Grammy Award for best traditional blues recording with a Bogalusa recording, “Alright again.” He received other honors for his work, including eight W.C. Handy awards and induction into the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2005, Brown evacuated to Orange from Slidell, Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina. He died here two weeks later and was interred in Hollywood Cemetery. Today, Gatemouth Brown’s work endures through his recordings and significant influence on generations of guitarists and other musicians.

Historical Marker → · 10.6 mi away

U. S. S. Aulick

1940

On September 9, 1940, a federal contract worth $82 million was issued to the Consolidated Steel Company to construct 12 Fletcher class naval destroyers here in Orange, Texas. This and other contracts coupled with the subsequent building of major shipyard facilities along the city's riverfront lifted the city out of a prolonged and deep economic decline which began in the early 1930s with the closing of area sawmills. The community celebrated the laying of the keels of the U. S. S. Aulick and U. S. S. Charles Ausburne on May 14, 1941. The Aulick became the first naval destroyer to be built in Texas and on Texas Independence Day, March 2, 1942, it was christened and launched amid a crowd of 6,000 people. The Aulick represented the second U. S. Naval warship to be named after War of 1812 Navy veteran John H. Aulick (1787-1861). by 1946 all 12 destroyers and over four hundred other ships had been completed here at a cost of over $876 million. Orange's well-developed shipyards encouraged major companies to build plants along the riverfront. Several petrochemical and industrial concerns followed suit in the 1950s and 1960s. Wartime shipyards operated by Consolidated, Levingston, and Weaver converted to peacetime activities.

Historical Marker → · 10.9 mi away

Brown, Clarence [Gatemouth]

1924

A multi-faceted musician whose eclectic tastes reflected the great diversity of musical styles found throughout the Southwest, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown was born in Vinton, Louisiana, on April 18, 1924. Brown's father, who was one of his strongest musical influences and taught young Clarence to play piano, fiddle, and guitar, was a railroad worker and a local musician who played country , Cajun, and bluegrass . Throughout his career, Gatemouth Brown performed a variety of musical styles on a broad array of instruments, including guitar, fiddle, piano, drums, mandolin, harmonica, and viola. As a youth who grew up in Southeast Texas near Orange, Brown absorbed the country , bluegrass, R&B, Czech and German polka, Cajun, and early jazz and swing that could be heard throughout the Texas-Louisiana border region. By the time he was five years old, he had learned to play fiddle, and by age ten he was performing on guitar. By the time he was a teenager, Brown played the drums in territory swing bands where he was given the nickname "Gatemouth" because of his deep voice. After returning from military service following World War II , Brown first relocated to San Antonio and then eventually to Houston where he found work at the Bronze Peacock nightclub. During a T-Bone Walker concert there in 1947, Walker became ill and could not finish his show. Brown went onstage, picked up his guitar, and proceeded to play "Gatemouth Boogie," to which the audience responded very enthusiastically. The club owner, Don Robey , also was impressed and arranged for Brown to sign a recording contract with the Los Angeles record label Aladdin. Brown's first singles for Aladdin were not as successful as he had hoped, so Robey decided to start his own label, Peacock Records , in order to market Brown's music. Brown's first single with Peacock, "Mary is Fine," hit Number 8 on the R&B charts in 1949. Soon afterwards, Robey picked Brown to be the front man for a twenty-three-piece orchestra that toured throughout the South. During his time with Peacock, Brown recorded a number of hits, including "Okie Dokie Stomp," "Ain't That Dandy," "Boogie Rambler," "Depression Blues," and "Dirty Work at the Crossroads." By the late 1950s Brown had become frustrated with the limitations of being strictly a blues and R&B musician and decided to finally part ways with Robey and Peacock Records by 1961. However, throughout the 1960s Brown had difficulty finding other work as a musician, something he blamed in part on his strained relations with the influential Robey. During this period, Brown held a variety of jobs. He worked as bandleader on the Dallas syndicated R&B television show The !!!! Beat in 1966. In the late 1960s he was a deputy sheriff in New Mexico. At one point he moved to Nashville where he appeared a few times on the popular country music television show Hee Haw. It was also in Nashville that Brown released his first series of country singles. He later recorded a well-received album, Makin' Music, with Roy Clark in 1979. In the 1970s Brown was able to restart his career, this time performing the broad range of styles for which he would become famous, including country, jazz, and Cajun, as well as the blues and R&B he had played earlier. Brown also began touring again, not only throughout the United States, but also in Europe and around the world. On several stints he toured as a music ambassador for the United States State Department. During the late 1970s Brown signed with Real Records, and by the 1980s he was enjoying success recording for both Alligator and Rounder Records. In 1982 Brown's Alright Again received a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album. He also appeared several times on the PBS television series Austin City Limits . Brown's second release through Rounder Records, One More Mile (1982), along with the rerelease of his earlier Peacock recordings, brought him more acclaim. Brown won eight W. C. Handy Awards. He received the Rhythm and Blues Founda

Tsha Handbook → · 11.3 mi away

Lutcher, Frances Ann Robinson

1912

Frances Ann Robinson Lutcher, philanthropist and humanitarian, daughter of David Robinson, was born on October 17, 1841, in Pennsylvania. She married Henry Jacob Lutcher on January 23, 1858. They had two children, Miriam Melissa ( see STARK, MIRIAM M. L. ), who married William H. Stark , and Carrie Launa, who married Dr. Edgar W. Brown, Sr. The Lutchers moved to Orange, Texas, in 1878. Frances Lutcher was one of Orange's greatest benefactors. She built the First Presbyterian Church in honor of the Lutcher family and dedicated it to Orange on January 28, 1912. This marble structure was reputedly the first structure west of the Mississippi River to have air-conditioning . A Texas Historical Commission marker was placed there in 1978. In 1921 she dedicated the Frances Ann Lutcher Hospital, the first modern hospital in Orange. It had the most up-to-date equipment of the time and also maintained a nurses' training program and a home for student nurses. The hospital was particularly needed for the many workmen injured at the surrounding sawmills and in other lumber-industry accidents. These men had previously been transported long distances by train for treatment. Frences Lutcher became known for having the finest orchid collection in the South. During World War I soldiers in the area called her the "Orchid Lady" because of the orchids that she gave away. She was an ardent traveler and journeyed through the United States and the world up into her eighties. She made her home, however, in Orange from 1877 until her death. She died on October 21, 1924, while on vacation in New York. She was buried in the family mausoleum in Evergreen Cemetery in Orange. Her grandson, Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark , joined the family lumber business and continued his grandmother's philanthropic tradition.

Tsha Handbook → · 11.3 mi away

Wingate, David Robert

1852

David Robert Wingate, early Texas planter and industrialist, son of Robert Potter and Pherobee (Kelly) Wingate, was born in Darlington County, South Carolina, on February 20, 1819. At an early age he moved with his family to Hancock County, Mississippi, where he secured only a rudimentary education. He worked in logging camps and sawmills and, on September 19, 1839, married Caroline Morgan. He and his wife had seven children. Although Wingate visited Texas in 1844, his first industrial venture came in Mississippi, where by 1849 he owned a sawmill. In 1852 he and his family moved to Newton County, Texas, where he established a large plantation on Cow Creek near Belgrade. By 1859 seventy-three slaves worked the plantation; the 350 bales of cotton produced there that year made Wingate the largest antebellum cotton planter in Southeast Texas. He had by that time purchased sawmill facilities at Sabine Pass, which he built into the largest steam sawmill in the state. He also constructed a small fleet of lumber schooners that plied the Gulf of Mexico. In 1860 Wingate, living at Sabine in Jefferson County, had an estate of $108,000, the largest in the county. On April 20, 1861, Wingate and a son enlisted in the Sabine Pass Guard. Elected colonel of the Second Regiment, First Brigade, Texas Militia, Wingate remained in Southeast Texas, having been appointed Confederate States marshal by Gen. Paul O. Hebert . Wingate also served as chairman of safety for Sabine Pass and as commissioner of defense for Jefferson County. In 1862 he and his family returned to Newton County to escape the ravages of a yellow fever epidemic. Later that year Union troops burned his Sabine Pass sawmill and home. Wingate was elected chief justice of Newton County in 1864 and appointed to the same position by Provisional Governor A. J. Hamilton the following year. Although hurt financially by the emancipation of over 100 slaves and a series of fires that destroyed his mills, Wingate recovered strongly from each of his economic setbacks, which one scholar has estimated to have totaled over $500,000. Wingate transferred his operations to Orange and helped to change that city into one of the most important sawmill centers in Texas. He also served as Orange county judge from 1879 to 1884 and was one of the earliest large-scale rice planters in the county in 1892. Wingate died at Orange on February 15, 1899, after a long bout with pneumonia. He was buried in that city's Evergreen Cemetery. A Texas historical marker was placed at his gravesite in 1979.

Tsha Handbook → · 11.3 mi away

Vinton, Louisiana

Music in Vinton

Songs About Vinton

Artists From Vinton

Rivers & Roads in Song near Vinton

History of Vinton

The Neutral Ground - America's First No Man's Land RoadyGoat

World War II Turned Orange Into an Instant Industrial City RoadyGoat

When the River Filled With Warships RoadyGoat

Emma Henderson Wallace

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

U. S. S. Aulick

Brown, Clarence [Gatemouth]

Lutcher, Frances Ann Robinson

Wingate, David Robert

Everything Near Vinton