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Palestine, Texas

Everything Palestine is known for

14 songs mention this city 7 artists from here

RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Palestine. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.

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Palestine, Texas, a charming East Texas town known for its dogwood blossoms and historic sites, is also home to a vibrant musical spirit. The city has produced country artists like Whiskey Myers, JB And The Moonshine Band, Justin Todd Herod, Cody Cannon, and Colton Ryan. Songs such as "Palestine Texas" by T Bone Burnett and "Texas Eagle" by Steve Earle and The Del McCoury Band also mention the town.

Music in Palestine

Songs About Palestine

Palestine Texas
T Bone Burnett
82%
"Palestine Texas"
texas eagle
steve earle & the del mccoury band
70%
Texas Eagle
Steve Earle And The Del McCoury Band
70%
Die Rockin’
Whiskey Myers
60%
Trailer We Call Home
Whiskey Myers
51%
"Little white church south of Palestine"
Texas Eagle
Steve Earle
50%
"We rode to Palestine and hitchhiked back"
Stone
Whiskey Myers
45%
Bury My Bones
Whiskey Myers
21%
"And take my vessel to Anderson County"
crazy train
ozzy osbourne
10%
Her First Mistake
Lyle Lovett
7%
"From Livingston to Palestine"
With Crippled Wings
Lift To Experience
6%
"From here to Palestine"
On Palastine
JJ Grey & Mofro
6%
"A lifetime lost On Palastine"
Broken Window Serenade
Whiskey Myers
5%
"Now you work down at the Timeout Off 155"
Superlover
Allison Russell
3%
"Palestine, Israel to Tennessee"

Artists From Palestine

W
Whiskey Myers
country
B
Blacktop Mojo
rock
J
Jb And The Moonshine Band
country
C
Colton Ryan
country
J
Justin Todd Herod
country
C
Cody Cannon
country
T
The Daygan Darst Band
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Palestine

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Palestine.

Trinity River 11 songs Neches River 2 songs Interstate 45 8 songs Kickapoo Creek 4 songs Angelina River 4 songs

Musical Heritage

Texas State Railroad RoadyGoat

The Texas State Railroad started with prison labor. Convicts laid this track beginning in eighteen eighty-one, built to haul iron out of the Rusk penitentiary foundry. These days it hauls tourists instead — a twenty-five-mile round trip between Palestine and Rusk, four hours through the Piney Woods, pulled by a restored steam or diesel engine. Locomotive number three sixteen was built in nineteen oh-one and now sits inside the Hall of Giants at the Palestine depot. Taylor Sheridan shot the very first episode of "Eighteen Eighty-Three" out here. And back in two thousand, Evel Knievel's son jumped the entire train on a motorcycle. Come Christmas it runs as the Polar Express — Miranda Lambert rode it in twenty nineteen. Joyce Jones, eighty-one years old, has been working these cars for fourteen of them.

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History of Palestine

Named for a Town in Illinois RoadyGoat

1846

Say it like a local: PAL-uh-steen. This East Texas town has nothing to do with the Middle East. When Anderson County split off from Houston County in March 1846, a committee of Dan Lumpkin, William Turner Sadler, and John Parker picked a 100-acre tract near the county's center for a new seat of government. The Parker family had come from Palestine in Crawford County, Illinois, and at their suggestion the new town took that name. On July 30, 1846, the first county court met, and surveyors laid out a central courthouse square ringed by 24 blocks. The county itself honors Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the last vice president of the Republic of Texas. So the name traveled from an Illinois prairie to the Piney Woods, with a pronunciation all its own.

Palestine, TX RoadyGoat

Palestine's history is marked by significant events. In 1846, the Texas Legislature incorporated Palestine to serve as a seat for the newly established Anderson County. The city was named after Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that town. A notable event in its history was a book burning that took place shortly before the Civil War, where a vigilance committee destroyed textbooks considered an antislavery conspiracy. The postwar period saw the timber trade and town growth stimulated by the construction of a railroad through Palestine in the 1870s. The city had a population of more than 10,000 by 1898.

Palestine, TX RoadyGoat

On November 15, 2015, a mass shooting took place at a campsite several miles northwest of Palestine. Six people were killed by an intoxicated neighbor who was upset about losing his family's land. The shooter, 33-year-old William Mitchell Hudson, was charged with capital murder and was convicted and sentenced to death by a Brazos County jury on November 15, 2017.

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Captain Steven L. Bennett

1972

Born in Palestine on April 22, 1946, Steven Logan Bennett grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana. He graduated from Youngsville High School in 1964 and then enrolled at Southwestern Louisiana State (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) where he majored in Aeronautical Engineering and participated in the Air Force ROTC. While at university, Steven was Commander of the Arnold Air Society. In 1968, he joined the Air Force in Big Spring. In 1970, Bennett competed advance training on the B-52 bomber as well as training as a forward air controller. In 1972, following graduation, Bennett reported for active service in Vietnam. After only three months of combat, he earned the air medal with three oak leaf clusters.
 On June 29, 1972, Bennett was on a mission with back seater Marine Captain Mike Brown. On duty for three hours, they learned of several hundred North Vietnamese about to attack a small South Vietnamese platoon. Knowing that they were the platoon's only help, Bennett and Brown made several passes, chasing the North Vietnamese away. Their plane was hit from behind by a surface to air missile (SAM), damaging one engine, causing a fire abroad and forcing the plane down. Bennett headed to the Gulf of Tonkin to drop fuel and eject but discovered that Brown's parachute was damaged by the SAM hit. Rather than save himself, Bennett ditched the aircraft and the ensuing impact trapped him under water. Brown was able to escape and was rescued. With extraordinary heroism, Captain Steven Bennett gave his own life to save his companion. He was posthumously awarded the medal of honor on August 8, 1974, by President Gerald R. Ford, and is buried in Lafayette Memorial Park. (2018)

Historical Marker →

John H. Reagan

1818

John Henninger Reagan, son of Timothy and Elizabeth Lusk Reagan, was born on October 8, 1818, in Sevierville, Tennessee. He joined the Republic of Texas Army in 1839 and served in the Cherokee War. In the early 1840s, he held several public offices in Nacogdoches County, and in 1847 he obtained a law license and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. He moved to Palestine in 1851 and opened a law office in his home. He was elected Texas 9th Judicial District Judge in 1852. 
 Reagan, elected U.S. Congressman in 1857, resigned in 1861 over what he believed was a Federal takeover of states' rights. He served as postmaster general of the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was captured by Federal troops in 1865 and imprisoned for 18 months. He returned to Texas in 1866 and established a family farm near Palestine at the former site of Fort Houston. 
 During his later tenure as a U.S. Congressman (1876-1887) and U.S. Senator (1887-1891) Reagan led the fight that brought railroad monopolies under federal control with the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887. In 1891 he became the first chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, a position he held until 1901. 
 Reagan died of pneumonia on March 6, 1905. The entire Texas legislative assembly attended his funeral. (1994, 2006)

Historical Marker →

Kolstad Jewelers

1853

Soren Kolstad (1823 - 1918), a skilled artisan and clockmaker, migrated to Texas from his native Norway in 1852. He settled in Palestine, where he opened a jewelry store in 1853. The store has occupied four locations. Mahogany display cases, installed in the third shop in 1916, were transferred to the present site in 1933. Managed by five generations of the Kolstad family, this is believed to be the oldest retail store in continuous operation by its founding family in the state of Texas. Members of the Kolstad family have also been leaders in religious, civic, and educational activities. (1977)

Historical Marker →

Bennett, Steven L.

1972

Steven L. Bennett, Medal of Honor recipient, was born at Palestine, Texas, on April 22, 1946, son of Elwin Bennett. He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and was a member of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. He was commissioned in the United States Air Force on August 12, 1968, and served on active duty until his death in Vietnam on June 29, 1972. He was assigned to the Twentieth Tactical Air Support Squadron at DaNang Air Base, with primary duty as a forward air controller. On June 29, 1972, he was the pilot of a light aircraft flying an artillery-adjustment mission along a heavily defended area over a large concentration of enemy troops massing to attack friendly forces. He requested tactical air support but was told that none was available. Determined to aid the endangered troops, he strafed the enemy positions four times, and the enemy began a retreat. Bennett continued his attack, and as he completed his fifth pass, his aircraft was struck by a surface-to-air missile. The plane was severely damaged in the left engine and the left main landing gear. With the aircraft on fire, he realized that a landing at a friendly airfield was impossible. He instructed his observer to prepare to eject, but was informed that the observer's parachute had been shredded during the attack. Bennett chose to ditch in the nearby Gulf of Tonkin, with the full knowledge that this type of aircraft had never been successfully ditched in water. When the plane struck the water it cartwheeled and was damaged so that escape from the cockpit was impossible. The observer escaped and was rescued, thanks to the selfless action of Captain Bennett. Bennett's wife, Linda, of San Antonio, received the posthumous award from Vice President Gerald Ford at the White House in Washington, on August 8, 1974. Bennett is buried in Lafayette Memorial Cemetery at Lafayette, Louisiana. In addition to his wife, he was survived by one child.

Tsha Handbook →

Lowery, Fred

1909

Fred Lowery, the "king of whistlers," was born in Palestine, Texas, on November 2, 1909, the son of William and Mary (White) Lowery. He lost his eyesight before he was two years old. His mother died shortly after his birth, and his father deserted him and his three older sisters, who were then raised by their grandmother Lucy White. In September 1917, at the age of seven, Lowery entered the Texas School for the Blind (now the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired ) in Austin, where he was in attendance for the next twelve years. His whistling career began with the encouragement of his piano teacher, Peggy Richter, and a bird imitator named Ernest Nichols. In May 1929 Lowery and Richter traveled to Chicago, where Lowery took lessons in acting at the American Institute to develop stage presence. In August 1929 he had his first spot on a radio show, the Farm and Home Hour . In November of that year he left the School for the Blind and moved into the home of Peggy Richter. Lowery continued to perform, and soon after a performance at the National Business Confidence Week, a Lions Club event, he received a letter inviting him to try out for a full-time job with the Early Birds pogram on station WFAA in Dallas. In 1932 entrepreneur and carnival pitchman Henry Murphy hired Lowery, along with the other Early Birds stars, for a six-month tour with Lignon Smith's band in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. They worked out a two-hour program with music and comedy called "Heads Up!" When this program ran out of money, Lowery returned to work at WFAA. Despite some apprehension and self-doubt, in 1934 he moved to New York City to pursue his musical career. He joined the Vincent Lopez orchestra and, during the ensuing four years with Lopez, met and performed with many stars, including Bing Crosby, Mary Pickford, and Jack Dempsey. Toward the end of 1938 Lowery began working for Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights. After this stint he began touring solo. He had a radio show and hosted La Rue's Supper Club in Indianapolis in the early 1950s. From the 1960s into the early 1980s Lowery entertained schoolchildren at assembly programs. In his career he also appeared with Steve Allen, Edgar Bergen, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Stan Kenton, Ed Sullivan, and Paul Whiteman. His biggest-selling single was "Indian Love Call" (1939) which sold over two million copies. His autobiography, Whistling in the Dark , was published in 1983. In 1932 Lowery began courting Gracie Johnston in Dallas. He had met her years earlier at a party he attended in Jacksonville, Texas. Fred and Gracie were married on December 20, 1940. Their only child, Fred M. Lowery, was born the next year. Lowery died at home in Jacksonville on December 11, 1984, and was survived by his wife and son.

Tsha Handbook →

Robinson, Frank James

1964

Frank James Robinson, educator and civil rights activist, was born in the rural church community of Antioch in Smith County, Texas, on June 5, 1902, to Charlie Robinson and Olevia (Stephens) Robinson. Frank's mother died in 1914, and obligations to the family farm prevented him from completing grade school until 1923, when he enrolled in high school equivalency courses at Texas College in Tyler. He went on to attend Prairie View Normal and Industrial College (now Prairie View A&M University) where he earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural science in 1931. While at Prairie View he met Dorothy Redus , a future principal and school administrator. They married in 1930. In 1931 Robinson moved to Palestine, Anderson County, Texas, where he worked as an agent for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service . During World War II he briefly relocated to San Francisco, California, where he worked in the defense industry. In 1948 he returned to Palestine and began a career as a teacher at a community school in nearby Butler, Texas, where he was eventually promoted to superintendent. Robinson became a powerful advocate for the small community of Butler, where he facilitated the building of new roads, the expansion of electrical service, and the construction of a science building for the school, which later became a community center. Robinson decided to retire from academia in the early 1960s. He began a new career as a real estate investor and as a district supervisor for the American Woodmen Life Insurance Company, where he would eventually serve on the board of directors. A constant proponent of civil rights, he became very politically active and devoted much of the rest of his time to advocate for equal civil and voting rights for minorities in East Texas. After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Robinson was determined that these laws be applied to all citizens even if it meant challenging the system. As such, he organized the Anderson County Civic League. This group not only encouraged Blacks to become involved in civil rights but focused on the need to get more Blacks elected to public office, especially in Anderson County, where Blacks constituted a quarter of the population, but where no African American had ever held public office. He also chaired the Anderson County Voter's Committee and was heavily involved in the Progressive Voters League ( see DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE VOTERS LEAGUE ), as well as the NAACP . In addition to these politically-active organizations, Robinson was a thirty-third-degree Mason, a leader in the Boy Scouts and 4-H Club, and a volunteer for a number of church youth groups. Robinson's largest victory as a political activist came after 1969, when the Anderson County commissioners court reapportioned the county's four voter precincts. In the process, the county's sizeable Black community was divided among three separate precincts, and Black voting power was severely hampered. To counter this action, in March 1970 Robinson organized the East Texas Leadership Forum, an organization which consisted of civic, labor, religious, social, and fraternal leaders in sixteen counties. The main objective of this organization was to get Blacks to pool their resources to seek redress in the court. To this end, he also elicited the organizational and financial support of the AFL-CIO, the ACLU, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, and State Representative Paul Ragsdale of Dallas. With legal representation provided by ACLU attorney David R. Richards and with the help of the above organizations, Frank Robinson, Rodney Howard, and Timothy S. Smith filed suit against the Anderson County commissioners in December 1973. In the case Robinson v. Commissioner's Court, Anderson County , the plaintiffs cited the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments and argued that the commissioner's court engaged in redistricting in a deliberate attempt to dilute the Black vote. On March 15, 1974, district judge

Tsha Handbook →

Things to Do in Palestine

food 0.2 mi away
Pint and Barrel Drafthouse

Gastropub in Old Town Palestine at 302 East Crawford Street. Craft beer, outdoor picnic seating, sandwiches and famously good fries. Closed Sundays.
day trip
Day Trip to Palestine 🐗 (FULL EPISODE) S8 E7

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Everything Near Palestine

234 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Named for a Town in Illinois

    Say it like a local: PAL-uh-steen. This East Texas town has nothing to do with the Middle East. When Anderson County split off from Houston County in March 1846, a committee of Dan Lumpkin, William Turner Sadler, and…

  • Texas State Railroad

    The Texas State Railroad started with prison labor. Convicts laid this track beginning in eighteen eighty-one, built to haul iron out of the Rusk penitentiary foundry. These days it hauls tourists instead — a…

  • Palestine, TX

    Palestine's history is marked by significant events. In 1846, the Texas Legislature incorporated Palestine to serve as a seat for the newly established Anderson County. The city was named after Palestine, Illinois, by…

  • Site of McKnight Plaza · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of McKnight Plaza in Palestine. For over 30 years, this block was the heart of the African American business community here. It started back in 1876 when James McKnight bought land and…

  • Link Family Cemetery · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Link Family Cemetery, a resting place born from heartbreak. In July of 1887, John and Mary Otelia Link buried two young daughters, Annie and Allean, here within a week, both lost to diphtheria.…

  • Palestine Post Office and Federal Building · Historical Marker

    You're cruising past the old Palestine Post Office and Federal Building. Look for this imposing structure, a symbol of federal presence here since its construction between 1911 and 1913. The land itself was bought way…

  • Judge William Alexander · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, Anderson County, where Judge William Alexander made his mark. Born in Scotland in 1814, Alexander settled here in 1851, becoming a trustee in the first school. He practiced law across…

  • Kolstad Jewelers · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    Soren Kolstad (1823 - 1918), a skilled artisan and clockmaker, migrated to Texas from his native Norway in 1852. He settled in Palestine, where he opened a jewelry store in 1853. The store has occupied four locations.…

  • First Presbyterian Church · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here is the First Presbyterian Church. Organized way back on November 3rd, 1849, by two pioneer reverends, Daniel Baker and John May Becton, it started with just 18 members.…

  • St. Philips Episcopal Church of Palestine · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of St. Philips Episcopal Church in Palestine. It all started in the 1850s, thanks to Mrs. Frances Henderson, wife of Governor J. Pinckney Henderson, who helped found this mission. By 1860,…

  • First Christian Church · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here is the site of the First Christian Church. Organized way back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1847</say-as>, its founders, Joseph A. Clark and John F. Taylor,…

  • The Girl Carried Off · 0.2 mi

    Around Palestine, Texas, the Parker family name runs deep, and that family sits at the center of one of the most haunting stories in Texas history, part of which ends right here in Anderson County. Members of the clan…

Show all 200 nearby places
  • The Name That Fools Everybody · 0.2 mi

    Here's a town name that fools almost everybody, so let's set it straight first. Palestine, Texas, is not named, at least not directly, for the ancient land you're picturing. It was named in eighteen forty-six for…

  • The Preacher Who Smuggled A Church · 0.2 mi

    Here in Palestine, Texas, is a thread most drivers never notice. The man tangled up in bringing that Illinois name to Texas was a firebrand preacher named Daniel Parker, born in seventeen eighty-one and, as family lore…

  • One Link Up The Chain · 0.2 mi

    You're rolling through Palestine, Texas, and remember, this town took its name from Palestine, Illinois, the home of the settlers who founded it. That name begs the obvious question, so to answer it we have to leave…

  • Where The Word Was Born · 0.2 mi

    You're driving through Palestine, Texas, pronounced PAL-uh-steen, and while the town got its name by way of Illinois, the word itself is far older than any American town. Let that pull us all the way back to where it…

  • Two Towns, One Name · 0.2 mi

    Palestine is really two towns wearing one name, and the railroad is why. When the International and Great Northern line arrived in eighteen seventy-two, it bypassed the original courthouse hill and set up its depot and…

  • The Flowers That Aren't Flowers · 0.2 mi

    Look at the trees around you, because this is the Dogwood Trails Capital of Texas, a title the Legislature made official in twenty twenty-three. For about three weeks at the end of March the flowering dogwoods bloom…

  • Pull The Thread · 0.2 mi

    So look at everything one modest East Texas town name can hold. Say it right, PAL-uh-steen, and pull the thread. It runs back to an Illinois prairie that a homesick Frenchman named for the land of milk and honey, and…

  • Don Hastings · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Palestine, where Don Hastings turned a spark of inspiration into a lifelong passion for bladesmithing. After seeing 'The Iron Mistress' in 1953, he began crafting knives, eventually mastering the…

  • The Bowers Mansion · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Bowers Mansion in Palestine. Originally built in 1878 for merchant Henry Ash, this grand home got its most distinctive features after Andrew and Nellie Bowers bought it in 1884. They…

  • Site of Palestine Service Men's Club, World War II · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, a town that played a vital role supporting soldiers during World War II. Because the city was far from military bases, locals organized the Palestine Service Men's Club right here,…

  • Eilenberger's Bakery · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here you're passing the site of Eilenberger's Bakery. F. H. Eilenberger, a German immigrant, started this company way back in 1898. After working in bakeries in Galveston and…

  • Gregg, Alexander W., Home of Congressman and Mrs. · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the home of Alexander W. Gregg, a prominent figure in Texas history and a Congressman from Palestine. Born in 1855, Gregg was a lawyer who served in the Texas State Senate before heading to…

  • Palestine Carnegie Library · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here is the site of the Carnegie Library. Its roots go way back to 1853, when Judge John Graham Gooch started a circulating library, even lending out his own books. This…

  • Palestine Fire Department · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Palestine, a town that got its start in 1846. But it wasn't until 1872, when the International & Great Northern Railroad rolled into town, that Palestine acquired its very own fire department.…

  • First Methodist Church of Palestine · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here is the site of the First Methodist Church. Its story starts way back in 1840 with early Methodist classes meeting in a local home. Soon after Palestine became the county…

  • Sacred Heart Church · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Sacred Heart Church in Palestine. Its story starts back in 1874 with the Church of St. Joseph, built on land donated by the railroad. Tragedy struck that first church when it burned down…

  • Pint and Barrel Drafthouse · 0.2 mi · Things to Do

    Gastropub in Old Town Palestine at 302 East Crawford Street. Craft beer, outdoor picnic seating, sandwiches and famously good fries. Closed Sundays.

  • Palestine's Launchpad to the Stars · 0.3 mi

    You might not expect to find a NASA facility in the woods of East Texas, but Palestine is home to something unique: the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility. This isn't for party balloons. We're talking about massive,…

  • The Railroad that Built a City · 0.3 mi

    In 1872 Palestine was in a fight for its future. Two rail lines -- the International and the Houston and Great Northern, soon merged into the International-Great Northern -- were choosing where to put their headquarters…

  • The Prison-Built Railroad · 0.3 mi

    Just east of town is the depot for a railroad with a truly unique story. This isn't just any old train track; this is the Texas State Railroad. It was built starting in 1893, but not by a private company. It was built…

  • The Mansions Railroad Money Built · 0.3 mi

    As you explore the streets just north of downtown, notice the names: Sycamore, Poplar, Magnolia, Walnut. This is the Palestine North Side Historic District, one of the best-preserved Victorian neighborhoods in Texas.…

  • Col. Homer Garrison, Jr. · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Col. Homer Garrison, Jr.. Born in Kickapoo (Anderson Co.) in 1901, Homer Garrison was the son of Mattie (Milam) and Homer Garrison, Sr. The family moved to Angelina County, where Homer, Sr. served as…

  • The People's University · 0.3 mi

    If you drive by 502 North Queen Street, you'll see a beautiful 1914 building that looks like a small classical temple. That's Palestine's Carnegie Library. At the turn of the twentieth century the steel baron Andrew…

  • Campbell, Thomas Mitchell, Governor · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Palestine home of Thomas Mitchell Campbell, Texas' second native-born governor. Campbell had no prior political experience when he announced his run for governor in 1905. He used the rallying…

  • Palestine Salt Works C. S. A. · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through East Texas, and right now, you're passing near a vital, yet hidden, part of the Confederacy's war effort. This is the site of the Palestine Salt Works, a crucial operation during the Civil War.…

  • Roy B. Wallace · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Palestine, home of Roy B. Wallace, a band director who left an indelible mark on Texas music education. Wallace earned his degree from Baylor in 1925 and went on to direct bands at Reagan Junior High…

  • Purvey Lee (P. L.) Chism · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Palestine area, the former stomping grounds of P.L. Chism, a man whose life was dedicated to education. Born in Alabama in 1893, Chism served in World War I before coming to Texas in 1922. He…

  • Robert (Bob) Knight · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Palestine, Texas area where Coach Bob Knight spent decades shaping young lives. Born an orphan in 1909, Knight found his calling in education and athletics, first at Sam Houston State and then in…

  • Dr. Bonner Frizzell · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Dr. Bonner Frizzell. Bonner Frizzell was born in the Pine Grove Community, near Athens, in 1882. He was the son of William Asachel and Frances Missouri (Knight) Frizzell. Bonner attended high school…

  • Anderson County Courthouse · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here is the Anderson County Courthouse. It’s seen a few iterations. The first court in Anderson County, named for former Republic of Texas Vice President Kenneth L. Anderson,…

  • Firstt Baptist Church of Palestine · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, home to the First Baptist Church, which has roots stretching all the way back to 1851. Organized by a handful of founding families, they first met in a shared chapel before building…

  • Palestine High School · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the old Palestine High School. This impressive building, designed by Fort Worth architects Sanguinet & Staats, was built in 1915 after voters approved a hundred-thousand dollar bond.…

  • Palestine Lodge No. 31, A. F. & A. M. · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Palestine Lodge No. 31, one of the oldest organizations in Anderson County. It was established way back on November 21, 1846, by 22 charter members. They met in homes at first, but by…

  • St. Mary's Academy, Site of · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here is the site of St. Mary's Academy. When the railroad rolled into town, it brought Catholic workers who wanted religious education for their kids. In 1882, Mother St.…

  • Anderson County · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Anderson County right now. It was created in the spring of 1846, carved out of Houston County. The county was officially organized that July, with Palestine named as its seat. Anderson County…

  • Captain Steven L. Bennett · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    Born in Palestine on April 22, 1946, Steven Logan Bennett grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana. He graduated from Youngsville High School in 1964 and then enrolled at Southwestern Louisiana State (now the University of…

  • John H. Reagan · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    John Henninger Reagan, son of Timothy and Elizabeth Lusk Reagan, was born on October 8, 1818, in Sevierville, Tennessee. He joined the Republic of Texas Army in 1839 and served in the Cherokee War. In the early 1840s,…

  • The Confederacy's Postmaster General · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, home of John Henninger Reagan, a true Texas titan. Born in Tennessee in 1818, he fought in the Cherokee War, served in the Texas House, and became a judge. Reagan was a U.S. Congressman…

  • John H. Reagan · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Palestine area, home to John H. Reagan, a man who wore many hats across Texas and national history. Born in Tennessee in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1818</say-as>, Reagan came to…

  • Anderson County in the Civil War · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Anderson County in the Civil War. After the creation of Anderson County in 1846, most settlers came from Southern states, shaping the county's destiny in the Civil War. When Texas became the seventh…

  • Micham Main · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Anderson County, heading towards Palestine. Did you know the city might be named after a town in Illinois? Micham Main and his wife Elizabeth moved here from Illinois in 1833, drawn by new…

  • Seven Oaks (Mallard-Alexander House) · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Seven Oaks, a home built way back in 1848. It was the first house for John B. Mallard, who was also the very first lawyer in Palestine. Then, in 1857, it became the home of Judge William…

  • Grace Methodist Church · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Grace Methodist Church in Palestine. Methodist roots run deep here, back to the late 1830s. Circuit riders served folks from the time Palestine became the Anderson County seat in 1848. A…

  • Kimbro, Captain William · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of Captain William Kimbro, a veteran of the Texas Revolution. He arrived in Texas way back in 1831, a full five years before the battle that would define a nation. Kimbro fought…

  • Mary Kate Hunter (November 8, 1866 - April 15, 1945) · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the birthplace of Mary Kate Hunter, a woman who dedicated her life to preserving the history of Palestine and Anderson County. Born in 1866, she was more than just a pianist who studied in Germany;…

  • The I&GN Railroad in Palestine · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, a town that owes much of its growth to a railroad. <break time="400ms"/> Established in 1846, Palestine initially thrived on river trade, but that only worked half the year. <break…

  • Texas Fruit Palace, Anderson County Fair · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the historic Anderson County Fair, better known as the Texas Fruit Palace! Established in 1898, this fair became famous for showcasing the region's abundant orchards. It even hosted…

  • Link House, The · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Link House in Palestine, a home that's been in the same family for generations. Dr. Henry Harnsbarger Link and his wife Hypatia built the first rooms in 1852, which still form the front hall…

  • Pennybacker-Campbell-Wommack House · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Pennybacker-Campbell-Wommack House, a Victorian gem built in 1890. This place was once home to Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, a teacher and author who wrote a popular history of Texas. She was also…

  • Antioch Missionary Baptist Church · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Palestine. Local tradition says this congregation started holding services in homes as early as 1856. They were formally named Antioch Baptist Church…

  • Christopher Columbus Rogers · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Palestine, the hometown of Christopher Columbus Rogers. Born in 1850, Rogers was a controversial lawman who killed his first man at 13 guarding prisoners during the Civil War. He became Palestine's…

  • Osjetea Briggs · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the birthplace of Osjetea Briggs, a remarkable Native American artist, writer, and photographer. Born in 1917, she traveled the world as a photographer before opening her own studio right here in…

  • McClure-McReynolds-Fowler Home · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the McClure-McReynolds-Fowler Home, built way back in 1849. It started as the home of Judge Alexander McClure, one of East Texas's most prominent lawyers and the first district clerk in Anderson…

  • Col. G. R. Howard House · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Col. G. R. Howard House, built back in 1851. Colonel Howard was a prominent merchant and public official here. This beautiful home stayed in the Howard family for over a century, until 1965.…

  • Mount Vernon A.M.E. Church · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here stands Mount Vernon A.M.E. Church. Freedmen, newly free after the Civil War, organized this congregation back in 1873. Their first building was a simple frame structure,…

  • I & GN Hospital and Nurses' Quarters · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a former railroad hospital and nurses' quarters right here in Palestine. Back in 1884, the International & Great Northern Railway started a hospital for its employees, funded by their own…

  • Judge John Byler Mallard · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, Texas, and just passed the spot where Judge John Byler Mallard lived. Born in Alabama in 1820, he graduated top of his class from the University of Tennessee Law School. After marrying…

  • Site of Lincoln High School · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Lincoln High School, a beacon of education for Palestine's African American community. In 1891, the first high school for Black students in town opened its doors in a mission church. Just…

  • Hodges - Darsey House · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Palestine, and this elegant house you're passing was built in 1895 by Dan Hodges, a successful merchant who came to town after the railroad arrived. He built it for his wife and their five…

  • South Union Missionary Baptist Church · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the South Union Missionary Baptist Church in Palestine. In 1893, Reverend Richard Henry Boyd, a man known as the 'Cowboy Preacher,' organized this church with 31 members. Boyd was a busy…

  • William and Caroline Broyles House · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and you're passing the site of the William and Caroline Broyles House. William Broyles arrived in Texas after the Civil War, a carpenter who eventually opened a mercantile store. When…

  • Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Palestine, a community cornerstone founded in 1892. After the Civil War, many African Americans moved to this area, then known as South End, working in…

  • Bennett, Steven L. · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Steven L. Bennett, Medal of Honor recipient, was born at Palestine, Texas, on April 22, 1946, son of Elwin Bennett. He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and was a member…

  • Lowery, Fred · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Fred Lowery, the "king of whistlers," was born in Palestine, Texas, on November 2, 1909, the son of William and Mary (White) Lowery. He lost his eyesight before he was two years old. His mother died shortly after his…

  • Robinson, Frank James · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Frank James Robinson, educator and civil rights activist, was born in the rural church community of Antioch in Smith County, Texas, on June 5, 1902, to Charlie Robinson and Olevia (Stephens) Robinson. Frank's mother…

  • Rogers, Christopher Columbus · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, and right here in Palestine, you're passing through the stomping grounds of Christopher Columbus Rogers. Born in 1846, Rogers wasn't your typical lawman. After serving the…

  • Osborne, Estelle Massey Riddle · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Palestine, Texas, the birthplace of Estelle Massey Riddle Osborne. Born in 1901, she became a pioneering nurse and educator who fought tirelessly against racial discrimination in the nursing…

  • William Freeman · 1.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, where William Freeman, born into slavery in 1863, became a pillar of the community. After emancipation, he became an educator, even helping rename the local colored school to Frederick…

  • Anderson County · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, a land carved out of the Texas frontier. Right here, settlers faced constant danger from Native American tribes. In 1835, settlers Willison Ewing and Joseph Jordan built Fort Sam…

  • Campbell, Thomas Mitchell · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, perhaps near Palestine, where Thomas Mitchell Campbell once called home. Born in Rusk in 1856, Campbell's early career saw him practicing law and then managing the troubled…

  • Gunter, Alma Pennell · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Palestine, Texas, where Alma Pennell Gunter was born in 1909. She taught herself to paint, working various jobs for years before finally buying her first oil paints in college. Though she became a…

  • Kendrick, Carroll · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, and right here, you might be passing through territory once shaped by the powerful revivalist, Carroll Kendrick. Kendrick arrived in Texas in 1851, becoming the leading evangelist for the…

  • New York and Texas Land Company · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Right here, you're driving past the legacy of one of the biggest land deals in post-Civil War Texas. In 1879, the New York and Texas Land Company was born, transferring over three million acres from the…

  • Thirty-Seventh Texas Cavalry · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, perhaps near Palestine, where one of the most confusingly named units of the Civil War was formed. It was called the Thirty-seventh Texas Cavalry, but also the Thirty-fourth, and…

  • Woodward, John R. · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, Texas, where Dr. John R. Woodward practiced medicine before the Civil War. He joined the First Texas Infantry in 1862, fighting in some of the war's most brutal battles, including…

  • Tunstall, William Vaughan · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, near Palestine. Right here, in Anderson County, William Vaughan Tunstall arrived in 1854, becoming an attorney and a staunch anti-slavery Unionist. He witnessed the horrors of the…

  • Ballew, Sykes [Smith] · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Palestine, Texas, the birthplace of Smith Ballew. Born in 1902, Ballew was a singer, actor, and bandleader who found fame in the jazz age. He started his musical journey right here in Texas,…

  • Greenwood, Thomas Benton · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, near Palestine, where Thomas Benton Greenwood made his mark defending this community's interests. In a landmark case, Anderson County versus the I&GN Railway Company, Greenwood…

  • National Scientific Balloon Facility · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving past the National Scientific Balloon Facility, just outside Palestine. This place is a launchpad for the heavens! Established in 1961, it moved here to Texas in 1963 and became the very first permanent…

  • Reeves, Reuben A. · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Palestine, Texas, and right here is the story of Reuben A. Reeves. He was a judge, a lawyer, and even fought in the Civil War. But what's really interesting is his career on the Texas Supreme Court.…

  • Robinson, Dorothy Redus · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Palestine, Texas, and right here, Dorothy Redus Robinson made history for special education. In 1955, she began teaching at the Fourth Ward School, the first time Palestine ISD offered classes for…

  • Taliaferro, Thomas Dorsey · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Johnson County, Texas, not far from Palestine. Right here, you're passing through land once owned by Thomas Dorsey Taliaferro. He wasn't just any settler; he was a lawyer, a stock raiser, and a…

  • Palestine, TX (Anderson County) · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Palestine, Texas, a town born out of necessity. Back in 1846, when the Texas legislature created Anderson County, they needed a county seat right in the geographical center. No town existed there,…

  • Jowers, William George Washington · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    William G. W. Jowers, state senator and representative, was born in 1812 in Wadesborough, North Carolina, to James J. and Mary (Clark) Jowers. He was brought up in Tennessee and Mississippi, graduated in 1835 from the…

  • Dodson, Jasper N. · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, perhaps near Palestine, where lawyer Jasper N. Dodson lived before the Civil War. He enlisted as a private in the Ninth Texas Cavalry in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Huddleston, Martin Luther · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, Texas, a place that was home to Martin Luther Huddleston. Born in 1854, Huddleston wasn't your typical politician. He started as a farmer, then became a preacher, and eventually a…

  • Mallard, John Byler · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Palestine, Texas, a town that owes some of its early development to John Byler Mallard. He arrived here in 1845, a lawyer fresh from Tennessee. By 1846, his slaves had built one of the first homes…

  • Parks, Benjamin F. · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, Texas, and right here in Palestine, Benjamin F. Parks answered the call to arms. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Parks, a lawyer and farmer who’d moved to Palestine with his…

  • Rainey, Alexis T. · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, not far from Palestine, where Alexis Rainey organized the Anderson County Invincibles. Right here, in May of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1861</say-as>, he rallied local…

  • Rainey, Frank · 1.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, near Palestine. Right here is where Dr. Frank Rainey grew up. Born in Alabama in 1836, his family settled here, and he studied medicine before heading off to fight in the Civil…

  • Site of Northeast Texas Christian Theological and Industrial College · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a college that served black members of the Disciples of Christ church, established right here in Northeast Texas. In 1900, the Northeast Texas Christian Missionary Convention set out to…

  • Pilgrim Hill Baptist Church · 1.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Pilgrim Hill Baptist Church, a place with roots reaching back to the very end of slavery in Texas. In 1880, Reverend Richard Henry Boyd, a pivotal figure who later founded the National…

  • Alonzo Marion Story · 1.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, folks, and right here we remember Alonzo Marion Story. Born in New Orleans in 1882, Story dedicated his life to education, especially for African American students in Texas. He taught…

  • The Stern but Fair Judge of Palestine · 1.7 mi

    State Loop Two Fifty Six in Palestine is the Bascom W. Bentley the Third Memorial Loop. Bascom Bentley graduated from Palestine High School in nineteen sixty nine, where his father and grandfather had also graduated.…

  • A Star in the Window, a Marker by the Road · 1.7 mi

    This road carries a Blue Star Memorial Highway designation, one of a string of them across Texas. The name comes from a family tradition. When someone in a household was serving in the armed forces, the family displayed…

  • Two Men, Coffee, and a Trail of Blossoms · 1.9 mi

    In 1938 two Palestine businessmen, power-company manager Charles Wooldridge and bank president Eugene Fish, met for coffee and got to talking about the wild dogwoods blooming north of town. They decided the town needed…

  • Palestine High School (Adrian Peterson) · 2.1 mi

    Palestine High School (1600 South Loop 256, Palestine, TX), home of the Wildcats, is where Adrian Peterson ran wild before his NFL career. As a senior in 2003 he rushed for 2,960 yards and 32 touchdowns and was named…

  • Fort Houston · 2.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Fort Houston, a key defense point for early Texas settlers. Built between 1835 and 1836, this stockade and blockhouse protected the founders of Houston, a town that would grow into…

  • Site of Knox Glass Company Plant · 2.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former site of the Knox Glass Company plant, which opened right here in Palestine on July 5, 1941. This facility housed a massive 90-ton furnace, producing glass jars for the food industry and…

  • Sam Houston ordered this stockade · 2.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Fort Houston, built around 1836 right here on the town square. General Sam Houston ordered this stockade constructed to protect settlers from Native American raids. The town of Houston,…

  • The Prison-Built Steam Line to Rusk · 2.5 mi

    The steam whistle you hear west of downtown belongs to one of the strangest railroads in Texas. In 1881, inmates at the East Texas Penitentiary near Rusk began laying narrow-gauge rail by hand to haul timber and iron…

  • Fort Houston Cemetery · 2.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising past the Fort Houston Cemetery, the last vestige of a town that vanished. Back in 1835, this area was set aside for the town of Houston, later Fort Houston. A corner was marked as a public burying…

  • Westwood United Methodist Church · 2.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and right here is the story of Westwood United Methodist Church, originally Holmes Chapel. It all started in November of 1883. Harriet Holmes donated land for a school, and her husband,…

  • Four Pines School, Site of · 3.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Four Pines School, right here near Palestine. Imagine this: in 1911, local trustees bought this land and turned an old tobacco barn into a schoolhouse, named for four big pine trees…

  • Lone Pine Baptist Church · 3.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Lone Pine Baptist Church. It all started in the early 1890s with a small group meeting in a schoolhouse. They bought land in 1903 and built a building for both school and church. The lone…

  • Anderson County Poor Farm · 3.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Anderson County Poor Farm, established in 1884. For decades, this place was home to the county's poor, with housing for residents and a caretaker. It was a working farm, featuring a…

  • Texas State Railroad · 3.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the historic Texas State Railroad! This wasn't just any railroad; it started as a prison project in the late 1800s. In 1896, the Texas Prison System built this line to haul timber for their iron ore…

  • Swanson Cemetery · 3.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Swanson Cemetery, a place with a story as layered as the bricks made by one of its earliest residents. Samuel Warden, a brickmaker from Illinois, died here on Christmas Eve in 1847, working on land…

  • The NASA Balloons the Size of a Stadium · 5.0 mi

    On the west edge of Palestine, NASA launches balloons bigger than a football stadium. The Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility moved here in 1963 for the calm skies and open land. A fully inflated research balloon can…

  • Mt. Moriah Baptist Church · 5.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Palestine, and we're passing a piece of living history: Mt. Moriah Baptist Church. This congregation, serving the African American community, started gathering under an arbor back in the 1870s.…

  • Beulah Baptist Church · 5.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Beulah Baptist Church, a beacon of the African American community in Elkhart. Organized in the late 1860s, this congregation started with just seven members, gathering under a simple…

  • Bell Cemetery · 5.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Bell Cemetery near Palestine. This isn't just any burial ground; it's the final resting place for generations of the Bell family, starting with a tragic event. Uriah Jasper Bell, a Confederate…

  • Campbell Cemetery · 5.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Campbell Cemetery, a quiet resting place with a story that spans generations. The Campbell family arrived in this area back in 1844, establishing a farm on Mound Prairie. It was John Bartlett…

  • Slocum Massacre · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, not far from Slocum, where in 1910, a horrific act of racial violence unfolded. On July 29th, eight unarmed African-American men, neighbors to their killers, were shot and killed…

  • Slocum, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Slocum is at the intersection of Farm Road 2022 and State Highway 294, twelve miles southeast of Palestine in southeastern Anderson County. According to one source, the name came from the first shopkeeper and postmaster…

  • A. C. Saunders Site · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, in East Texas, near a place called the A. C. Saunders Site. This isn't just any old pile of dirt. Archeologists believe this unique spot might be the very place Spanish explorers…

  • Bennett, Miles · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, Texas, and right here is the story of Miles Bennett. He fought in the Battle of San Jacinto, a pivotal moment in Texas history, in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Engeling Wildlife Management Area · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, heading northwest of Palestine on Highway 287. Right here is the Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area. It was originally named the Derden Wildlife Management Area, after the…

  • Garrison, Homer, Jr. · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, near where Homer Garrison, Jr. was born in 1901. He would go on to lead the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety for nearly thirty years. Garrison was…

  • Bethel, TX (Anderson County) · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Bethel is on U.S. Highway 287 eight miles southeast of the Trinity River in northwest Anderson County. Most of the land at the site was granted to José de Jesús Grande on October 28, 1828. In his grant application he…

  • Cayuga, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Cayuga is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 287 and Farm Road 59, five miles east of the Trinity River in northwestern Anderson County. The area was first settled in the late 1840s. The forerunner of Cayuga was a…

  • Tennessee Colony, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Tennessee Colony is off of Farm Road 321 fourteen miles northwest of Palestine in northwestern Anderson County. The town was founded in 1847, when a large group of settlers from Tennessee and Alabama arrived in the…

  • Eastland, James · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, Texas, and right here is where James Eastland settled with his family in 1856. They arrived in a massive wagon train of 100 vehicles, seeking new opportunities. Eastland was no…

  • Long Lake, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Long Lake is a rural community eleven miles southwest of Palestine on the Missouri Pacific line and the combined U.S. highways 84 and 79 by the Trinity River in southwestern Anderson County. Presumably named for nearby…

  • Mound Prairie, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Mound Prairie was eight miles north of Palestine at a site one mile west of present highway 155 in Anderson County. Some of the earliest settlers moved there from Georgia in 1830 or 1832. Among them were the Wright, the…

  • Wild Cat Bluff, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Wild Cat Bluff was a small settlement in extreme northwestern Anderson County near the confluence of Wildcat Creek and the Trinity River. The town was first settled in the 1840s, and by the late 1850s it was a thriving…

  • Providence, TX (Anderson County) · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, heading towards Slocum, and you're passing through the site of Providence. It all started back in 1858, when eight acres were deeded for a central place of worship, a school, and…

  • Reeves, Malachiah · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, near Pennington, and maybe you can picture this: July 1861. A young man named Malachiah Reeves, just 18 years old, joins up with a "good bunch of fire-eating boys" to fight for the…

  • Blackfoot, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Blackfoot is on Farm Road 860 twenty miles from Palestine in northwestern Anderson County. Around 1850 a member of the family of Cynthia Anne Parker preached in a Primitive Baptist church located at the site. The first…

  • Denson Springs, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Denson Springs is by Dream Lake on State Highway 294 eighteen miles southeast of Palestine in southeastern Anderson County. The site was settled before the Civil War and named for a Mrs. Denson, a member of the Bradshaw…

  • Montalba, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Montalba is on State Highway 19 ten miles north of Palestine in north central Anderson County. The name was given to the place as early as December 1881, when William J. Hamlett, Jr., applied for a post office to be…

  • Salmon, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Salmon is on the Missouri Pacific line, U.S. Highway 287, and State Highway 19, fourteen miles southeast of Palestine in southern Anderson County. It was part of the outgrowth of nearby Elkhart. The earliest name for…

  • Tucker, TX · 5.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Tucker is a rural community in southwestern Anderson County eight miles southwest of Palestine on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the combined U.S. highways 84 and 79, two miles from the Trinity River. In 1866 African…

  • Starr Cemetery · 7.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the final resting place of John Starr, a true Texas pioneer. Born way back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1797</say-as>, Starr himself is buried here next to his wife, Susannah. Six of…

  • Mound Prairie Cemetery · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Mound Prairie Cemetery, a final resting place for a community that's mostly vanished. The earliest marked graves here go back to the late 1850s, though people settled this area even earlier. Mound…

  • Elkhart Garden of Memories Cemetery · 8.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Elkhart's Garden of Memories Cemetery, a resting place for generations of local families. The first burial here was Lewis Hunter back in 1887. While the cemetery wasn't official until 1906, it's seen…

  • Green Bay A.M.E. Church · 9.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Tucker, Anderson County, and just passed the site of Green Bay A.M.E. Church. This congregation started way back in 1866 with black workers on the Long Lake Cotton Plantation. They gathered…

  • Old Magnolia, Site of · 9.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Old Magnolia, a bustling river port founded in the 1840s. Imagine this: cotton and other goods loaded onto flatboats and steamers, making a four-day journey down the Trinity River to…

  • Pilgrim Primitive Baptist Church · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, and right here is the site of the oldest Baptist church in the entire state. <break time="400ms"/> Pilgrim Primitive Baptist Church was actually organized back in Illinois in 1833, by…

  • Sadler, William Turner · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Houston County, not far from Elkhart. Right here, William Turner Sadler fought at the Battle of San Jacinto. But it was the Comanche raids that truly shaped his life. In 1838, while Sadler was…

  • Fields, Henry · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the final resting place of Henry Fields, a veteran of the Texas Revolution. Born in South Carolina on May 8, 1806, Fields fought at the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. He lived a long life after the…

  • Parker, Daniel · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Daniel Parker, antimissionary Baptist leader, was born on April 6, 1781, in Culpeper County, Virginia, to Rev. John and Sarah (White) Parker. The family moved to Georgia when he was a child. His education seems to have…

  • Parker, Benjamin F. · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, and right here is the land once settled by Benjamin F. Parker. He arrived in Texas back in 1833 with a group of Baptists, finding a way around Mexican law by already being an…

  • Magnolia Cemetery · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Magnolia Cemetery, a place where history is whispered through oral tradition rather than written records. Because of the status of African Americans in pioneer society, documentation is scarce. But…

  • Elkhart, TX · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Elkhart, a town with a unique origin story. Back in 1851, settlers from Daniel Parker's Pilgrim community arrived here, drawn by a new post office and railroad. With the help of a friendly Native…

  • Birdwell, Alton William · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, not far from where Alton William Birdwell was born near Elkhart back in 1870. Birdwell dedicated his life to education, eventually becoming the first county school superintendent in…

  • Harmony Baptist Church · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Harmony Baptist Church, a community hub that's been serving Palestine since the late 1800s. It all started in 1891 with just nine members, meeting in a small building on a local farm. That same…

  • Rutledge, Paul L., Sr. · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Tucker, Anderson County, where Paul Rutledge, Sr. made his mark. From 1933 to 1937, he led Flint Hill High School, then moved to Green Bay High School here in Tucker until 1942. A graduate of…

  • The Day the Storm Hit Caddo Mounds · 9.9 mi

    On Saturday, April 13, 2019, a tragic and terrifying event unfolded east of Elkhart that this part of Texas will never forget. At the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site near Alto, the Caddo Nation was hosting its annual…

  • Engineering a Town into Existence · 9.9 mi

    The Elkhart you're driving through was pulled here by a 19th-century engineering project. Members of Daniel Parker's Pilgrim community had settled around Boxy Creek back in 1851. Then the Houston and Great Northern…

  • Elkhart, TX · 9.9 mi

    Elkhart's history is deeply rooted in the Pilgrim Predestinarian Baptist Church, formed in Illinois in 1833 by Daniel Parker. Seeking religious freedom, Daniel and his father John led their congregation to Texas,…

  • Elkhart, TX · 9.9 mi

    Elkhart's history is deeply rooted in the Pilgrim Predestinarian Baptist Church, which was established by Daniel Parker in 1833 in Illinois before moving to Texas. The church, now known as Old Pilgrim Church, has been a…

  • John Starr House · 9.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the John Starr House, a beautiful example of Greek Revival architecture, built way back in 1856. John Starr settled here in 1848, and his wife Susannah was related to some pretty famous Texas figures…

  • First United Methodist Church of Elkhart · 9.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Elkhart's First United Methodist Church. This congregation started way back in 1840, meeting in homes before a formal mission arrived in 1878. Imagine circuit rider Reverend J.F.…

  • Site of Henry High School · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Elkhart, Anderson County, where a community's determination to educate its children shines bright. In the 1930s, facing tough times, Hattie Jamerson rallied folks to build a high school for…

  • Pilgrim Predestinarian Regular Baptist Church · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Pilgrim Predestinarian Regular Baptist Church, a place of worship with roots stretching all the way back to Illinois in 1833. Led by Daniel Parker, the congregation packed up and…

  • First Baptist Church of Elkhart · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Elkhart, founded in April of 1886 by J.W. Cromwell and six charter members. The congregation has moved and rebuilt several times, with its current structure…

  • Pine Lodge Club House · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Pine Lodge Club House, a place born from changing fortunes. Back in the 1880s, Elkhart was a booming resort town, thanks to its mineral wells. Business leaders would gather at the Mineral Wells…

  • Site of Woodhouse School · 10.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of what was once Woodhouse School, a testament to rural Texas education. It was born in 1937 from the consolidation of three smaller schools. A key moment came in December of that year when…

  • Fields Chapel Methodist Church and Cemetery · 10.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Anderson County, heading past the site of Fields Chapel Methodist Church. Back in 1852, Reverend John W. Fields organized this Methodist Episcopal congregation right here. Adrian Anglin donated…

  • McDonald, Murdoch · 10.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Anderson County, passing the site of a town founded by a Scottish immigrant. Murdoch McDonald arrived in Texas around 1839, settling near Mound Prairie. He farmed, married, and raised a family,…

  • Concord Baptist Church and Cemetery · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Concord Baptist Church and Cemetery, a community born from pioneer spirit. In 1871, fifteen charter members gathered in a schoolhouse near Mound Prairie Creek, just north of here, to form…

  • McDonald, Murdoch · 11.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, and right here is the story of Neches, a town built on a handshake and a dollar. Murdoch McDonald, a North Carolina native, came to Texas in 1839, settling in the Mound Prairie…

  • Hanks, James Steele · 11.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Anderson County, near the town of Neches. Right here, James Steele Hanks, a farmer and surveyor, faced a tough choice at the start of the Civil War. He was a Unionist, opposed to secession. But…

  • Neches, TX · 11.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Neches, Texas, a town born from the railroad. In 1872, the International-Great Northern Railroad laid tracks right through here. Local landowners, J.J. Davis and Murdock McDonald, donated land for…

  • McClean Massacre, Site of the · 11.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the McClean Massacre, where in 1837, two brave men gave their lives. Daniel McLean and John Sheridan were expert Indian fighters, hired by settlers for protection. When attacked by…

  • Parker, Dickerson · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of Dickerson Parker, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. He was born in Tennessee way back in 1812. Parker fought for Texas independence and lived to see the Republic…

  • Pilgrim Church, Old · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the oldest Protestant church in Texas! Pilgrim Church started way back in Illinois, constituted as the Pilgrim Primitive Baptist Church in July of <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Pilgrim Predestinarian Regular Baptist Church · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the very first Baptist church in Texas! Organized way back in 1833 in Illinois by Elder Daniel Parker, this congregation packed up and moved to Stephen F. Austin's Colony. They held their…

  • Miles Bennett · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of Miles Bennett, a soldier who fought for Texas independence in 1836. Born way up north in Indiana, Bennett came to Texas and served in the Army of Texas. He lived a relatively…

  • Parker, Rev. Daniel · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of Reverend Daniel Parker, a pioneer Baptist minister who arrived here from Virginia. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1781</say-as>, Reverend Parker dedicated his…

  • Mount Vernon United Methodist Church · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church, a community hub for over a century. As early as 1880, this area was served by a mission church. In 1896, a local couple donated land for a school,…

  • Elkhart Myrtle Springs Cemetery · 12.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Anderson County, passing the site of the Elkhart Myrtle Springs Cemetery. This place is the last remaining piece of the old Myrtle Springs farming community, established way back when. The land…

  • Tennessee Colony Cemetery · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Tennessee Colony Cemetery, founded by settlers from the southern U.S. way back in 1838, even before Anderson County existed. Their first big community project was a log church on a nearby hill.…

  • Jemison Quarters Cemetery · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Tennessee Colony, a community settled back in 1847. Look for the Jemison Quarters Cemetery, a place with a powerful story of transition. Elbert Jemison established a plantation here around 1850,…

  • Tyre Masonic Lodge No. 198 · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Tennessee Colony, where the Tyre Masonic Lodge has been a community hub for over a century and a half. Before this lodge was officially chartered in 1857, local Masons had to travel all the way to…

  • Tennessee Colony Order of the Eastern Star No. 102 · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the first Order of the Eastern Star chapter chartered in Anderson County. Founded in 1902 as the Redbud Chapter, it was established for the wives and female relatives of the Tyre Masonic…

  • Montalba · 13.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what used to be Beaver Valley, settled around 1853. That's when pioneer P.G. Oldham built his home nearby. This area was a stop for mail hacks and campers, and later hosted religious camp…

  • Tennessee Colony · 13.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Tennessee Colony, a town founded way back in 1838 by settlers seeking fertile farmland. These folks came all the way from the Old South in wagons. Their cotton, shipped from Magnolia Ferry on the…

  • Sadler, William T. · 13.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Sadler, William T.. Veteran of San Jacinto - Born in Tennessee July 27, 1797 - Died February 18,1884 - His wife Permelia Bennett Sadler - Born March 13, 1818 - Died December 6, 1866

  • Anderson Campground · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Anderson County, not far from Frankston. Back in the 1850s, folks started settling this area. But it was in 1873 that this spot near Brushy Creek was officially set aside for a religious…

  • "Slocum Massacre" · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Anderson County, near the site of a horrific event known as the Slocum Massacre. On July 29th, 1910, racial tensions exploded into violence. Armed white men began shooting African Americans near…

  • Olive Branch Cemetery · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Olive Branch Cemetery, a quiet resting place for some of Anderson County's earliest settlers. Many of them came from Brushy Creek, South Carolina, and named this local stream Olive Branch. The…

  • Ben Cannon Ferry · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Ben Cannon Ferry, a vital crossing on the Neches River. For generations, Native Americans and early settlers forded the river right here, at a spot known as Duty Crossing. The ferry…

  • New Hope Missionary Baptist Church · 14.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Tennessee Colony, where in 1873, Reverend Nathan Oggs, himself a former slave, founded the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. He organized four churches in the area and led this congregation,…

  • Providence Church and Cemetery · 14.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Providence Church and Cemetery, a place with roots going way back. In 1858, eight acres were deeded here for school and burial purposes. Local folks, even Freemasons, pitched in with labor and…

  • Hopewell Cemetery · 14.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Hopewell Cemetery, serving the Brushy Creek community since the 1860s. The earliest burial here was Zylpha Wylie in 1862, and the land was officially designated a burial ground in 1881. You'll find…

  • Mewshaw State Sawmill and Maydell CCC Camp · 15.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Maydelle, and just a few years ago, this area was booming with lumber production. From 1908 to 1912, the Mewshaw State Sawmill here churned out an incredible 35,000 board feet of lumber every…

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