Perryville, Texas

Name: Perryville, Texas
Address: Perryville, TX

Everything Perryville is known for

1 song mention this city 1 artist from here

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

Music in Perryville

Songs About Perryville

Heroes

Bri Bagwell

"When you turn on some Ray Price"

Artists From Perryville

Ray Price

country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Perryville

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

Sabine River 13 songs Interstate 20 13 songs Sulphur River 2 songs Neches River 2 songs Kickapoo Creek 4 songs

History of Perryville

Perryville, TX RoadyGoat

Perryville, Texas, isn't known for skyscrapers or bustling city life. What defines us is the land, and what comes from it. Ranching and farming have been the heartbeat of this town since its very beginning. Situated at a slightly higher elevation than the surrounding farmland, Perryville has always been a natural gathering place for ranchers bringing cattle to market. The soil, a rich, sandy loam, is particularly good for growing peanuts and watermelons. While cotton once reigned supreme, peanuts became the crop that sustained Perryville after the boll weevil devastated the cotton fields in the early 20th century. They're drought-resistant, and the sandy soil gives them a unique flavor. You'll still find families here who have been farming the same land for generations, passing down the knowledge of the soil, the weather patterns, and the secrets to coaxing the best yield. And come harvest time, the whole town seems to smell of roasted peanuts, a warm, familiar scent that speaks of home and tradition.

The Railroad that Saved Winnsboro RoadyGoat

As you cross the railroad tracks running through the heart of Winnsboro, know that they are the reason this town is still here. Winnsboro was founded in 1854 when an Englishman named John E. Winn and his stepson bought three hundred and sixty-one acres at a crossroads in the piney woods. For twenty years everything grown or cut here had to leave by freight wagon, hauled all the way to Jefferson or Shreveport, and in the nineteenth century a town that far from a rail line was a town with no future. Its leaders refused to accept that. They campaigned, a resident named Nancy Cook donated the land to close the deal, and in 1876 the East Line and Red River Railroad ran its narrow gauge west from Jefferson right through town. The first depot opened in 1878. Suddenly Winnsboro was connected to the world, shipping out cotton, lumber and fruit. Those tracks weren't just infrastructure; they were a lifeline, secured by a community that refused to give up.

RoadyGoat → · 7.5 mi away

From Cotton to Peaches: An Agricultural Pivot RoadyGoat

The fields and forests around Winnsboro tell a story of hedging your bets. This was never a one-crop town. As far back as 1861, before the railroad, the local economy already leaned on four things at once - timber, corn, cotton, and orchard fruit, peaches and strawberries growing in the sandy loam that runs through this part of East Texas. That turned out to be the town's insurance policy. When the boll weevil swept Texas and gutted cotton harvests, places that had bet everything on the one crop were ruined, and Winnsboro had something else in the ground. Then in 1940 they hit oil over at Hawkins, and in 1943 inside Winnsboro itself, and this quiet farm town got a boom nobody planted. Timber, cotton, peaches, oil - four different economies on the same dirt inside a hundred years. That's not luck. That's a town that never let itself depend on one thing.

RoadyGoat → · 7.5 mi away

Perryville Methodist Church

1879

This rural congregation was organized in 1879 by 38 charter members as the Marvin Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. The Reverend A. K. Hughes served as the first pastor. J. D. Hallonquist donated land to the church in 1887, and church buildings were erected here in 1887 and 1915. The church building became a focal point for the area and the site of many revival meetings, Sunday "singings" and community gatherings. Descendants of charter members continue a long history of service to the area of Perryville. (1997)

Historical Marker →

Perryville Baptist Church

1884

In June 1884 five neighbors gathered to organize the County Line Missionary Baptist Church of Wood County. One month later charter members W. F. Bailey, J. M. Richards, S. M. Lindsey, Mrs. L. T. Bailey, and Mrs. Martha Cartwright chose J. O. Carnes as their first pastor. Services were held in the local school building for several years, until a church building was erected. In June 1908 the church was called the Missionary Baptist Church of Christ at Perryville. The name became Perryville Baptist Church in 1925. Descendants of charter members remain active in the church. (1986)

Historical Marker →

Carroll Hall Shelby

1952

Camp County native Carroll Shelby became world-renowned as a sports car driver and designer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was born in Leesburg to (Warren) Hall and Etoise (Lawrence) Shelby. Neighbors recalled his early racing exploits, riding in a wagon tied to the back of his father's car. When he was about seven, Carroll developed a serious heart condition which proved problematic in later life. Warren relocated the family to Dallas, where Carroll graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School he joined the Army Air Corps during WWII and served as a flight instructor and test pilot. He and his first wife, Jeanne (Fields), had three children. 
 Carroll found his true passion in 1952 in his first automobile race. By 1954, he was racing around the world and setting speed records at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. In the 1950s he was noted as driver of the year by the Sports Car Club of America, Sports Illustrated and The New York Times. He considered the 1959 win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans his highest achievement. Carroll retired from racing in 1960 due to health concerns and founded a performance driving school in California. He then worked with Ford Motors and others to design iconic 1960s American-designed racing and sports cars, including Shelby Cobra, Daytona, and Mustang models. He later produced models with Dodge and through Shelby American. He returned to Camp County frequently to oversee two area ranches. Other business interests included a West Texas ranch at Terlingua and the start of a famous chili cookoff there. Carroll's charitable work included establishment of a foundation for pediatric transplant patients and an automotive technology program at Northeast Texas Community College. The Northeast Texas Rural Heritage Museum in Pittsburg has a permanent display of his racing memorabilia. He is buried in the family plot in Leesburg Cemetery. (2022)

Historical Marker → · 9.4 mi away

Suiter, Mary Elizabeth

1943

Mary Elizabeth Suiter, attorney and state legislator, was born in Winnsboro, Wood, County, Texas, on October 6, 1911. She was the only child of Minnie Bell (Stutsman) Suiter and William David Suiter. She graduated from Winnsboro High School and earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1934 she graduated from law school and passed the Texas bar exam at the same institution. Her father, who was a lawyer and state senator from 1915 to 1923, inspired her career path in law and politics. Elizabeth Suiter was the first woman to practice law in Wood County and the first woman attorney to try a criminal case in East Texas. In 1940 she ran for the Texas House of Representatives against first-term incumbent William Jackson "Jack" Bailey in District 34 representing Wood County. In her campaign, she opposed a sales tax and supported a "reasonable luxury tax with increased levies on oil, gas, and sulfur to pay pensions." She lost the race by twenty-nine votes. In 1942, during World War II , she ran again and campaigned on the platform of "rigid economy." She advocated no new taxes during wartime and aimed to streamline the procedures for applying for Social Security benefits. She also fought for stricter regulations on insurance companies to prevent fraudulent advertising practices. Suiter was vocal about the issue of gender during her campaign. She noted that she was "aware of the prejudice of some against voting for a woman," but she stressed that of the few women who had served in the legislature, "not one of them has been found wanting." By contrast, she claimed, many male legislators "have been accused of selling out," and it was men "who have gotten the State government into [an] awful mess." She argued that women "should have some recognition," especially since they were now "expected to prepare themselves to do the same work as men" in the wartime economy. In the July Democratic primary, she defeated her opponent, Alba school principal Jack McIntosh, by 647 votes. In the Forty-eighth Texas Legislature, Suiter served on the committees for Education, Federal Relations, Judicial Districts, Judiciary, and Uniform State Laws. She sponsored or co-sponsored five bills of public significance: House Bill No. 68, House Bill No. 86, House Bill No. 166, House Bill No. 658, and House Bill No. 687. House Bill No. 68, which included virtually the entire House as co-sponsors, provided equal rights to all people of the Caucasian race in public accommodations. In keeping with the state's Good Neighbor policy (see GOOD NEIGHBOR COMMISSION ), the purpose of the bill was to prevent insults to visiting Latin American dignitaries who might face discrimination from the state's system of racial segregation. House Bill No. 86, which she co-sponsored with six other members, was designed to reform the state's juvenile justice system and replace the current criminal procedure with a system of guardianship when possible. Suiter also co-authored House Bill No. 687 with the two other female members of the House, Rae Files and Florence Fenley . This bill attempted to "ease the statutory requirements on married women with property" and acknowledge conveyance apart from their husbands. While those bills failed to pass, both House Bills No. 166 and No. 658 were successful. House Bill No. 166, of which Suiter was the sole author, required family group insurance policies to specify the names of all insured people on the policies. House Bill No. 658, co-sponsored with two other East Texas members, called for the reorganization of the Special District Court of Upshur, Wood, and Smith counties, creating a seventh judicial district of Texas. Suiter ran unopposed for a second term in 1944. In the Forty-ninth legislature, she served on the Judiciary, Uniform State Laws, Public Health, and Rules committees. She sponsored two significant bills during this term, House Bill No. 713 and House Bill No. 146. House Bill No. 713 was a statute which

Tsha Handbook → · 9.9 mi away

Winnsboro, TX

1850

Winnsboro (Winnsborough), an incorporated city, is at the junction of State highways 11 and 37, fifteen miles northeast of Quitman in northeastern Wood County and extends into Franklin County. The town, first settled in the early 1850s, was named for John E. Wynn, an Englishman who settled in the area. Originally the settlement's name was spelled Wynnsborough, but when a post office was established in 1855, it was changed to Winnsborough. By 1861 the community had, in addition to the post office, two general stores and a church. After the Civil War it grew rapidly; in 1876 the East Line and Red River Railroad built a narrow-gauge road west from Jefferson, and Winnsborough developed into an important local shipping center. By 1885, Winnsborough, now incorporated, had Baptist, Methodist, and Cumberland Presbyterian churches, schools, eight steam grist and cotton gins, an opera house, a weekly newspaper, the Sentinel , and some 700 inhabitants. In 1893 the town's name was shortened to Winnsboro, evidently at the request of city leaders. In 1904 the Texas Southern Railroad built through the town, and by 1914 the flourishing community had four banks, two potteries, a public library, a cottonseed mill, two weekly newspapers, the Wide Awake and the Wortham Messenger , and a population of 2,300. The onset of the Great Depression and plummeting cotton prices in the early 1930s combined to bring hard times for Winnsboro. The population dropped to 1,900 in 1936, and many businesses were forced to shut their doors. After World War II , however, the town began to grow again. A new hospital, a high school, and a 917-acre lake were completed. Autumn Trails, a fall nature show, featured theater productions, arts and crafts, music conventions, and other events. In 1970 the city reported 155 businesses, eight churches, a hospital, a library, and a newspaper. Since the mid-1960s the population has been steadily growing, and in 2000 Winnsboro had 3,584 residents and 354 businesses.

Tsha Handbook → · 9.9 mi away

Shelby, Carroll Hall

1923

Born on January 11, 1923, in Leesburg, Camp County, Texas, Carroll Hall Shelby was a famous automobile driver and designer and, prior to his death, one of the world's longest-living heart transplant recipients. He was the only son of Warren Hall Shelby and Francis Etoise (Lawrence) Shelby and older brother to Lou Ann "Anne" (Shelby) Ellison. His father was a U. S. postal worker and car buff who did his rounds by automobile. As a child Shelby sometimes accompanied him on these post rounds as well as to local auto races. He spent his first seven years in Leesburg and then moved with his family to Dallas. At a very young age Shelby was diagnosed with a heart murmur and was required to take daily bed rest for most of his childhood. Upon graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas in 1940, Shelby enrolled at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he entered the aeronautical engineering program, but never completed his degree. He enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Corps on April 11, 1941. Shelby completed his basic training at Randolph Air Force Base and was posted to Kelly Field (later named Kelly Air Force Base ), Cuero Field , Perrin Army Air Field , Ellington Field , and Childress Army Air Field . He served as a flight instructor and test pilot for the Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan and Curtiss AT-9 Jeep. In 1942 Shelby graduated as a staff sergeant at Ellington Field. Later that year he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He left the service in August 1945. Two years prior, on December 18, 1943, Shelby married his first wife, Vivian Jeanne Fields, who mothered his three children, Sharon Anne (born in 1944), Michael Hall (born in 1946), and Patrick Bert (born in 1947). Shelby and his wife divorced sixteen years later in February 1960. By the time of his death, Shelby had married at least six other women: Janet R. "Jan" Harrison (in 1962), Sue Stafford (in 1963), Sandra Brandstetter, Cynthia Psaros (in 1989), Helena Dahl (1990-97), and Cleo Patra Roberts (1997-2012). In 1949 Shelby went into business raising chickens. His first batch of chickens gave him a $5,000 profit, but a subsequent batch was devastated by disease and bankrupted him. In January 1952 Shelby entered his first race, a quarter-mile drag meet in which he drove a flathead Ford V8-powered hot rod built by Ed Wilkins, a friend from high school. Later that year Wilkins drove up to his home in an MG TC and invited him to drive the car in a drag meet in Norman, Oklahoma, where Shelby won two races. On November 23 Shelby won the Texas Region of the Sports Car Club of America race at Caddo Mills. In August 1953, during a race at Eagle Mountain National Guard Base near Fort Worth, he drove in a pair of striped bib overalls, which became his signature outfit. In January 1954 he drove the Mil Kilometros de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, sponsored by the Automobile Club of Argentina, where he caught the eye of John Wyer, the team manager of Aston Martin. Later that year Shelby drove DBR3s for Aston Martin in several races, including the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. In November 1954 he was badly injured during the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico. He continued to drive in early 1955 with his arm in a cast and his hand taped to the steering wheel. From 1955 to 1957 Shelby won more than half of the eighty-one races he entered, set multiple records, and traveled the world. In 1956 he was sponsored by John Edgar, for whom he drove Ferraris and Maseratis. In both 1956 and 1957 Shelby was featured as Sports Illustrated magazine's Driver of the Year. In early 1957 he partnered with Dick Hall, a former sponsor, to open Carroll Shelby Sports Cars of Dallas. That September, while driving Edgar's 4.5-liter Maserati 450S during practice for the Riverside International Raceway in California, Shelby spun it into a dirt embankment. After the accident he had to have plastic surgery on his face and three vertebrae fused in his neck. In November he memorably won the 100-mile rac

Tsha Handbook → · 12.8 mi away

Everything Near Perryville

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

Perryville, TX
Perryville, Texas, isn't known for skyscrapers or bustling city life. What defines us is the land, and what comes from it. Ranching and farming have been the heartbeat of this town since its very beginning. Situated at…
Perryville Baptist Church · Historical Marker
In June 1884 five neighbors gathered to organize the County Line Missionary Baptist Church of Wood County. One month later charter members W. F. Bailey, J. M. Richards, S. M. Lindsey, Mrs. L. T. Bailey, and Mrs. Martha…
Perryville Methodist Church · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker
This rural congregation was organized in 1879 by 38 charter members as the Marvin Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. The Reverend A. K. Hughes served as the first pastor. J. D. Hallonquist donated land to the church in…
Soules Chapel Methodist Church · 5.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Soules Chapel Methodist Church, a name with a direct link to one of Methodism's founding figures. <break time="400ms"/> Bishop Joshua Soule, the first bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,…
Smyrna Baptist Church · 6.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving near Winnsboro, where the Smyrna Baptist Church was organized in June of 1869. It started with 18 members meeting under a pine tree. Later, in 1878, a Sabbath school was organized, and their original…
Shady Grove Cemetery · 6.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Shady Grove Cemetery, one of Wood County's oldest burial grounds. It started with pioneer settlers like Reuben Elledge, who arrived around <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1845</say-as>.…
Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church · 7.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church, organized in 1881 by Elder Jacob Ziegler and Deacon P. M. Gunstream. Legend says the church got its name because folks doubted it would last, but it…
Chalybeate Springs · 7.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Chalybeate Springs, once a booming resort community. Known first as Musgrove Springs for an early settler, these waters got their later name from a high iron content. In 1881, a…
The Railroad that Saved Winnsboro · 7.5 mi
As you cross the railroad tracks running through the heart of Winnsboro, know that they are the reason this town is still here. Winnsboro was founded in 1854 when an Englishman named John E. Winn and his stepson bought…
From Cotton to Peaches: An Agricultural Pivot · 7.5 mi
The fields and forests around Winnsboro tell a story of hedging your bets. This was never a one-crop town. As far back as 1861, before the railroad, the local economy already leaned on four things at once - timber,…
The Bowery: A Stage for the People · 7.5 mi
Walk into downtown Winnsboro and look for Market Street — people here have called it The Bowery for well over a century. In the late 1800s, while Main Street handled the town's respectable business, The Bowery was where…
Winnsboro, TX · 7.5 mi
Winnsboro was founded in the 1850s, with the establishment of a post office between 1854 and 1855. This marked the beginning of the city's growth and development in northeastern Texas.

Show all 200 nearby places

Rhonesboro · 7.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Rhonesboro, a town that boomed and busted with the timber industry. Founded in 1902, it was named for W. M. Rhone, the sole sawmill operator here before the railroad arrived. Suddenly,…
Matinburg Cemetery · 7.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Matinburg Cemetery. Local tradition says it started in 1871 when W. P. Jones buried his wife, Delila, here. The land was deeded to Fairview Baptist Church in 1883, and annual spring cleanups…
Stout, Captain Henry · 7.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the area where Captain Henry Stout made his home. He arrived in Texas way back in 1818, and some reports say he even helped David Crockett plan his famous route to the Alamo. Stout himself served in…
Ferndale Club · 8.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising past the site of the Ferndale Club, originally called Fern, Fin and Feathers. It started in 1908 as a hunting and fishing club, with members from Pittsburg buying land, building a dam to create Ferndale…
Harmony I.S.D. · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Enon, and right here is the site of Harmony Independent School District. Imagine the effort back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1929</say-as> to bring together rural schools from Wood…
East Point Missionary Baptist Church · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of East Point Missionary Baptist Church near Winnsboro. Land was donated in 1878 for a church and school. The church itself was established in 1893 by twelve charter members, with services…
Jefferson-Quitman Road · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past a key junction on the old Jefferson-Quitman Road, one of the three pioneer routes that helped build Upshur County. This road was the highway for freighters and settlers heading west, and for hauling…
Leesburg Cemetery · 9.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Leesburg Cemetery, established around 1870. Dwight Hays Townsend donated the land, and the earliest burials are thought to be two children moved from the schoolyard. The oldest marked grave belongs…
Carroll Hall Shelby · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker
Camp County native Carroll Shelby became world-renowned as a sports car driver and designer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was born in Leesburg to (Warren) Hall and Etoise (Lawrence) Shelby. Neighbors recalled his…
Enon Baptist Church · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Enon Baptist Church, organized way back on May 13, 1848, in the home of M. S. Long. Charter members included the Davis and Knight families. The original log building was replaced by this…
Rosewood Cemetery · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're passing Rosewood Cemetery, born from a railroad boom and a family's grief. When the Marshall and East Texas Railroad cut through here in 1907, the town of Rosewood was organized. A four-year-old boy, Denny Dell…
Rosewood Baptist Church · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Rosewood Baptist Church, originally organized in 1872 as Double Springs Baptist Church. When the railroad came through and a town was platted, it was renamed Rosewood Baptist Church in…
Clearwater Baptist Church · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving near the site of the Clearwater Baptist Church. Organized in 1869 by Elisha Blanton and nine others, the congregation followed a sawmill owner when he relocated around 1875. They eventually built their…
Little Mound Baptist Church and Cemetery · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Little Mound Baptist Church and Cemetery, a place with roots stretching back to the 1860s. The oldest marked grave here belongs to E. Hoggue, who died in 1877. Just a year later, in 1878, the…
Lee Cemetery · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Wood County, heading towards Quitman. About 1853, Benjamin and Alice Lee, fresh from North Carolina, settled here and bought over 1200 acres. They ran a massive cotton plantation, using slave…
First Presbyterian Church of Winnsboro · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Winnsboro's First Presbyterian Church. Organized in 1871 with former members of the Webster Presbyterian church, their first building was on land donated by Nancy Cook. The congregation…
Suiter, Mary Elizabeth · 9.9 mi · Tsha Handbook
Mary Elizabeth Suiter, attorney and state legislator, was born in Winnsboro, Wood, County, Texas, on October 6, 1911. She was the only child of Minnie Bell (Stutsman) Suiter and William David Suiter. She graduated from…
Carlock Home · 9.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Carlock Home, built in 1903 by Marcus DeWitt Carlock, Sr. This wasn't just any mansion; Carlock was a prominent attorney, a Confederate courier, and a political leader who even served as a member…
Winnsboro, TX · 9.9 mi · Tsha Handbook
Winnsboro (Winnsborough), an incorporated city, is at the junction of State highways 11 and 37, fifteen miles northeast of Quitman in northeastern Wood County and extends into Franklin County. The town, first settled in…
Kelsey School · 9.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Enon, where Latter-Day Saint families from Alabama settled near Kelsey Creek in the late 1890s. By 1901, they established the area's first branch and school, with Manasseh J. Blackburn as teacher.…
Oak Hill Missionary Baptist Church · 10.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Oak Hill Missionary Baptist Church. Organized around 1870, this was the very first Baptist congregation in the Gilmer area. Services kicked off in a humble log schoolhouse nearby. In…
City Park · 10.1 mi
City Park in Winnsboro began as a Caddo campground shaded by century-old oaks and fed by a spring. Acquired by Uncle Charlie Moore in eighteen eighty-eight and later A. H. Schluter, it became known as the showplace of…
First Baptist Church of Winnsboro · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Winnsboro, where the First Baptist Church began as Providence Baptist in 1872. They changed their name in 1880 and built a sanctuary here in 1904, which was later replaced in 1960. A famous…
First Methodist Church of Winnsboro · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Winnsboro, where the First Methodist Church was organized way back in 1859. It was the very first religious group in town! The congregation disbanded during the Civil War but reorganized in 1869.…
Central Christian Church · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Winnsboro's Central Christian Church. Organized in 1893 with twenty members, the congregation built this sanctuary the following year. The original steeples were lost to a tornado in…
Lankford-Stinson House · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Lankford-Stinson House in Winnsboro. Built around the early 1890s for a local merchant, this grand home wasn't always this size. It was expanded and remodeled into its current, stately form in…
Winnsboro Cemetery, Old · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Old Winnsboro Cemetery, one of the oldest resting places in East Texas. The first burial here was an accident victim, though the exact date is lost to time. The earliest marked grave belongs to…
Reeves Chapel · 10.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Pittsburg, Camp County, where a community faced a problem in 1879: no place to bury their dead. Counce Reeves, a Civil War veteran, and his wife Selina stepped up, donating land for both a church…
Holly Lake Ranch, TX · 10.8 mi
Holly Lake in Holly Lake Ranch, Texas, is a man-made lake created by damming Holly Creek. Dams work by blocking the flow of water, raising the water level and creating a reservoir. This process is essential for water…
New Hope Baptist Church · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of New Hope Baptist Church, organized in 1875 with 30 members. The congregation met in homes and under brush arbors, with baptisms in Stout's Creek. The church faced funding struggles and…
New Mine Cemetery · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the New Mine Cemetery, established by the New Mine Baptist Church. Land was deeded in 1892, but the congregation didn't start its own burial ground until 1930, with James M. Quillin as the first to…
New Mine Baptist Church · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the New Mine Baptist Church. This congregation was officially organized on September 11, 1892, after Mr. and Mrs. G. O. Hart gave land for a new building. The church was founded so…
Kelsey Mormon Colony · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Kelsey, a town with roots in faith and community building. Back in 1898, brothers John and Jim Edgar bought this timber land, paving the way for a Mormon settlement. By 1901, Sunday School and…
Alex Earp · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Gilmer, and you're passing the final resting place of Alex Earp. Now, this isn't that Earp, but he was a lawman in his own right. Born in Alabama in 1832, Alex moved to Texas with his family, who…
Gilmer's SEAL and the Grave That Waited · 11.7 mi
The Farm to Market Road Eight Fifty Two bridge over Lake Gilmer is the Petty Officer Billy Machen Memorial Bridge. Billy Wayne Machen was born and raised in Gilmer. He enlisted in the Navy on July ninth, nineteen fifty…
Cherokee Trace · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Camp County, and you're on the historic Cherokee Trace. This wasn't just any path; it was a vital Indian trading route laid out by the Cherokee people themselves, stretching all the way to…
Bettie Methodist Church · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Bettie, and right here is the site of the Bettie Methodist Church. Organized in 1892, this sanctuary was built mainly by the Parish brothers, Jeff and Hillard. It's said to be one of the first…
Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church · 12.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving by the site of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, one of the oldest fellowships in Wood County. It began as Holly Springs Baptist Church of Christ, with its first meeting in 1853 at the home of pastor J. D. J.…
Shelby, Carroll Hall · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Born on January 11, 1923, in Leesburg, Camp County, Texas, Carroll Hall Shelby was a famous automobile driver and designer and, prior to his death, one of the world's longest-living heart transplant recipients. He was…
Pilgrim, Lonnie Alfred [Bo] · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Lonnie Alfred "Bo" Pilgrim, chicken magnate and philanthropist, the son of Alonzo Monroe Pilgrim and Nettie Gertrude (Gunn) Pilgrim, was born on May 8, 1928, in Pine, Texas, a small community in Camp County and just…
Harvard, TX · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Harvard, also known as Harvard Switch, is in the bottomlands of Big Cypress Creek on U.S. Highway 271 and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, four miles north of Pittsburg in northern Camp County. The community…
Prairie Creek (Camp County) · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Camp County, and right here, Prairie Creek flows. Back in 1928, a man named A. W. Smith had a big idea to connect Prairie Creek with another nearby creek, Greasy Creek. He dug a mile-and-a-half…
County Line, TX (Camp County) · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
County Line is on Farm Road 557 some thirteen miles from Pittsburg in far southeastern Camp County. It was named for its proximity to the Upshur and Morris county lines. The settlement was in existence by 1884.…
Ebenezer, TX (Camp County) · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Ebenezer is on Farm Road 557 five miles southeast of Pittsburg in southeastern Camp County. Settlement in the area began in the 1850s when Israel Braden Rape, Robert Devenport, and Thomas DeLaney (later shortened to…
Leesburg, TX · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Leesburg is on the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway and State Highway 11, seven miles west of Pittsburg in western Camp County. It was named for the John Lee family, early settlers in the area. In 1874 Leesburg was one of…
Pine, TX · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Pine is between the St. Louis Southwestern Railway and the junction of Farm Road 1522 and U.S. Highway 271, six miles south of Pittsburg in southern Camp County. Settlement in the area began in the late 1830s, and when…
Union, TX (Camp County) · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Union, an unmapped rural community in northwestern Camp County, is marked along Farm Road 1519 by the county line in the west and by Leesburg Cemetery in the east. Union was named for Union School, the first school in…
Yellow Bush, TX · 12.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Yellow Bush was ten miles southwest of Pittsburg in southwestern Camp County. It grew up in the 1870s around a school built by settlers who lived in the area. Although the community is referred to as Yellow Bush in Camp…
Hopewell Church and Cemetery · 13.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Hopewell Church, established in 1855. It started with a brush arbor and log house before moving to this three-acre plot donated in 1876 for church and cemetery use. The church building…
The Pre-Wright Brothers Flight of Pittsburg · 13.3 mi
Here in Pittsburg, you're in the home of one of aviation's most curious tales. In 1902, a year before the Wright Brothers' famous flight at Kitty Hawk, a local inventor and Baptist minister named Burrell Cannon claimed…
The Racing Legend from East Texas · 13.3 mi
You are in the hometown territory of an American icon, a man who changed the world of performance cars forever: Carroll Shelby. Born in nearby Leesburg in 1923, Shelby kept a place here in Pittsburg in his later years,…
The Engineering of the Ezekiel Airship · 13.3 mi
The Ezekiel Airship wasn't just a local legend; it was a fascinating, if flawed, piece of early 20th-century engineering. Inventor and Baptist preacher Burrell Cannon rejected the fixed-wing designs of his…
The Chicken that Built a Town · 13.3 mi
The story of modern Pittsburg is inseparable from the story of two brothers and a feed store. In 1946, Aubrey and Lonnie 'Bo' Pilgrim opened the Pilgrim's Feed Store just off the main square. They sold feed and 100 baby…
The Fire That Forged a Downtown · 13.3 mi
Take a look at the buildings around downtown Pittsburg. Notice how they're almost all brick, and almost all cut from the same turn-of-the-century cloth? That is not an accident — and it isn't the scar of some single…
Gilmer · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of early Gilmer, right where the Cherokee Trace used to run. Imagine this spot in 1845 – an oak tree served as the very first Upshur County courthouse! Just a year later, in 1846, Judge O.…
Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Pittsburg (Pittsburg) · 13.9 mi
Pittsburg (Pittsburg, TX) placed on the 4A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Lane Hall (3 HR); Keyton Mayben (3 HR).
Saint Beulah Christian Methodist Episcopal Church · 13.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Saint Beulah Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The C.M.E. Church in Pittsburg was organized by the Rev. Joseph Lloyd, who came here between 1870 and 1889. The name St. Beulah was adopted after…
Ezekiel Airship, The · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Pittsburg, Texas, where a Baptist minister named Burrell Cannon had a dream of flight. In late 1902, a full year before the Wright brothers, Cannon and his investors launched the Ezekiel Airship…
Cotton Belt Depot · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Pittsburg, and right here is the old Cotton Belt Depot. The railroad first rolled into town in 1880, thanks in part to William Harrison Pitts, the city's founder, who donated land for a depot way…
Shootout at the Pittsburg Depot · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of a deadly confrontation at the Pittsburg Depot on February 10th, 1885. It started as a domestic dispute between George 'Dallas' Smart, his wife Annie, and U.S. Army Lt. John W. Heard. As…
Stafford-Paris House · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Pittsburg, and if you look closely, you might spot the Stafford-Paris House, a beautiful Victorian built in 1899 for Eugene Fore. It's known for its ornate gingerbread woodwork. In 1913, it became…
Abernathy House · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Abernathy House, built in 1896 for David Harper Abernathy and his family. This Queen Anne-style home features a wraparound porch and spindle work, and much of its original interior remains…
Lake Fork Reservoir · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Wood County, and right here is Lake Fork Reservoir. It might look like just a big body of water, but it was built for a very specific purpose: to supply water for industry and cities like Dallas…
Site of First Carnegie Library in Texas · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Pittsburg, and right here is the site of the very first Carnegie Library in Texas! Back in 1898, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated five thousand dollars to help build it, matching local…
Bolton Cemetery · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Camp County, near Pittsburg, where a story of freedom and community unfolds. Back in the 1850s, Ebenezer and Martha Bolton were major plantation owners here. But after Ebenezer's death in 1877,…
William Harrison Pitts · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Pittsburg, a town named for William Harrison Pitts. He arrived here from Georgia in 1854, bought land, and helped establish the settlement. Pitts donated land for the town and even chipped in cash to…
Hainesville, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Hainesville is at the intersection of Farm roads 49 and 778, seven miles southeast of Quitman in southeastern Wood County. There were settlers in the area as early as 1845, and several families were living in the…
Holly Springs, TX (Wood County) · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Holly Springs (Holly Spring) was seven miles northeast of Pine Mills (then Liberty Hill) and probably near Gunstream Lake in east central Wood County. The Holly Springs community was named after the nearby natural…
Little Hope, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Little Hope is at the intersection of Farm roads 154 and 312, ten miles east of Quitman in eastern Wood County. The old Little Hope church and cemetery are about 1½ miles north of the community, which is…
Speer, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Speer, also known as Stinson and as Stinson's Mill, was near Big Sandy Creek and the present route of Farm Road 312 three miles northeast of Pine Mills and eleven miles east of Quitman in eastern Wood County. The area…
Stout, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Stout is on Farm Road 312 six miles south of Winnsboro and ten miles northeast of Quitman in northeast Wood County. Both the community and a nearby creek were named after Capt. Henry Stout , who around 1848 was one of…
Taddlock Site · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Wood County, near the waters of Lake Fork. Right here, over a thousand years ago, was a bustling Caddoan settlement known as the Taddlock Site. Between the years 1037 and 1070, people lived and…
Webster, TX (Wood County) · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Wood County, and right here is the site of Webster, one of the oldest settlements in this area. It all started back in 1854 when Gilbert Smith Matthews bought this land and named it after…
W.L. Garrett Building · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising through Pittsburg, and right here is the W.L. Garrett Building, a landmark that's been part of this town since the 1890s. It started as a simple one-story shop. Then, in 1902, W.L. Garrett bought it for…
Pittsburg · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Pittsburg, a town named for one of its earliest settlers. The W. H. Pitts family arrived from Georgia way back in 1854, and soon more folks followed. Pitts himself donated land for a townsite, and it…
Cloverhill, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Cloverhill (Clover Hill, Clover Hill Church) is on Farm Road 69 five miles northeast of Quitman in north central Wood County. In 1856 the area was settled by families from Georgia and Alabama, who the next year built…
Redlands, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Redlands (Redland), also known as Weimer (Weimar) and Macedonia, was a sawmill community in southeast Wood County twelve miles southeast of Quitman, the county seat, at the intersection of Farm roads 778 and 3056.…
Perryville, TX (Wood County) · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Wood County, and right here is Perryville. This community sprung up around the intersection of Farm roads 2088 and 852, eight miles southeast of Winnsboro. Its story really begins in 1853, when…
Pleasant Grove, TX (Wood County) · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Wood County, heading west of Winnsboro. Right here is the site of Pleasant Grove. It started in 1872, likely named for the big oak trees, when Henry Robinson opened a blacksmith shop. By 1896, it…
Pitts Family Cemetery · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Pitts Family Cemetery, established by the founder of Pittsburg himself. The earliest burial here is Sarah Richardson Harvey Pitts, who died in 1862. Just a year later, Confederate Corporal Joseph…
Cartwright, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Cartwright is on Farm Road 1643 seven miles northeast of Quitman in north central Wood County. The Cartwright area, which probably had settlers as early as 1851, was first called the Barrens because of its isolation and…
Coke, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Coke is on Farm roads 515 and 69, ten miles north of Quitman in northern Wood County. Though the area was settled as early as the 1850s, a community did not develop until the discovery of coal southwest of the area. By…
Crow, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Crow is at the intersection of Farm Road 778, U.S. Highway 80, and the Missouri Pacific Railroad, fourteen miles southeast of Quitman in southeastern Wood County. The site was called Graham when a railroad station was…
Fouke, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Fouke is on Farm Road 2869 three miles northeast of Crow and less than a mile west of Lake Hawkins in southeast Wood County. A community called Center was said to exist in the southern part of the county as early as…
Golden Rule, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Golden Rule, also known as Greer's Neighborhood, was four miles east of Mineola on what later became Farm Road 49 in southern Wood County. The community was probably first named for Gaines Greer, recipient of a land…
Golden, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Golden is at the intersection of Farm roads 1799 and 779, just off U.S. Highway 69 four miles northwest of Mineola in southwest Wood County. Though the area was settled as early as 1865, the community did not begin to…
Hoard, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Hoard, also known as Democrat, is at the intersection of Farm Road 1801 and U.S. Highway 80-which parallels the Missouri Pacific line-six miles east of Mineola in southern Wood County. Sometime before 1870 a one-room…
Mount Pisgah, TX (Wood County) · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Mount Pisgah was a rural community at the intersection of Farm Road 49 and several soil-surfaced roads, two miles west of Pine Mills and nine miles southeast of Quitman in southeastern Wood County. A Texas Historical…
Ogburn, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Ogburn, also known as Jim Hogg, is just off Farm Road 2088 and fifteen miles east of Quitman in eastern Wood County. In 1897 the W. G. Ragley Lumber Company of Winnsboro built a tramline through the area to carry logs;…
Peach, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Peach, also known as Genevie Switch and Elberta, was fifteen miles east of Quitman in eastern Wood County. The area was settled as early as the 1850s and by 1870 had a sawmill and gristmill operated by J. H. Saxon. No…
Pine Mills, TX · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Pine Mills, also known as Liberty Hill and as Reedsville, is at the intersection of Farm roads 14, 49, and 312 ten miles southeast of Quitman in southeastern Wood County. As early as 1850 a sawmill community called…
Rock Hill, TX (Wood County) · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Rock Hill is near Farm Road 2966 seven miles north of Quitman in northwestern Wood County and extends two miles farther north near the intersection of Farm roads 2966 and 515 (the latter road is known locally as the…
Smith, TX (Wood County) · 14.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
Smith, also known as Terrapin Neck, is just north of the intersection of Farm roads 2659 and 2911 and three miles northeast of Hawkins at the Upshur county line in southeastern Wood County. Settlers from Alabama,…
Pittsburg, TX · 14.3 mi
A notable event in Pittsburg's history was the early flight attempt in 1902 by the Ezekiel Air Ship Mfg Co. This event stands out as a significant moment in the city's past, reflecting its early engagement with aviation…
Camp County Courthouse · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Pittsburg, the county seat of Camp County. This impressive courthouse you see was built in 1928, replacing an earlier structure from 1881 that had become too small for the growing county. Designed…
Pleasant Grove School & Cemetery · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Pleasant Grove School. Land for this community school and its cemetery was donated in the 1870s, and the school grew from a log cabin to larger buildings. Professor D. Speer named it…
First Methodist Church of Pittsburg · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the First Methodist Church of Pittsburg. Organized in 1857 by the Rev. J. W. Harvey Hamill, its charter members included the Pitts family, for whom this town was named. The congregation…
Cash, Christine Benton · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through East Texas, maybe near Pittsburg, and right here is a story of dedication. Christine Cash took over as principal of the Center Point school in 1911. Under her leadership, this community school…
Pittsburg, TX · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Pittsburg, Texas, a town with a surprisingly lofty ambition around the turn of the 20th century. In 1901, local mechanic and minister Burrell B. Cannon, inspired by the Book of Ezekiel, built an…
Sheppard, John L., Home · 14.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the former home of John L. Sheppard, a prominent Texas figure. The Sheppard family lived in this house from 1884 until 1891. During that time, John L. Sheppard served as both a district attorney and…
Lightfoot, Jewel Preston · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Camp County, not far from Pittsburg. Right here is where Jewel Preston Lightfoot, a Texas attorney general, started his legal career. After studying law while working as a telegrapher, he became…
Rogers, Augustus H. · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through what is now Camp County, Texas, near Pittsburg. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1862</say-as>, this was Camp Murrah, where Augustus H. Rogers, a twenty-three-year-old captain, was…
Phillips, Charles Thomas · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Camp County, not far from Pittsburg, where Charles Thomas Phillips served in the Texas House of Representatives. He was a farmer and a Confederate soldier before entering politics. Phillips…
Harmony Methodist Church and Cemetery · 14.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Pickton, and just ahead is Harmony Methodist Church and Cemetery. It all started in 1877 when landowner Jesse Odom convinced a traveling preacher to hold a revival. A congregation formed, and by…
Camp County · 14.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Camp County, the third smallest Texas county, comprises 203 square miles of the East Texas timberlands, an area that is heavily forested with a great variety of softwoods and hardwoods, especially pine, cypress, and…
Cypress Church and Cemetery · 14.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Cypress Church and Cemetery, founded in 1851 as the Associated Cypress Baptist Church. The congregation built a meetinghouse here, and the site also served as a burial ground. Confederate…
The Great East Texas Yamboree · 14.6 mi
Every October, Gilmer transforms for a festival born out of desperation and sweet potatoes. By the 1930s, the cotton industry that built the town was collapsing. Looking for a new cash crop, farmers found that the…
The Texas Cannonball's Birthplace · 14.6 mi
Gilmer is the birthplace of a blues giant. In 1934, Freddie King was born here. Though his family moved to Chicago when he was a teenager, his East Texas roots were part of his story. In Chicago, King developed a…
The Science of the Yamboree · 14.6 mi
The reason Gilmer throws a party for the sweet potato every October comes down to soil science. The dirt here in the East Texas Piney Woods is mostly sandy loam. Pick some up and you will notice it is loose and does not…
The Voice of Johnny Mathis · 14.6 mi
Gilmer's surprising musical heritage doesn't stop with rock and blues. In 1935, one of the most iconic voices of the 20th century entered the world here: Johnny Mathis. His father worked as a chauffeur and handyman, and…
When the Gusher Came to Town · 14.6 mi
As you drive along Highway 271, imagine this quiet, agricultural landscape suddenly turning into a chaotic boomtown. In 1930, the discovery of the massive East Texas Oil Field, just south of here, changed everything…
Rockhill Cemetery · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Rockhill Cemetery, a quiet link to a community that once thrived here. Settled after the Civil War, Rockhill saw many young lives cut short, with childhood mortality being tragically high. The…
2023 UIL 4A Division 2 Football State Champions · 15.1 mi
Gilmer High School (Gilmer, TX): Most recent: 28-26 over Bellville · 2023 4A Division 2 final.
A Lake Named for the Man Who Willed It · 15.2 mi
About six miles southwest of Mount Pleasant, Big Cypress Creek widens into a 9,460-acre reservoir known as Lake Bob Sandlin. As early as the 1950s local leaders wanted a lake here to secure the region's water and draw…
King, Freddie · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through East Texas, not far from Gilmer, the birthplace of blues legend Freddie King. Born Freddie Christian in 1934, he was playing guitar by age six. After moving to Chicago, he honed his raw,…
Camp, John Lafayette, Jr. · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Texas, maybe not far from Gilmer, where John Lafayette Camp, Jr. got his start. He became a judge, and in 1912, he made a decision that saved the Alamo. Governor Colquitt wanted to turn the shrine…
Pierson, William · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through East Texas, and right here, in Gilmer, Texas, a life that would shape state law came to an end in a shocking tragedy. William Pierson, a future Texas Supreme Court Justice, was born in this town…
Roberts, Meshack · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Harrison County, near Gilmer, where a remarkable man named Meshack Roberts once lived. Born into slavery, Roberts was given land after the Civil War and built a home for his family. But in the…
Stamps Quartet · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're cruising through North Texas, maybe not too far from Gilmer, where a musical legacy began. Back in 1924, brothers Virgil and Frank Stamps founded the Stamps Quartet. They weren't just singers; they were…
Camp, John Lafayette · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through East Texas, perhaps near Gilmer, where John Lafayette Camp made his home. When the Civil War broke out, Camp, already a lawyer and planter, answered the call. He rose to become colonel of the…
Dickson, William L. · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through East Texas, perhaps near Gilmer. Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this area was home to a remarkable institution: the Dickson Colored Orphan's Home. It was spearheaded by Reverend William…
Earp, Cullen Redwine · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Upshur County, not far from Gilmer, the home of Cullen Redwine Earp. He was a Confederate officer who fought in over twenty engagements, including Chickamauga and Atlanta. Earp was promoted to…
Looney School · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Upshur County, near Gilmer, the site of the Looney School. Established in 1861 by Morgan H. Looney, this wasn't just any school. It was a bustling academy, averaging 200 students annually. They…
State Colored Orphans' Home · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Right here, south of Gilmer in Upshur County, you're passing the site of the State Colored Orphans' Home. It began in 1900, founded by African American Baptists who wanted to create a safe haven. Initially known as the…
Gilmer, TX · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Gilmer, the county seat of Upshur County, is on U.S. Highway 271 and State highways 155 and 154 thirty-five miles northeast of Tyler and twenty-two northwest of Longview in the central part of the county. When the…
Glasco, Jesse Martin · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Upshur County, near Gilmer, where Jesse Martin Glasco made his mark. Born in Tennessee in 1818, Glasco arrived in Texas and became a key figure in this region. For decades, he served as Upshur…
Upshur Masonic College · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Right here in Gilmer, you're driving past the site of a school that had a few names and a few owners! It started in 1851 as the Gilmer Masonic Female Institute, founded by the local Masons. When their lodge disbanded,…
Hat Factory, C.S.A. · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Robert Potts Bros. hat factory, a crucial Confederate operation during the Civil War. In just one year, they churned out 600 hats for the army, using 300 pounds of wool and valued at…
Upshur County · 15.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Upshur County, named for a Secretary of State under President John Tyler. This area has been home to people for thousands of years, from Paleo-Indians to Caddoan and Cherokee tribes. But it was…
Clover Hill Cemetery · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Wood County, passing Clover Hill Cemetery. This spot was chosen by settlers from Georgia and Alabama back in 1856, who also built their Baptist Church here. In 1868, a young boy known as 'Little…
First United Methodist Church of Gilmer · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Gilmer's First United Methodist Church. Organized around 1852, this congregation established both a men's and a women's academy in the 1850s. The church has occupied this site since 1881,…
First Baptist Church of Gilmer · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past First Baptist Church of Gilmer. First congregation was organized in a log cabin in 1846 as the Gilmer Missionary Baptist Church of Christ. In 1854 the congregation consisted of 22 members and the…
Abner, David, Jr. · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Upshur County, Texas, where in 1881, David Abner Jr. made history. Right here, he became the very first African American to graduate from a Texas institution of higher learning, earning his degree…
Ragland Clinic-Hospital · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the first full-time hospital in Upshur County, opened in 1933 by the Ragland family. For nearly fifty years, this clinic-hospital served Gilmer and the surrounding areas, even training…
Locke, Matthew F. · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through East Texas, not far from where Matthew F. Locke established the town of LaFayette back in 1850. Locke wasn't just a planter; he was a Confederate Colonel who raised the Tenth Texas Cavalry.…
Indian Village · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of an early Cherokee village, established right here at the start of the 1800s. This settlement was a home for these Native Americans and their associated tribes for decades. But by 1839,…
Looney School · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Gilmer, where the Looney School once stood just a few blocks north. From 1860 to 1870, this place was known for its high academic standards, drawing students from all over East Texas. Boys and…
Croley Funeral Home · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Gilmer, passing a business that's served this community for over a century. Back in 1890, J.F. Croley bought a hardware store, and saw a need for more than just nails and hammers. He added…
Coffeeville, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Coffeeville is south of State Highway 155 and five miles west of Lake O' the Pines in the pine country of northeastern Upshur County. One account of the origin of the community's name claims that an early traveler…
Kelsey, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Kelsey, on Farm Road 1795 seven miles west of Gilmer in central Upshur County, was named for Dr. W. H. Kelsey, one of the earliest settlers in the county; a nearby creek also bears his name. During the antebellum period…
Lafayette, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
LaFayette (Lafayette), at the junction of Farm roads 993 and 1975, thirteen miles northeast of Gilmer in extreme northern Upshur County, was first settled in the late 1850s and was named for LaFayette Locke, the son of…
Bettie, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Bettie, at the junction of U.S. Highway 271 and Farm Road 2088, six miles north of Gilmer in north central Upshur County, was established in the early 1880s as a stop on the newly constructed Texas and St. Louis…
Glenwood, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Glenwood, at the junction of State Highway 300 and Farm Road 726, eight miles southeast of Gilmer in southeastern Upshur County, was established as a plantation before the organization of the county in 1846. The…
Grice, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Grice, at the junction of Farm roads 852 and 1002, twelve miles west of Gilmer in western Upshur County, was established in the late 1880s or early 1890s near a heavily wooded area known as the Big Woods. The community…
Latch, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Latch, on Farm Road 1795 eight miles west of Gilmer in western Upshur County, was established in the late 1880s and originally named Know. The name was changed to Latch when a post office opened in 1894, after L. A.…
Rosewood, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Rosewood is on State Highway 154 eight miles west of Gilmer in western Upshur County. It was probably first settled in the late 1880s or early 1890s and was originally known as Double Springs. Its name was changed to…
Simpsonville, TX (Upshur County) · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Simpsonville, also known as Thomas, at the junction of Farm roads 2088 and 556, twelve miles northwest of Gilmer in northwestern Upshur County, was first settled in the late 1850s. The community was originally known as…
West Mountain, TX · 15.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
West Mountain, at the junction of U.S. Highway 271 and Farm Road 726, eight miles southeast of Gilmer in southeastern Upshur County, was founded by Isaac Moody, one of the earliest Anglo settlers in the county, and…
Cherokee Trace · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the area where one of the first major Texas trails was blazed, not by settlers, but by the Cherokee Nation. Around 1821, they needed a route from Nacogdoches to their reservation in Arkansas. To mark…
Houston, Sam · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past a spot where Sam Houston, the legendary Texan, stood and spoke not once, but twice, against secession. Back on June 10th, 1857, as a U.S. Senator, he urged Texas to stay with the Union. Then, in…
Upshur County, C.S.A. · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Gilmer, Texas, a town that was a vital hub for the Confederacy during the Civil War. While men and boys fought on distant battlefields, Upshur County became a powerhouse of production. Factories here…
Leather Factories, C.S.A. · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Gilmer, Texas, right where the Confederacy was keeping its horses shod and its armies moving. During the Civil War, this area was home to vital leather factories. One plant churned out shoes for…
Gilmer Mirror · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Gilmer, and right here is the home of the Gilmer Mirror, the oldest continuous business in Upshur County. It started way back on January 1st, 1877, as the 'Upshur County Democrat.' Over the years,…
1925 Gilmer Post Office · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the old Gilmer Post Office, a handsome building designed by James A. Wetmore and completed in 1926. It served the town until 1991, then sat vacant until local groups saved it for use as a museum.…
Brumley Crossroads Cemetery · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Brumley Crossroads Cemetery, established by the Mt. Gilead Primitive Baptist Church back in 1848. It's the final resting place for pioneer settlers and local residents, with the oldest legible stone…
Gilmer, TX · 15.7 mi
Gilmer, Texas. It's a name that might not ring a bell for everyone, but around here, it's synonymous with Friday night lights and sweet potato pie. You can feel the small-town charm just driving in, past the piney woods…
Warren-Futrell House · 15.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past a beautiful example of early 20th-century architecture in Gilmer. This house, built in 1912, was inspired by the Prairie School and Arts and Crafts movements. Notice its overhanging eaves and the…
The Boom of 1940 · 15.8 mi
Imagine driving through Hawkins in the fall of 1940. It's a sleepy farm town of about two hundred people. Now, imagine coming back a year later. The population has jumped to around twelve hundred. The quiet streets are…
A College Born from a Gift · 15.8 mi
Just outside town lies the reason Hawkins is more than an oil town. In 1910 a white Fort Worth attorney, Major J. J. Jarvis, and his wife, Ida Van Zandt Jarvis, deeded 456 acres here on one condition: that the land…
Engineering the Oil Field · 15.8 mi
The Hawkins Oil Field wasn't just a lucky strike, and its long life was a marvel of petroleum engineering. The oil was trapped thousands of feet down in a faulted anticline — a dome-shaped fold in the Woodbine sandstone…
The Man-Made Lake · 15.8 mi
If you head just northwest of town, about three miles out, you'll find one of Hawkins' most popular spots: Lake Hawkins. But this beautiful lake isn't a natural feature. It's a product of civic engineering from the…
Unknown Soldier · 15.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Morris Cemetery in Gilmer, and right here, you're looking at the final resting place of an Unknown Soldier. This is the first grave in this cemetery, and it belongs to a Confederate soldier who died…
Concord Cemetery · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Concord Cemetery, established in the 1870s by settlers of the Concord Community. The earliest marked grave here belongs to Velinda Wood, dated July 31st, 1875. Today, it's the final resting place for…
Gilgal Baptist Church · 16.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Gilgal Baptist Church, a place with roots stretching back to 1865. Led by the Rev. John Baptist, the founding members built a brush arbor and chose the name "Gilgal" – the Israelites' first…
Site of the Pioneer Dickson Orphanage · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of a truly unique Texas institution: the Pioneer Dickson Orphanage. For thirty years, from 1900 to 1929, this was the *only* home in Texas specifically for African American orphans. Founded…
Pritchett Normal Institute · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Gilmer, and just off the road here is the site of the Pritchett Normal Institute. Opened in 1901 by the Maberry brothers, this place wasn't just a school; it was a teacher-training powerhouse. It…
Monticello Missionary Baptist Church · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Monticello, a community named for Thomas Jefferson's Virginia home. By the 1890s, it boasted stores, mills, gins, and a brick factory. The Monticello Baptist Church, first referenced in 1878,…
Pine Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Cemetery · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving by the site of the Pine Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church, organized in 1864 by J. G. L. Davis and charter members. The property was acquired in 1883, and several church buildings have stood here, the…
The Homecoming Queen Who Won an Oscar · 16.4 mi
The actress Sissy Spacek is famous for playing small-town characters with incredible depth, and that’s because she knows them firsthand. She grew up right here in Quitman. Her father was the county agricultural agent, a…
Quitman, TX · 16.4 mi
Quitman is a small town, but it's got a story to tell. You feel it in the air here – the gentle roll of the hills, the friendly waves you get driving down Main Street. It's a place where Friday night lights still mean…
The Governor's Quitman Connection · 16.4 mi
Quitman has a special connection to one of Texas's most legendary political figures, Governor James Stephen Hogg. He wasn't born here — he was born near Rusk — but Quitman is where he made himself. In the early 1870s he…
Engineering a Bass Fishing Paradise · 16.4 mi
The biggest modern story in Quitman is an incredible feat of engineering and ecological design: Lake Fork Reservoir. When the Sabine River Authority of Texas built the dam on Lake Fork Creek in the late 1970s, the goal…
The Town the Railroad Missed · 16.4 mi
Standing at the center of Quitman is the Wood County courthouse, the institution that has anchored this town since 1850. But in the 1870s a new one threatened to make it irrelevant. The Texas and Pacific was building…
A Tradition Since 1884 · 16.4 mi
If you happen to be driving through Quitman when the reunion is on, you will notice the whole town buzzing. You would be witnessing a tradition that goes back to 1898, when Wood County folks first gathered to mark the…
Ben Phillips Place · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Upshur County, past the site of the Ben Phillips Place. Built in 1872, this home was a hub for political talk and news, with a reputation for welcoming strangers. Ben F. Phillips himself, a Church…
Camp, Colonel John L. · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Pittsburg, and right here is the story of Colonel John L. Camp. He arrived in Texas all the way from Alabama back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1849</say-as>, first practicing law and…
Gilmer · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising through Gilmer, a town that got its start way back in 1846. It's named for Thomas W. Gilmer, a big deal in Washington D.C. who pushed hard for Texas to join the U.S. During the Civil War, Gilmer was a…
Camp County · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker
Hey road trippers! You're driving through Camp County, Texas, formed way back in 1874. This whole area was carved out of Upshur County and organized just a few months later the same year. It's named for John Lafayette…
Macedonia School · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Wood County, and just ahead is the site of the Macedonia School. Established in 1885, this was one of the very first one-teacher schools in the county. It served the community of Macedonia, later…
Pleasant Grove Cemetery · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Pleasant Grove Cemetery, a resting place for many of the pioneer families who settled the Lafayette community in the 1850s. The earliest recorded burial here is little Thomas J. Harrison, who died in…
Indian Cemetery and Villages · 17.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Wood County, near Quitman, where the land beneath your wheels might just be ancient history. Back in 1966, road construction unearthed an Indian Cemetery and the remnants of six villages. When…
A Star in the Window, a Marker by the Road · 17.1 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…
New Hope Missionary Baptist Church · 17.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church. Organized in 1855 with 15 members, meetings were initially held in a log schoolhouse. The church received its first building in 1872, and the…
Light Crust Doughboys Hall of Fame and Museum · 17.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Quitman, Texas, a town that once celebrated a legendary musical act: the Light Crust Doughboys. Formed in 1931, this band became a powerhouse of western swing music, performing across the country…
Quitman, TX · 17.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Quitman, Texas, a town founded in 1850 and named for a governor of Mississippi and a hero of the Mexican War. Quitman's early growth was slow, but it became the center of a political battle in…
Bowling, Charles Taylor · 17.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through East Texas, not far from Quitman, where Charles Taylor Bowling was born in 1891. He spent most of his life in Dallas, working as a draftsman for Texas Power and Light for nearly fifty years. But…
Governor Jim Hogg City Park and RV Park · 17.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Quitman, in Wood County, and right here south of downtown is Governor Jim Hogg City Park. It started as Quitman City Park back in 1941, but by 1946, it was named Governor Hogg Shrine State…
Collins-Haines Home · 17.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Quitman, and you're passing the site of the first brick structure ever built in Wood County. Look to your right! This home was erected in 1859 by James and Harriet Collins, who came here from…

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