Transport
Rosser Depot of the Texas Midland Railroad
Originally known as Trinidad, Rosser depended on the Trinity River for trade until 1882, when a line of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad was built here. The company was later renamed the Texas Midland Railroad by Mrs. Hetty Green of New York, who bought the line in 1892. Operated by her son Edward H. R. Green, it had a dramatic impact on the early growth of Kaufman County.
History
Terrell Elementary School
This location has been home to a school building for the students of the Terrell area since 1901. The site was selected to serve the children living north of the Texas and Pacific Railway tracks nearby. A two-story building named the North Primary School was completed here in September 1901 at a cost of $9,000, and contained six classrooms with facilities for 300 pupils.
History
Terrell State Hospital
Authorized 1883 by Legislature of Texas. Designed by J. N. Preston and sons, Austin. Built by John M'Donald. Opened in 1885 under administration of Dr. D. R. Wallace, superintendent, who was an internationally recognized pioneer psychiatrist. Admitted 330 patients during first year. Gradually enlarged with 2,300 patients by 1920; it was largest hospital of its kind west of Mississippi.
History
Terrell State Hospital Cemetery
Soon after the Terrell State Hospital opened in July 1885, a portion of the property was set aside for burial of patients who died while hospitalized. The first burial here occurred Oct. 22, 1885. The oldest gravestone is dated Jan. 19, 1888, but most of the graves are unmarked. A fence separates the Jewish section of the cemetery. Some graves date from a smallpox epidemic in 1907.
Transport
Texas & Pacific Railroad Freight Depot
Founded in 1873, the town of Terrell was located on the route of the Texas & Pacific Railroad. Robert A. Terrell, for whom the town was named, was a surveyor and landowner in Kaufman County. Portions of land were given to the Texas & Pacific by the Terrell Family, Judge W. D. Irvine, C. C. Nash, and John G.
Transport
Texas Midland Railroad
A northeast line of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad was built through this area in 1882. In 1892 it was purchased by Mrs. Hetty Green and later reorganized as the Texas Midland Railroad. Under the innovative leadership of her son Edward H. R. Green, it was instrumental in the early economic development of area communities, especially Terrell, where maintenance facilities were located.
History
The American National Bank of Terrell
The city of Terrell was founded in 1873. C. M. Bivens, John H. Corley, and F. A. Waters opened a private bank here in 1875. In 1878, Asa Holt replaced Waters as one of the owners. Later the enterprise became the Bivens and Corley Bank and moved to this site. A second financial institution, the Childress Brothers' Bank, was founded in 1876. Col.
History
The Forney Messenger
The Forney Messenger is the oldest newspaper in continuous operation in Forney. Founded in 1896 by M. J. Cox, the first issue was printed on April 16 and contained a personal column, school news, a local church directory, and news from surrounding communities.
History
The Old Graveyard (Pioneer Cemetery)
This small historic cemetery, also called the "Irvine Family Cemetery," predates the establishment of Terrell by more than 20 years. The first burial was that of Robert Alexander, nephew of W. D. Irvine, in 1851. Now located within the city limits, the cemetery began on land owned by the pioneer Irvine family.
Architecture
W. E. Henderson Home
Built 1898 by William Ebenezer Henderson (1847-1944), who moved from Louisiana to Texas (1862) in an ox-drawn barouche. Going to work at 19 for a cattleman, he became in time a prosperous commission dealer-- shipping cattle to St. Louis, where he bought the fine mantels and tile for this house. Structure is of select heart pine from the big timber of the Beaumont area.
History
Walter Dickson Adams and the Adams Drugstore
A native of Kaufman County, Walter Dickson Adams (1872-1961) came to Forney in 1887. In 1893 he purchased the F. M. Adams Drugstore, a successor of the R. C. Dansby Drugstore established in 1878. He was the town's most prominent druggist for the next sixty-eight years. Originally on S. Bois D'Arc Street, the store was relocated to Main Street in 1901.
Architecture
Walter P. and Meck Allen House
In 1893, Rusk County native Walter Payne Allen (1870-1943) wed America "Meck" Peyroux Cartwright (1874-1959), a native of San Augustine. A banker, Walter was an organizer and later president of American National Bank. He served as city alderman and commissioner, responsible for utility services, and was instrumental in the transition to a city commission form of government.
History
White Hall School
Built in 1888 on land donated by the Albert T. Rice family, the first White Hall School was a one-room building. First called Caney Creek School, its name was changed to White Hall in 1910. A new four-room building was erected in 1928, and by the next year the school's faculty had grown to four. White Hall School was consolidated with the Mabank School District about 1949.
History
William Henry Burnett
(1872 - 1944) In the 1880s Presbyterian missionary Alexander R. Wilson began conducting school in the rural South Prong community of Ellis County. One of his pupils was a promising black farm boy named William Henry Burnett. Through Wilson's personal guidance, Burnett received an education and was awarded a scholarship to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
History
William Madison McDonald
William Madison McDonald William Madison "Gooseneck Bill" McDonald was born in 1866 near Johnson Point, a small community southeast of Terrell. His parents, former slaves, were George McDonald, born in Tennessee, and Flora Scott McDonald, born in Alabama. His mother died when he was young, and his father remarried to Belle Crouch.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
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