History
Site of Dunbar High School
Public education efforts for African American students in Mexia began in 1883 with a school on Herman Street. After fire destroyed it, trustees selected this site for a two-story brick schoolhouse built in 1915. T.K. Price was principal at the time. The school was named for Paul Lawrence Dunbar (1872-1906), a noted African American author and poet from Ohio.
History
Site of Old Potter's Shop
The fine, white clay mined near here was used at this shop from the 1840s to 1912 to make pitchers, jars, crocks, churns, flower pots, and ornamental urns, which were used locally and shopped out of county. In the 1870s the shop, built by Alberry Johnson, was a major industry in Pottersville (later Oletha) Wm. C. Knox later bought the plant and hired J. L. Stone as the chief artisan.
History
Site of Oletha Common School
Site of Oletha Common School Settlers at the turn of the 20th century educated their children in small schools within walking distance of their homes. Limestone County schools in this area were Union, established in 1895; Independence, 1897; Mount Joy, 1911; and Barnett Prairie and Center Point, both part of the Center Point Common School District, 1911.
History
St. Paul Industrial College
In 1906, African American members of three Texas districts within the Primitive Baptist Church expressed desire to build an institute of higher education for their communities. In 1919, trustees Thornton Carter (1858-1941), Arthur Randolph Foreman (1885-1944), Rev. Samuel M. Britt (1889-1956) and Lee Wilder Thomas (1873-1953) purchased 76.5 acres of land northwest of Mexia.
History
Tehuacana
Located at one of highest points (altitude 661 ft.) between Dallas and Houston. First noted in history by Philip Nolan's trading expedition, 1797. Home in early days of Tehuacana Indians, a Wichita tribe, who engaged in farming and peaceful pursuits until they were destroyed in early 1830s by Cherokees.
History
Tehuacana Cemetery
This historic graveyard reflects the heritage of Tehuacana, an early Texas town founded in the 1840s by John Boyd (1796-1873). Elected from Sabine County to the First and Second Congresses of the Republic of Texas, Boyd moved to this part of the state and established the town's first post office in his mercantile store in 1847.
History
Thornton Schools
Thornton was established in 1871 by the Texas Central Railroad and had a post office by 1873. By 1880, the town had approximately 200 residents and three churches, as well as several businesses and a Masonic lodge. Early schools included the Thornton Male and Female Institute, founded in 1877 by physician and teacher Edward Coke Chambers.
History
Vinson Cemetery
Wiley and Phebe Vinson and their children came to Texas from Alabama in 1851. Settling in Limestone County in 1859, the family farmed and operate a gristmill and tanning yard. When Vinson bought additional land in 1870, he set aside one-half acre for this cemetery. He died in 1871, and was the first to be buried here.
History
William Rees
Born in Castletown, Marshfield Parish, England, of Welsh parents. In youth spent several years as an apprentice stonemason in Liverpool, England. Came to America in 1870, and to Tehuacana in 1872. In 1873 William Rees was given the contract for the construction of the wings of this stone building. At that time, Trinity University (under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church) was short of funds.
History
Zada Jane Sanders Kelly
Daughter of local pioneer, Mr. and Mrs. J. Cull Sanders, and graduate of Kidd-Key College. Married C. D. Kelly in 1910. A Groesback clubwoman; served as treasurer, Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, when state headquarters were being built in Austin. Recognized nationally, she was awarded a certificate of honor in 1964 by the General Federation of Women's Clubs.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
