History
State National Bank of Corsicana
Organized in 1917 by B. B. Munsey, G. C. Dunn, P. D. Williams, and E. L. Dupuy, the State National Bank originally was located just off the southwest corner of Collin and Beaton streets. Munsey served as the institution's first president. He was succeeded in 1926 by Isaac N. Cerf, a prominent Corsicana businessman and civic leader.
History
Stephen Augustus Pace
(September 19, 1848-March 1, 1921) Stephen Augustus Pace came to Texas in 1868. He settled first in Fairfield, where he met and married Achsah Maddox. They moved to Corsicana in 1871. Pace established a wholesale grocery business and was active in a number of civic organizations. He served as a city alderman and as police and light commissioner.
History
Tatum Home
Built before 1900 by William M. Tatum, son of a Corsicana pioneer merchant, this colonial revival style mansion features first-floor palladian windows. Massive Ionic columns support the two-story porch. Tatum's son Clifford A., who later took over the family hardware business, moved his bride into his parents' home.
History
Temple Beth-El
The earliest Jewish settlers in Corsicana arrived in 1871, the year rail lines were built to the area. In 1898 a group of reformed Jews established Temple Beth-El. Two years later they built this house of worship, which features two distinctive octagonal towers with onion-shaped domes.
History
The Birthplace of the Petroleum Industry
West of the Mississippi River. In this well, drilled by H. G. Johnston, E. H. Akin, and Charles Rittersbacher under contract for a water well for the city of Corsicana in 1894, the first oil in commercial quantities in the mid-continent area was discovered at 1035 feet.
History
The First National Bank of Corsicana
An institution whose history reflects rise of a landmark city. Corsicana was founded about 1850. In 1871, when the Houston & Texas Central gave the town rail connections with national commerce, two former H. & T. C. employees established this bank as a private concern. The men were Capt. James Garitty (1842-1925), experienced as a bank clerk, and Joseph Huey (1827-1904), a tin and hardware dealer.
History
The Fortson Family
Members of the Fortson family came to Texas from Mississippi and settled in Navarro County in the 1840s. Civil War veteran James T. Fortson wed Ida Clayton, daughter of another pioneer area family, in 1867, and they moved to the Rice area in 1872. Their son, Joseph Benjamin (Joe B.), and his wife Lyda built their home at this site in 1904. Joe B.
History
The Joseph Burleson Family Cemetery
Joseph Burleson (1800-1877) came to Texas about 1834. He farmed for a season at Bastrop near his brother, General Edward Burleson, then lived at San Augustine for many years. In 1836 he fought in the Texas War for Independence along with his father, Captain James Burleson (b. 1775), three of his brothers, and other relatives.
History
The Molloy Hotel
In 1874, three years after the rail line was laid through Corsicana, lawyer Henry Molloy (1829-1913) had a one-story hotel built to accommodate businessmen and other travelers. Molloy added the second story in 1881. Over the years, the building came to be a center of business and social activity and has been owned by a number of the town's leading citizens, including George T.
History
The Powell Oil Field
One of the world's most noted petroleum fields. Discovered 1905; developed in three periods. A number of early shallow wells (800' - 1,000' in Nacatoch Sand), drilled by Claude Witherspoon, are still producing. Field's second and greatest era came as a result of three heartbreaking years of drilling. On Sunday, Jan. 7, 1923, the W. H. Warren-R. K. Blackshear "J. H. Burke No.
Architecture
The Scales-Fortson House
This residence was constructed in the 1890s by H. L. Scales, owner of a local gin and cottonseed oil mill. In 1911 it was purchased by John Thompson, president of the Corsicana National Bank. It became the home of banker and landowner Joe B. Fortson in the 1920s and remained in his family until 1976.
History
Thomas Ingles Smith
(1800-1848) Thomas Ingles Smith was born in 1800 in Virginia and was a soldier in the War of 1812 in a company commanded by his father, General Bird B. Smith. Smith arrived in Texas late in 1836, and soon enlisted in the Republic of Texas army under Gen Felix Huston. He was wounded in the Battle of the Salado in September 1842.
History
Town of Dawson
This community grew out of Spring Hill (4 mi. NE), the oldest settlement in Navarro County. A Republic of Texas Indian agent, Dr. George Washington Hill, started Spring Hill in 1838 as a trading post to improve relationships with the Indians. When Britton Dawson (1817-1905) came to Texas, he lived first in Jasper County.
History
Westminster Presbyterian Church
On May 16, 1853, the Rev. John Patton and about 20 Cumberland Presbyterians formed the first organized church in Corsicana. Other Presbyterians organized later: The First Church, U. S., in 1868; and an Associate Reformed Church (1895) that in 1908 joined the United Presbyterian church. The Cumberland congregation split, and a surviving group (1912) affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in the U.
History
Winkler
Settlers began arriving in this area in 1846, and by the 1860 several farms were in operation. Settlement increased after the Civil War, and the town of Winkler was organized in 1879. Due to its location, the community was a part of both Navarro and Freestone counties. With W. S.
History
YMCA of Corsicana
The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of Corsicana was organized in 1884 and was one of only two YMCAs in the state at that time. E. W. (Wiley) Johnson served as first president of the organization that met in a room over the First National Bank offices. Meetings later were held in the Dyers Dry Goods building at 107 South Main.
History
Younger Cemetery
North Carolina native Alexander Younger (1786-1866) and his wife Jane Merchant (Hancock) (1798-1881) came to Texas in 1847. They first settled in present Ellis County, where they were granted land in the Peters colony. By 1850 they had moved to Navarro County and had begun farming here.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
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