History
Sand Ridge Cemetery
Son of Colonel Samuel S. Lewis (1784-1838), a War of 1812 veteran, Lieutenant John T. Lewis (1808-1892) and his wife, Sarah Mariah (Stark) (1811-1895), helped establish a settlement near Cow Creek following the Texas Revolution. They found an ideal location to establish a burial ground on a high sand ridge bordered by timber and above the flooding of the creek.
History
Shankleville Community
Named for Jim and Winnie Shankle, known as first Newton County blacks to buy land and become local leaders after gaining freedom by emancipation. Both were born in slavery: Jim in 1811, Winnie in 1814. After Winnie and her three children were sold to a Texan, Jim ran away from his Mississippi owner.
Transport
Site of Old Burr's Ferry (At Highway Bridge)
An important communications point between Texas and the United States, especially during settlement era of early 1800's. Named for Dr. Timothy Burr (1790-1852), second cousin of U. S. Vice President Aaron Burr. Dr. Burr is said to have come to the Sabine area in 1809, but moved his family down from Ohio in 1820's. He practiced medicine from home plantation on the Sabine.
History
Site of the Town of Belgrade
Established in 1839. A thriving settlement before the Civil War. Erected by the State of Texas 1936.
History
Swift Cemetery
The trading village of Salem was founded in 1835 by Seth Swift. A Quaker and whaling merchant, Swift had moved to this area from Massachusetts with his wife, Lydia, and six children. When Lydia died about 1852, Swift set aside an acre of land for a cemetery. Upon his death in 1869, Swift was buried beside his wife in a pink marble casket he had brought from Massachusetts.
History
The Old Beef Road
Early 19th century trade routes across the Sabine River were few, and served all travelers and traders. The Beef Road, which replaced earlier "Zavala Road", was an important route by 1840, crossing this area. Named for cattle trade, it began in Huntsville and Liberty regions, and ran through Zavala, Jasper, and into present Newton County, where it forked near this site, forming three routes.
History
The Survey Community
William Williams, an early 1800s Sabine Valley pioneer, obtained a large land grant in 1834 from the Republic of Mexico. His surveyed land attracted settlers, who called the location "The Survey". In 1847, Wade H. Mattox (1800-1863) built the first frame house in the settlement, using lumber hauled from Alexandria, LA., by a neighbor, Ezekiel Cobb (1825-1864).
History
Toledo Bend
The Sabine River's Toledo Bend has played a major role in the history of East Texas. An area initially inhabited by Indians and buffalo, it was a landmark for Spanish explorers and missionaries. The latter possibly named it for a similar bend in the River Tagus at Toledo, Spain. It might also have been named for Gen.
History
Trout Creek Cemetery
Originally a part of the James West Survey, this cemetery dates to the early 1860s. The land was later owned by Mrs. Frances Ann Dyer (d.1890), and upon her death was inherited by her daughter Udora Dyer Ratcliff (1862-1898) and son-in-law K. R. Ratcliff (1857-1946).
History
Watson Chapel Cemetery
Prominent early settler George Adams and his wife, Orinda Hester Scott, donated land for this cemetery in 1883. Although the gravestone of Tilman Scott Ingram, who was reinterred here from another cemetery, bears an earlier death dated (1880), the first recorded burials were those of John Edwards in 1883 and Orinda Adams' parents, Hester Ann Scott in 1885 and James M. Scott in 1887.
History
Watson Chapel Methodist Church
On 5-acre site given by George Adams (1842-1906), this church has been in continuous use since its construction in 1883 by men of community. According to tradition, a man named Watson financed the project. Square nails were used. Heart pine lumber for structure was shipped by steamboat on the Sabine River from Orange to town of Salem, then hauled by ox-teams to this site.
History
Wiergate
A deal, struck in 1917 between Houston lumberman Robert W. Wier and the Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company, owners of vast tracts of virgin yellow pine in this region, led to the construction here of one of East Texas' largest sawmill complexes.
History
William Blewett
(1830-1862) Georgia native William Blewett came to Texas with his family in 1849. They settled first in Jasper County, where he was district surveyor about 1853. He married a cousin, Nancy Adams; they later became the parents of 6 children. In 1858 they moved to Newton and William opened the Blewett & Company Mercantile near this site with his cousin Adam Adams.
Civic & Local
Woods Park (Newton County Fairgrounds)
In 1937, the Southwestern Settlement and Development Company deeded land to Newton County. This property would become known as Woods Park, named for the company's surveyor, C.A. Woods. County resident sused the park for recreation and soon the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program administered by the federal government, improved the park through a building project.
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.
