Industry & Science
Levingston Shipbuilding Company and Edward T. Malloy
In 1859, three brothers, Samuel, David and John Levingston, arrived in Orange from Ireland and purchased an existing shipyard, where they built wooden ships for more than thirty years. The son of Samuel Levingston, "Captain" George Levingston, established his own shipbuilding business in 1919-1920.
History
Linscomb Cemetery
Joseph Linscomb (1798-1873) moved from Louisiana to Texas about 1835 and served in a volunteer militia unit during the Texas Revolution. He and his family settled in Jefferson County by 1841. The area became Orange County in 1852. Linscomb deeded one acre of land for use as a family cemetery and his wife Denise (Peveto) became the first person buried here.
Industry & Science
Lutcher & Moore Lumber Company
H. J. Lutcher and G. B. Moore moved their lumber operations from Pennsylvania and established a headquarters here in 1877. Over the next several decades they built a timber empire with vast holdings in Texas and Louisiana and an extensive network of sawmills, railroads, warehouses, canals, dock facilities, and transport ships. The company erected a mission style headquarters here in 1913.
Architecture
Lutcher Memorial Church Building
Founded in 1878, the First Presbyterian Church initially occupied a frame structure built in 1883 at Market and Polk Street. In 1912 the congregation moved to this church building which Frances Ann (Mrs. Henry Jacob) Lutcher (1841-1924) had erected as a gift from the Lutcher family. H. J. Lutcher (1836-1912) amassed a fortune in the Lutcher & Moore Lumber Company.
History
Madison Lodge No. 126, A. F. & A. M.
Hugh Ochiltree (1820-91), George A. Pattillo (1796-1871), and other leading citizens organized this lodge on April 30, 1853. Col. Ochiltree had come to Texas in 1839, fought in the Mexican War, and helped develop the town of Madison (Now Orange).
History
Miss Laura Chandler's Private School
James M. Chandler was a Confederate veteran who brought his family to Texas after the Civil War. About 1890 he built a residence and several outbuildings, including a stable, on this property. In 1896, Chandler's daughter Laura began holding school classes in the room above the stable. In 1904, when she married Knox Herbert, this stable-schoolhouse was remodeled as a residence for the couple.
Industry & Science
Office of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding and Consolidated Steel Corporation
Orange's location at a bend in the Sabine River, adjacent to the immense virgin pine forests of southeast Texas, made it an ideal site for shipbuilding. However, by 1930 all of the easily obtainable timber was exhausted, and the associated sawmills closed. The Depression of the 1930s also weighed heavily on the population of Orange.
Military
Old Niblett's Bluff, C.S.A.
On high point SE, across the Sabine in Louisiana. Busiest east Texas port of entry in the Civil War. Target for enemy movements west across Louisiana repeatedly in 1862-64. Confederate defense post. Supply depot to support constant troop movements, both for fighting and for patrols and recruiting. Crossroads for land and river traffic. Ferry point on old road through swamps.
History
Orange Chamber of Commerce
The Orange Chamber of Commerce traces its history to an 1887 citizens' committee that was formed to promote the area's business potential. A reorganization of the committee resulted in the formation of the city's Board of Trade in 1899. A further step in the evolution of the Chamber of Commerce took place in 1902 with the establishment of the Progressive League of Orange.
History
Peyton Bland
Born in 1815 in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, Peyton Bland became a vital figure in Orange County. He migrated to Texas as a young man and at Orange in 1835 enrolled to serve I the Texas Revolution. Bland participated in the Grass Fight and the Battle of San Antonio before being discharged. Later reenlisting, he performed guard duty during the Battle of San Jacinto, among other responsibilities.
History
Riverside Addition: World War II Housing in Orange
The second World War catapulted Orange into a period of unparalleled industrial growth. In 1940, as the nation prepared for possible entry into the war, the U.S. Navy Office of Shipbuilding placed orders with three shipyards: Levingston Shipbuilding Company, Consolidated Western Steel Corporation and Weaver Shipyards. Production continued to grow after the U.S. entered the war in 1941.
History
Robert B. Russell
(April 1, 1817 - Nov. 29, 1880) Born in New Milford, Conn.; emigrated to San Augustine, Texas, 1835. Joined Texian Army and fought at San Jacinto. Married Lavinia Brownrigg, June 1, 1841; had 6 children. Published San Augustine "Redlander," 1846-50; moved to Sabine Pass, 1850, then Orange, 1854. Served as postmaster of Orange under Confederacy, 1861-65.
History
Samuel H. Levingston
A native of northern Ireland, Samuel H. Levingston was born in 1832, the son of George and Margaret Levingston. At the age of fourteen he left Ireland with his brothers, David and John, and his sister, Margaret. They settled in Apalachicola, Florida, where Samuel Levingston worked as a ship carpenter. There in 1852 he married Asenatha Moore.
History
Samuel Wallace Sholars, M.D.
(Oct. 15, 1847 - May 13, 1926) A native of Talladega, Alabama, Samuel Sholars moved with his parents to Jasper County in 1858. A Confederate army veteran, Dr. Sholars received his medical degree in 1872. He practiced medicine in Orange, founded Sholars Drugstore, served as alderman, school board member, and president of the Southeast Texas Medical Society.
Transport
Site of End of the Line Station
The original charter for a rail line through the Orange area was granted to the Sabine and Galveston Railroad and Lumber Company in 1856. About the same time the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad Company was building a line west from the Mississippi River. The Louisiana Legislature later endorsed a plan to join Texas in the completion of the trade route between the states.
History
Site of The Kishi Colony
Japanese native Kichimatsu Kishi (d. 1956), a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05, established an agricultural colony at this site in 1908. The first settlers were Japanese tenant farmers. Despite their eventual American citizenship and the adoption of several Western customs, they managed to maintain the traditions of their homeland.
History
Site of World War II P. O. W. Camp
During World War II, over 50,000 German prisoners of war were interned in over 70 Texas P. O. W. camps. Base camps were established at military bases throughout the state. The base camps operated a number of branch camps in their respective areas. Detailed from a base camp at Huntsville, about 140 German prisoners were housed in a U. S. Army tent camp near this site in 1944.
History
St. Mary's Catholic Church
The earliest recorded Catholic Mass in the area was conducted by the Rev. P. F. Parisot in 1853, five years before the city of Orange was incorporated. In 1879 the Rev. Vital Quinon (d.1894), a native of France, came to Orange at the request of the local railroad superintendent Charles A. Barton, who was concerned about the city's reputation as a rowdy and lawless industrial town.
History
The City of Orange
The first known settlers in what is now the city of Orange were John and Elizabeth Harmon, who arrived in 1828 with their three children. Known first as Green's Bluff, the small farming community that developed along a bend in the Sabine River was selected as the seat of government when Orange County was created in 1852.
History
The Emmett Beuhler House
Emmett Beuhler (1853-1943), a native of Alsace-Lorraine, came here in the 1880s, during the lumbering boom. With L. Miller, who came from Germany, he established a cypress shingle mill. They built a railroad to the mill, and had 75 men on their payroll. Buehler erected this Victorian cottage about 1890 as his residence, using cypress and yellow pine, with rare curly pine trim.
Architecture
The Howell-Linscomb Home
Daniel Webster Howell (1855-1930), a carpenter and contractor, built this two-story galleried residence in 1900-03 for his wife Amanda (Sellers) (1857-1924) and their ten children. In 1918 they sold the house to Milam L. Linscomb, a local barber, and his wife Sletia. They resided here with their two children until 1927.
History
The Neyland-Gilmer House
Albert Neyland (1854-1890), son of Orange pioneers, married Louisa Jett (1855-1914) in 1875 and built a small house at this site. In 1877 Alexander Gilmer (1829-1906) bought the property. Gilmer owned sawmills throughout Texas and real estate in Orange. This Victorian residence was built around the original structure. Gilmer deeded it to his daughter Martha when she married H. S. Filson.
History
The Orange Leader
Tracing its origins to 1875, this newspaper has served Orange for over a century. It began as "The Orange Weekly Tribune" operated by A. P. Harris, general mercantile merchant. Through subsequent owners and mergers with other newspapers, the masthead underwent several name changes, including "The Orange Leader," "The Orange Leader and Weekly Tribune," "The Orange Daily Tribune," "The…
Military
U. S. S. Aulick
On September 9, 1940, a federal contract worth $82 million was issued to the Consolidated Steel Company to construct 12 Fletcher class naval destroyers here in Orange, Texas. This and other contracts coupled with the subsequent building of major shipyard facilities along the city's riverfront lifted the city out of a prolonged and deep economic decline which began in the early 1930s with the…
Military
United States Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility
At the termination of World War II, the United States had the largest naval force of any country in history. Prudent military leaders decided against scrapping surplus vessels, in favor of preserving them so they could be activiated quickly in case of emergency. In August of 1945, the Department of the Navy announced that Orange would be one of the locations for the storage of reserved vessels.
Elsewhere in Texas
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