Historical Markers in Rusk County
Texas·51 places·Page 2 of 3
History
Lou Della Crim No. 1
(600 feet south) Following the discovery of oil in East Texas on October 3, 1930, J. Malcolm Crim of Kilgore believed there was more oil to be found in the area. By October 17 drilling had begun on land belonging to his mother, Lou Della Crim. The well came in on December 28 and was named Lou Della Crim No. 1.
History
Lyles-Sanders Cemetery
ORIGINALLY SERVING THE LYLES AND SANDERS FAMILIES, THIS BURIAL GROUND WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1860, WHEN INFANT SUSAN LYLES WAS INTERRED HERE. BY 1899, INDIVIDUALS FROM OUTSIDE THE FAMILY, LIVING IN COMMUNITIES LIKE IRON MOUNTAIN, GOULD, SULPHER SPRINGS, OAK FLAT, AND GLEN FAWN, BEGAN USING THE BURIAL GROUND.
History
M. Kangerga House
Built 1901 by Michael Kangerga (1873-1962), a native of Croatia, Austria-Hungary, who settled in Henderson in 1887 and with his brother Rade Kangerga founded M. Kangerga & Bro., a mercantile and financial institution, 1895. In 1896 he married Lillian (1875-1951), daughter of Joseph S. and Ronda Tatum Gladney. He was a volunteer U. S.
History
Maple Grove Cemetery
This cemetery began with the interment of Paul and Martha Rettig's infant son, Joseph, in 1879 on Rettig family land. In 1883 two children of the tenant farming Kinsey family were buried near Joseph Rettig's grave and the site gradually became a community burial ground. A cemetery care committee was established in 1895.
History
Masonic Lodge Building
Constructed in 1884 by S. M. and J. H. Mims, this building was purchased in 1893 by Clinton Lodge No. 23, A. F. & A. M., which had been chartered in 1845 when Texas was an independent republic. The Masons conducted meetings on the second floor of the building until 1936, when they built a new lodge hall.
History
Mattie Trammel Schoolhouse
This house was built in 1892 by Charles M. Thompson and his wife, May Agatha Trammell, for May's mother, Martha (Mattie) Gibson Trammell, a certified teacher. In this building Mattie taught young men and women the rudiments of etiquette until 1910. It is an unusual architectural variant with a broad hipped roofscape interrupted by a large central hipped dormer.
History
Mays Cemetery
This pioneer burial ground served the New Salem Community. In the 1850s, the settlement had a stagecoach stop, post office and the New Salem Academy. The Mays and Swink families of Madison Co., Tennessee were among the early settlers. John Mandeville Mays owned the land where the cemetery was established, sited between Quinn Mountain and the Angelina River.
History
McCune Cemetery
Located in the Chinquapin Community, McCune Cemetery dates to 1852. Pioneer James L. McCune (1788-c.1838) came to Texas as a member of David G. Burnet's colony and received a land grant in 1835. McCune's son, James, married Delila storm, a local Cherokee, in 1836. The first known burial occurred in 1852 for Susan Elizabeth McCune, James and Delila's third child.
History
Merritt Building
One of the first lots occupied after the town of Henderson was founded in 1848, this site has been a cornerstone in the city's downtown development. Jesse F. Merritt bought the lot in 1883 and had this brick building constructed for his Sunny South Saloon.
History
Millville Cemetery
In the 1840s, Jesse Walling, veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto, set aside four acres for a church, school, Masonic lodge and cemetery for Liberty Hill community, later renamed Millville. Of nearly 400 graves, many unmarked, Ann Rushing's (d. 1851) is the earliest marked.
History
New London School Explosion
New London School Explosion on March 18, 1937, a massive explosion destroyed the New London Junior-Senior High School, instantly killing an estimated 296 students and teachers. The subsequent deaths of victims from injuries sustained that day brought the final death count to 311. The explosion was blamed on a natural gas leak beneath the school building.
History
New Prospect Baptist Church and Cemetery
Located on part of the Hansel Wright Survey, this congregation and cemetery were established in the 1850s. Many early church members, including organizers Thomas Ballenger (1811-1882) and B.F. Montgomery (1810-1900), migrated to the area from Spartanburg County, South Carolina. This site was named in honor of a church in their home state.
History
Patrick Community
In 1854 the Patrick brothers, James Moore (1795-1867), John Thomas Campbell (1814-68), and Minor Leander (b. 1818), led Presbyterian families from South Carolina to Rusk County. John built a six-room log house on the Shreveport-Douglass Road. The brothers' nearby homes formed the hub of this community.
History
Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church South Cemetery
The East Texas farming community of Pleasant Grove, also known as "Shake Rag", was established during the 1850s by southern planters. Among the first settlers were Judge Stephen Decatur Morris (1819-1898) and his wife, Mary (Bradford) (1823-1906), on whose plantation early Methodist worship services in the area were held.
History
Pleasant Hill Cemetery
Located on land donated in 1845 by Captain Robert W. Smith (1814-1851), a veteran of the Texas Revolution, this cemetery first served the members of Pleasant Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The earliest marked grave is that of DeWitt Smith, who died in 1850. Also buried here are 112 victims of the March 18, 1937, explosion which destroyed the school at New London (4 mi.
History
Rogers-Craig House
The Rogers-Craig house was built around 1890 on land that was formerly the site of the Fowler Institute. The house was originally a four-room, one story frame structure owned by Anna Caroline Montgomery Rogers, the widow of James T. Rogers, a sheriff who lost his life apprehending a criminal. Oil boom prosperity encouraged remodeling, and in 1935, owner Judge R.M.
History
Rusk County Agriculture
In the early years of Texas statehood Rusk County was home to a number of large plantations. By the end of the Civil War many of the plantations were gone, and small farms replaced larger operations. Crops included cotton, sugar cane, grains, and many vegetables and fruits. In the early 1900s lumber became a major product of the county.
History
Shiloh Cemetery
This cemetery dates from the 1853 burial of Maranda Gilbreath. Four years later, the land was officially set aside by early settler Josiah Johnson for use as a public burial ground. Many of the unidentified graves are thought to be those of slaves. The cemetery contains the burial sites of pioneers, community leaders, and war veterans. A traditional fourth of July Cemetery cleaning began in 1876.
History
T. J. Walling Log Cabin
In 1841 Thomas Jefferson Walling (1811-1902) and his wife Nancy (Price) erected this one-room log cabin. Typical of many pioneer farm homes in this area, it was built of hand-hewn timbers joined at the corners by square notches. Walling was a veteran of the Cordova Rebellion and Indian wars, 1838-1839, and lived here with his family until 1859.
History
Tatum Cemetery
Begun as a burial ground for the family of pioneer settler Albert Tatum (1810-70), this land was the site of the rose garden near his plantation home. It was first used as a cemetery in 1862 for the interment of his son william. Also buried here is Tatum's son Paul (1848-1914), donor of the Tatum townsite. Known as "Uncle Fox," Paul Tatum deeded this site as a public burial ground in 1914.
History
The 1860 Henderson Fire
The fire of August 5, 1860 in Henderson, Texas, marked the beginning of the end of the Union in Texas. As a successful agricultural and commercial center, Henderson was one of the most important cities in Texas.
History
The Railroad in Rusk County
Although plans for a rail line were made as early as 1852, railroad tracks were not laid in this area until after the end of the Civil War. Overton (14 mi. NW) became the center of Rusk County Railroading after the international & great northern line came through in the 1870s. The Henderson-Overton branch railroad was completed in 1877.
Transport
The Railroad in Rusk County
Although plans for a rail line were made as early as 1852, railroad tracks were not laid in this area until after the end of the Civil War. Overton (14 mi. NW) became the center of Rusk County Railroading after the international & Great Northern Line came through in the 1870s. The Henderson-Overton Branch Railroad was completed in 1877.
History
Town of Tatum
Wealthy Alabama native Albert Tatum (1810-1870) settled here at Trammel's Trace and Grand Bluff Road crossing in the 1840s. Slave labor built Tatum's plantation home, a social center for the area. His wife Mary gave land and a station in 1882 for Longview & Sabine Valley Railroad, later part of the Santa Fe system.
History
William C. Davis
Came to Texas from North Carolina in 1835 and settled in this area, in what was then part of Nacogdoches County. He received a land grant in Lamar County for his service in the Indian wars of the late 1830s, but retained his homestead in Rusk County and was the patriarch of a large family.
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