Name: Livingston, Texas
Address: Livingston, TX

Livingston, TX RoadyGoat

Livingston isn't just another dot on the East Texas map. Situated where the rolling pine forests meet the edge of the Trinity River basin, its story is entwined with both the land and the water. The timber industry, fueled by those seemingly endless loblolly pines, gave the town its first real boom, though the bust during the Great Depression hit hard. But the river, eventually dammed to create Lake Livingston, offered a new path. Now, where once log trucks rumbled, you'll find weekenders towing boats, drawn by the promise of fishing and a slower pace. It’s easy to say that Lake Livingston is the reason Livingston exists today, bringing in tourism dollars and supporting local businesses. And that's partially true. But ask a local, and they'll tell you it's more than just the lake. It's the feeling of community, the kind where folks still wave as you drive by. It's about a deep connection to the land, a heritage reaching back to the Alabama-Coushatta people, and a quiet pride in a town that has weathered its share of storms and come out stronger, a welcoming place, still standing tall amidst the pines.

Livingston, TX RoadyGoat

Livingston wouldn't be Livingston without its trees. The town sits smack-dab in the middle of the East Texas Piney Woods, a sea of loblolly pines stretching as far as the eye can see. For generations, timber has been king here. It started in the 19th century, with small sawmills popping up along the creeks to process the seemingly endless supply of lumber. The railroad came through, opening up bigger markets, and the timber industry really took off. Even the Great Depression, which hit Livingston hard, couldn't kill it. The forests were always there, ready to be harvested and rebuilt. Of course, things have changed over the years. The old-growth forests are mostly gone, and sustainable forestry practices are more important than ever. But the connection to the land remains strong. You see it in the faces of the folks working in the construction trades, building new homes and businesses with the wood that still shapes our economy. You hear it in the stories passed down about the early days of logging, the hard work and the resourcefulness it took to make a living from the land. Lake Livingston, too, while created much later, is a direct result of managing the Trinity River watershed that also feeds those forests. That deep connection to the natural world is part of what makes Livingston feel like home.

Livingston, TX RoadyGoat

Livingston is a place that hums with a quiet sort of pride. You feel it in the friendly waves as you drive down the street, and you see it in the way folks take care of things. This is East Texas, where the loblolly pines stand tall and the land is mostly flat. Lake Livingston shapes a lot of life around here, and the echoes of the past are never far away. It’s a place where timber once drove the economy, though times were hard during the Depression. Now, you're more likely to see folks working construction or in the shops around town. But Livingston isn't just about hard work and small-town charm. This corner of Polk County has ties to some notable figures.

Lt. Col. James M. Parker, Jr.

1942

Born in Houston and raised in Livingston, James Parker attended Lon Morris Junior College and Texas A&M University. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, with his first assignment to fly anti-submarine patrols along the Pacific coast. As the U.S. entered WWII, Parker volunteered for the Doolittle Raid, the secret mission which was the first attack on the Japanese mainland. In April 1942, aboard Whirling Dervish with Crew #9, co-pilot Parker and the B-25 crew successfully completed their bombing mission on Japan. Low on gas, the crew bailed out and were taken into Chinese custody. Lt. Parker returned to the U.S. and, after recovering from malaria, returned to duty and served in the U.S., Africa and Europe, retiring in 1947 with numerous decorations. (2019)

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Jones, Margo, Birthplace of

1911

(1911-1955) World-famed genius of drama. Won Broadway acclaim directing "The Glass Menagerie." Led move to decentralize American theatre. Established, in Dallas, theatre-in-the-round (first professional, resident, repertory theatre of its kind) and wrote book on its technique. Premiered 58 new plays. Discovered Tennessee Williams, William Inge and others. A dedicated "artistic humanist," she provided channels through which the spiritual qualities of creative people could be communicated. (1967)

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Chief John Blount

1814

John Blount was the son of William Blount, later a U.S. senator, and a Coushatta woman. While in Florida, he became principal chief of the Apalachee or Apalachicola Indians. During the First Seminole War (1814-1815), he achieved a certain level of distinction by serving as a guide to General Andrew Jackson. After Jackson became president, Blount was invited to Washington D.C. to be recognized for his zealous efforts and awarded with a silver breast-plate that claimed him as Jackson's "faithful guide." 
 In addition to his personal connection with Jackson, Blount is known for his activities during the time of the Trail of Tears when the Indian Removal Act of 1830 allowed the government to move Indians from Florida to federal territory in the West. Blount received special permission due to his ties with Jackson to take the Apalachicola Indians to Texas, then Mexican territory, where his uncle, Chief Red Shoes, was already settled on the Trinity River. Blount and 256 of his people began the long and difficult journey to the current Polk County in 1834. After paddling down the Apalachicola River, they reached a bay near "Oak Point" where they were placed on a vessel bound for New Orleans. They suffered various trials and delays which left them with no money for supplies, thus forcing them to travel the rest of the way on land. More tribulations ensued upon arrival at their destination for Blount and his group numbering 152. Chief Blount was buried at the Coushatta settlement of Red Shoes. Although some of the tribe moved to Oklahoma in 1899, many descendants of Blount's persevering people still reside in the area. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011

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Jones, Margaret Virginia

1911

Margaret Virginia (Margo) Jones, theater director-producer and pioneer of the American resident theater movement, was born on December 12, 1911, in Livingston, Texas, the second child of Richard Harper and Martha Pearl (Collins) Jones. After graduating from Livingston High School at the age of fifteen, she entered the Girls' Industrial College of Texas in Denton (now Texas Woman's University), where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in speech in 1932 and a master of arts in psychology and education in 1933. Her thesis was about Henrik Ibsen. In 1933 and 1934 she worked and studied at the Southwestern School of the Theatre in Dallas with John William Rogers, Frank Harting, and Louis Veda Quince. In the summer of 1934 she enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse Summer School to study with the director and founder, Gilmor Brown. After a directing stint at the Ojai Community Theatre, in 1935 Margo Jones traveled around the world seeing theater in Japan, China, India, Africa, England, France, and New York. She returned to Texas and became assistant director of the Houston Federal Theatre Project. In 1936 she attended the Moscow Art Theatre Festival, and on the boat home she met Brooks Atkinson, an influential New York Times theater critic, who championed her work throughout her career. Margo Jones founded the Houston Community Players in 1936 and directed the theater until 1942; during this time she discovered such talent as actors Ray Walston and Larry Blyden and writers Charles William Goyen and Cy Howard. She earned national attention as a member of the National Theatre Conference and in 1939 was named by Stage magazine as one of twelve outstanding theater directors outside of New York, the only woman selected. From 1942 until 1944 Jones taught theater and directed plays at the University of Texas. In early 1942 she met playwright Tennessee Williams, and they began their personal and professional association. She directed his play You Touched Me (cowritten with Donald Windham) at the Pasadena Playhouse and at the Cleveland Playhouse in 1943, thus bringing Williams to the attention of national theater critics. In 1944 she directed Williams's The Purification at the Pasadena Playhouse. During this time she had been formulating an idea that would change the shape of theater in America. She wanted to establish a network of nonprofit professional resident theaters outside of New York-theaters presenting new plays and the classics. In early 1944 she met with John Rosenfield, Jr. , Dallas theater critic and arts maven, who encouraged her to apply for a Rockefeller fellowship and establish her prototype theater in Dallas. She began her fellowship in 1944 studying theater around the country, but interrupted it to codirect Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie . With the commercial success of this play Jones and Rosenfield had the impetus they needed to found the first nonprofit resident theater supported by the Dallas community and such wealthy and prominent Dallasites as board members Eugene B. McDermott (who later founded Texas Instruments ) and oil geologist Everett L. DeGolyer (later the publisher of Saturday Review ), as well as board members Tennessee Williams and noted theatrical designer Jo Mielziner. The theater, incorporated in 1945 as Dallas Civic Theatre, did not open until the summer of 1947. In the interim Margo Jones raised money, looked for a suitable theater space, and directed Maxine Wood's On Whitman Avenue and Maxwell Anderson's Joan of Lorraine , staring Ingrid Bergman, on Broadway. In June 1947 the theater opened under the name Theatre '47 (the name to change with the year), and was housed in the Gulf Oil Building, a sleek stucco-and-glass-block building designed in the International style by Swiss-born architect William Lescaze, on the grounds of Fair Park in Dallas. The theater was the first professional arena theater (theater-in-the-round) in the country and was the first modern nonprofit professional resident t

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Scott, John

1871

John Scott, principal chief of the Alabama-Coushatta Indians of Texas from 1871 to 1913 and grandson of a chief of this tribe before these Indians came to Texas, was born in 1805 near Opelousas, Louisiana. He moved with his family first to Peach Tree Village in northwestern Tyler County, Texas; then to Fenced-In Village three miles southeast of Peach Tree Village; to Jim Barclay Village in western Tyler County; to Rock Village in eastern Polk County, Texas; and finally to the present Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation. He arrived at this reservation during the winter of 1854–55. In 1862 Scott was among nineteen Alabama-Coushattas who were recruited and sworn into service with Company G, Twenty-fourth Texas Cavalry (Second Lancers), Confederate States of America Army. After brief service at Arkansas Post on the Arkansas River, the Indians were returned to Texas in December 1862. During the remainder of the Civil War Scott and the other Alabama-Coushattas served under the command of two Confederate officers, Maj. Alexander Hamilton Washington and later Capt. William Herbert Beazley . They erected barriers against federal gunboats on the Trinity River, constructed flatboats, and gathered supplies along the Trinity. In an 1871 election of tribal leaders, the Alabama-Coushattas elected John Scott and John Walker as principal chief and subchief. A partial list of the principal chief's duties included serving as the moral leader, a positive example, for the tribal members; representing the tribe at various types of meetings and functions; serving as tribal spokesman on all occasions; keeping important tribal records, including deeds to tribal land; assigning tracts of land for use by individual tribal members; settling disputes among the Alabama-Coushattas; calling meetings; serving as the leader in religious and educational activities; directing hunting, including assigning areas to hunting groups; and throwing out balls to begin ball games, directing dances, and conducting related social functions. After a Presbyterian mission church was established on the reservation in the 1880s, Scott became an elder in it. Beginning in 1881 his name was listed frequently as a trustee for the community school on the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation. Scott lived 108 years and became an important source of information about the Alabama-Coushattas. Many government representatives, journalists, and other researchers contacted him for information that was included in reports and articles. Among those who sought Scott's assistance was John R. Swanton, Bureau of American Ethnology, who visited the reservation in 1912. Scott died on March 3, 1913, and was buried in the tribal cemetery on the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation. In January 1969 the Texas State Historical Survey Committee (now the Texas Historical Commission ) placed an official marker near his grave.

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Thompson, Charles Martin

1928

Charles Martin Thompson, whose Indian name was Sun-Kee, principal chief of the Alabama-Coushatta Indians from 1928 to 1935, was born on the reservation in Polk County, Texas, in 1860. Not only did he become a leader in tribal business, church activities, and school development, but he also ranked above all other tribal members in efforts to focus attention on the Alabama-Coushatta cultural heritage. Thompson attended school on the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation, where he learned to use the English language very effectively in reading, writing, and speaking. He worked in the timber industry and farmed his allotted area. Also, he was occasionally employed by White farmers in the vicinity of the reservation. In 1904 he married Josie Sylestine, a granddaughter of Colabe Cillistine , who was a prominent subchief of the Alabama Indians during the first half of the nineteenth century. The couple had two daughters and one son. Thompson was skillful in the production of bows and arrows, whistles or flutes, drums, blowguns, and other craft items. He attended many public gatherings in Polk County and other counties in southeastern Texas to sell these products and demonstrate their uses. He was foremost among the Alabama-Coushatta storytellers. In 1912 John R. Swanton of the Bureau of American Ethnology made two brief trips to the reservation, and on both occasions Thompson served as the principal informant as well as translator for Swanton's interviews with other Indians. In December 1932 Frances Densmore of the Bureau of American Ethnology made a survey of Alabama-Coushatta music. For this project Thompson recorded a large group of songs (these are chants; no words are spoken) related to eleven dances. Thompson was a faithful member of the Presbyterian Mission Church on the reservation and served his church as an elder. Also, he was on the school board for the Alabama-Coushatta common school district. In 1928 he was elected chief of the Alabama-Coushattas. He went to Washington, D.C., that year with a tribal delegation to request federal help in expanding and improving the reservation. As a result, in June 1928 the United States Congress appropriated $40,000 for the Alabama-Coushattas. Of this amount, $29,000 was used for the purchase of 3,071 acres of land adjoining the original grant of land for a reservation. The remainder was spent primarily for horses, cattle, hogs, and livestock feed. In 1929 the state of Texas appropriated $47,000 for the construction of a gymnasium, a hospital, a home for the reservation administrator, and twenty-five cottages for the Alabama-Coushattas. Later, twenty-five additional houses were built. During his seven years as tribal chief, Thompson served effectively as leader of the Alabama-Coushattas and represented the tribe in various business, social, and religious meetings. He continued to serve as chief until his death on September 8, 1935. He was buried in the tribal cemetery on the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation.

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Livingston, Texas

Music in Livingston

Songs About Livingston

Artists From Livingston

Rivers & Roads in Song near Livingston

History of Livingston

Livingston, TX RoadyGoat

Livingston, TX RoadyGoat

Livingston, TX RoadyGoat

Lt. Col. James M. Parker, Jr.

Jones, Margo, Birthplace of

Chief John Blount

Jones, Margaret Virginia

Scott, John

Thompson, Charles Martin

Everything Near Livingston