Palestine, Texas

Everything Palestine is known for

14 songs mention this city 6 artists from here

Palestine, Texas, a charming East Texas town known for its dogwood blossoms and historic sites, is also home to a vibrant musical spirit. The city has produced country artists like Whiskey Myers, JB And The Moonshine Band, Justin Todd Herod, Cody Cannon, and Colton Ryan. Songs such as "Palestine Texas" by T Bone Burnett and "Texas Eagle" by Steve Earle and The Del McCoury Band also mention the town.

Music in Palestine

Songs About Palestine

Palestine Texas
T Bone Burnett
82%
"Palestine Texas"
texas eagle
steve earle & the del mccoury band
70%
Texas Eagle
Steve Earle And The Del McCoury Band
70%
Die Rockin’
Whiskey Myers
60%
Trailer We Call Home
Whiskey Myers
51%
"Little white church south of Palestine"
Texas Eagle
Steve Earle
50%
"We rode to Palestine and hitchhiked back"
Stone
Whiskey Myers
45%
Bury My Bones
Whiskey Myers
21%
"And take my vessel to Anderson County"
crazy train
ozzy osbourne
10%
Her First Mistake
Lyle Lovett
7%
"From Livingston to Palestine"
With Crippled Wings
Lift To Experience
6%
"From here to Palestine"
On Palastine
JJ Grey & Mofro
6%
"A lifetime lost On Palastine"
Broken Window Serenade
Whiskey Myers
5%
"Now you work down at the Timeout Off 155"
Superlover
Allison Russell
3%
"Palestine, Israel to Tennessee"

Artists From Palestine

W
Whiskey Myers
country Pop: 71
J
Jb And The Moonshine Band
country Pop: 32
J
Justin Todd Herod
country Pop: 17
C
Cody Cannon
country Pop: 9
T
The Daygan Darst Band
country Pop: 1
C
Colton Ryan
country Pop: 1

Rivers & Roads in Song near Palestine

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Palestine.

Trinity River 10 songs Interstate 45 7 songs Kickapoo Creek 4 songs

Musical Heritage

Texas State Railroad RoadyGoat

The Texas State Railroad started with prison labor. Convicts laid this track beginning in eighteen eighty-one, built to haul iron out of the Rusk penitentiary foundry. These days it hauls tourists instead — a twenty-five-mile round trip between Palestine and Rusk, four hours through the Piney Woods, pulled by a restored steam or diesel engine. Locomotive number three sixteen was built in nineteen oh-one and now sits inside the Hall of Giants at the Palestine depot. Taylor Sheridan shot the very first episode of "Eighteen Eighty-Three" out here. And back in two thousand, Evel Knievel's son jumped the entire train on a motorcycle. Come Christmas it runs as the Polar Express — Miranda Lambert rode it in twenty nineteen. Joyce Jones, eighty-one years old, has been working these cars for fourteen of them.

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History of Palestine

Named for a Town in Illinois RoadyGoat

1846

Say it like a local: PAL-uh-steen. This East Texas town has nothing to do with the Middle East. When Anderson County split off from Houston County in March 1846, a committee of Dan Lumpkin, William Turner Sadler, and John Parker picked a 100-acre tract near the county's center for a new seat of government. The Parker family had come from Palestine in Crawford County, Illinois, and at their suggestion the new town took that name. On July 30, 1846, the first county court met, and surveyors laid out a central courthouse square ringed by 24 blocks. The county itself honors Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the last vice president of the Republic of Texas. So the name traveled from an Illinois prairie to the Piney Woods, with a pronunciation all its own.

Palestine, TX RoadyGoat

The land around Palestine, Texas, rolls gently, a subtle rise and fall you might miss if you're used to flatter horizons. At nearly 500 feet above sea level, it’s high enough to catch the breeze, and the slight elevation contributes to the area's distinct character. This isn't stark, dramatic terrain, but a place of quiet persistence, where the red dirt nourishes thick forests and the Dogwood trees put on a show every spring, their blossoms painting the hillsides white. The Caddo people knew this land intimately long before any town was imagined, understanding its rhythms and bounty. The railroads recognized something special in this location too. They understood the value of a place that could connect different points, a hub for commerce and travel. While a devastating fire once threatened to erase the town’s progress, the spirit of the people – a blend of that Southern hospitality and a quiet resilience – helped rebuild. Just as the Dogwoods return each year, Palestine endured. Even now, you can feel that history in the air, a sense of rootedness that comes from generations living on and working this very ground.

The Girl Carried Off RoadyGoat

Around Palestine, Texas, the Parker family name runs deep, and that family sits at the center of one of the most haunting stories in Texas history, part of which ends right here in Anderson County. Members of the clan built Fort Parker to the northwest, near the headwaters of the Navasota River. On a May morning in eighteen thirty-six, a large raiding party struck the fort, and a nine-year-old girl named Cynthia Ann Parker was carried off. She grew up Comanche, married the chief Peta Nocona, and had a son named Quanah, who would become the last free Comanche chief. Recaptured by Texas Rangers a quarter century later, Cynthia Ann never readjusted to the world she had been born into and died grieving for the family the Comanche had become to her. She was buried in Anderson County soil, at Fosterville, before her son later moved her remains north to Oklahoma. Same family, same county, same name that hangs over this town.

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Captain Steven L. Bennett

1972

Born in Palestine on April 22, 1946, Steven Logan Bennett grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana. He graduated from Youngsville High School in 1964 and then enrolled at Southwestern Louisiana State (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) where he majored in Aeronautical Engineering and participated in the Air Force ROTC. While at university, Steven was Commander of the Arnold Air Society. In 1968, he joined the Air Force in Big Spring. In 1970, Bennett competed advance training on the B-52 bomber as well as training as a forward air controller. In 1972, following graduation, Bennett reported for active service in Vietnam. After only three months of combat, he earned the air medal with three oak leaf clusters.
 On June 29, 1972, Bennett was on a mission with back seater Marine Captain Mike Brown. On duty for three hours, they learned of several hundred North Vietnamese about to attack a small South Vietnamese platoon. Knowing that they were the platoon's only help, Bennett and Brown made several passes, chasing the North Vietnamese away. Their plane was hit from behind by a surface to air missile (SAM), damaging one engine, causing a fire abroad and forcing the plane down. Bennett headed to the Gulf of Tonkin to drop fuel and eject but discovered that Brown's parachute was damaged by the SAM hit. Rather than save himself, Bennett ditched the aircraft and the ensuing impact trapped him under water. Brown was able to escape and was rescued. With extraordinary heroism, Captain Steven Bennett gave his own life to save his companion. He was posthumously awarded the medal of honor on August 8, 1974, by President Gerald R. Ford, and is buried in Lafayette Memorial Park. (2018)

Historical Marker →

John H. Reagan

1818

John Henninger Reagan, son of Timothy and Elizabeth Lusk Reagan, was born on October 8, 1818, in Sevierville, Tennessee. He joined the Republic of Texas Army in 1839 and served in the Cherokee War. In the early 1840s, he held several public offices in Nacogdoches County, and in 1847 he obtained a law license and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. He moved to Palestine in 1851 and opened a law office in his home. He was elected Texas 9th Judicial District Judge in 1852. 
 Reagan, elected U.S. Congressman in 1857, resigned in 1861 over what he believed was a Federal takeover of states' rights. He served as postmaster general of the Confederacy during the Civil War. He was captured by Federal troops in 1865 and imprisoned for 18 months. He returned to Texas in 1866 and established a family farm near Palestine at the former site of Fort Houston. 
 During his later tenure as a U.S. Congressman (1876-1887) and U.S. Senator (1887-1891) Reagan led the fight that brought railroad monopolies under federal control with the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887. In 1891 he became the first chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, a position he held until 1901. 
 Reagan died of pneumonia on March 6, 1905. The entire Texas legislative assembly attended his funeral. (1994, 2006)

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Kolstad Jewelers

1853

Soren Kolstad (1823 - 1918), a skilled artisan and clockmaker, migrated to Texas from his native Norway in 1852. He settled in Palestine, where he opened a jewelry store in 1853. The store has occupied four locations. Mahogany display cases, installed in the third shop in 1916, were transferred to the present site in 1933. Managed by five generations of the Kolstad family, this is believed to be the oldest retail store in continuous operation by its founding family in the state of Texas. Members of the Kolstad family have also been leaders in religious, civic, and educational activities. (1977)

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Bennett, Steven L.

1972

Steven L. Bennett, Medal of Honor recipient, was born at Palestine, Texas, on April 22, 1946, son of Elwin Bennett. He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and was a member of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. He was commissioned in the United States Air Force on August 12, 1968, and served on active duty until his death in Vietnam on June 29, 1972. He was assigned to the Twentieth Tactical Air Support Squadron at DaNang Air Base, with primary duty as a forward air controller. On June 29, 1972, he was the pilot of a light aircraft flying an artillery-adjustment mission along a heavily defended area over a large concentration of enemy troops massing to attack friendly forces. He requested tactical air support but was told that none was available. Determined to aid the endangered troops, he strafed the enemy positions four times, and the enemy began a retreat. Bennett continued his attack, and as he completed his fifth pass, his aircraft was struck by a surface-to-air missile. The plane was severely damaged in the left engine and the left main landing gear. With the aircraft on fire, he realized that a landing at a friendly airfield was impossible. He instructed his observer to prepare to eject, but was informed that the observer's parachute had been shredded during the attack. Bennett chose to ditch in the nearby Gulf of Tonkin, with the full knowledge that this type of aircraft had never been successfully ditched in water. When the plane struck the water it cartwheeled and was damaged so that escape from the cockpit was impossible. The observer escaped and was rescued, thanks to the selfless action of Captain Bennett. Bennett's wife, Linda, of San Antonio, received the posthumous award from Vice President Gerald Ford at the White House in Washington, on August 8, 1974. Bennett is buried in Lafayette Memorial Cemetery at Lafayette, Louisiana. In addition to his wife, he was survived by one child.

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Lowery, Fred

1909

Fred Lowery, the "king of whistlers," was born in Palestine, Texas, on November 2, 1909, the son of William and Mary (White) Lowery. He lost his eyesight before he was two years old. His mother died shortly after his birth, and his father deserted him and his three older sisters, who were then raised by their grandmother Lucy White. In September 1917, at the age of seven, Lowery entered the Texas School for the Blind (now the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired ) in Austin, where he was in attendance for the next twelve years. His whistling career began with the encouragement of his piano teacher, Peggy Richter, and a bird imitator named Ernest Nichols. In May 1929 Lowery and Richter traveled to Chicago, where Lowery took lessons in acting at the American Institute to develop stage presence. In August 1929 he had his first spot on a radio show, the Farm and Home Hour . In November of that year he left the School for the Blind and moved into the home of Peggy Richter. Lowery continued to perform, and soon after a performance at the National Business Confidence Week, a Lions Club event, he received a letter inviting him to try out for a full-time job with the Early Birds pogram on station WFAA in Dallas. In 1932 entrepreneur and carnival pitchman Henry Murphy hired Lowery, along with the other Early Birds stars, for a six-month tour with Lignon Smith's band in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. They worked out a two-hour program with music and comedy called "Heads Up!" When this program ran out of money, Lowery returned to work at WFAA. Despite some apprehension and self-doubt, in 1934 he moved to New York City to pursue his musical career. He joined the Vincent Lopez orchestra and, during the ensuing four years with Lopez, met and performed with many stars, including Bing Crosby, Mary Pickford, and Jack Dempsey. Toward the end of 1938 Lowery began working for Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights. After this stint he began touring solo. He had a radio show and hosted La Rue's Supper Club in Indianapolis in the early 1950s. From the 1960s into the early 1980s Lowery entertained schoolchildren at assembly programs. In his career he also appeared with Steve Allen, Edgar Bergen, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Stan Kenton, Ed Sullivan, and Paul Whiteman. His biggest-selling single was "Indian Love Call" (1939) which sold over two million copies. His autobiography, Whistling in the Dark , was published in 1983. In 1932 Lowery began courting Gracie Johnston in Dallas. He had met her years earlier at a party he attended in Jacksonville, Texas. Fred and Gracie were married on December 20, 1940. Their only child, Fred M. Lowery, was born the next year. Lowery died at home in Jacksonville on December 11, 1984, and was survived by his wife and son.

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Rogers, Christopher Columbus

1874

Christopher Columbus Rogers, lawman and gunfighter, was born near Tennessee Colony in Anderson County, Texas, in 1846, the son of William Rogers, erstwhile sheriff of Anderson County. He was educated in Palestine and spent the Civil War as a guard at a Confederate prison. After the war he worked as a printer for a Palestine newspaper, the Trinity Advocate . Rogers seems to have established a reputation as a violent opponent of Reconstruction by beating up John H. Morrison, a Freedmen's Bureau agent, and by murdering Dan Cary, a Republican marshall of Palestine. After killing Cary, Rogers operated a saloon in Tyler for a time, where he killed a fellow saloonkeeper, Mose Remington, in a gunfight. Rogers had returned to Palestine by 1873. In 1874 he was elected city marshall of Palestine, an office he held till his death. During his tenure as marshall in what was then an unruly railway town, Rogers is supposed to have killed an additional nine men. When Judge Grayson and his wife were murdered by night riders in 1878, supposedly for shielding Blacks from terrorists, Rogers made seven arrests in connection with the crime. In 1886 he prevented striking railway workers from blocking train service through Palestine. The next year he was involved in a gunfight with a friend, Tom O'Donnell, who was resisting arrest for a misdemeanor; O'Donnell was killed, and Rogers suffered a broken arm. By now a fairly controversial figure in the town, the marshall was suspended while the incident was investigated, and, while sitting unarmed in a saloon in 1888, was stabbed to death by Bill Young as a result of an argument over the O'Donnell incident. Rogers was buried in East Hill Cemetery in Palestine on June 27, 1888.

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Things to Do in Palestine

food 0.2 mi away
Pint and Barrel Drafthouse

Gastropub in Old Town Palestine at 302 East Crawford Street. Craft beer, outdoor picnic seating, sandwiches and famously good fries. Closed Sundays.
day trip
Day Trip to Palestine 🐗 (FULL EPISODE) S8 E7

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Everything Near Palestine

218 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Palestine on the Map
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