Everything Sebastopol is known for
Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Sebastopol.
Sebastopol, Texas. It's a place that whispers stories if you know how to listen. Drive through today and you'll see rolling hills dotted with cattle, a testament to the enduring agricultural heart of this land. The Brazos River isn’t far off, its presence shaping the landscape and the lives of the people who settled here long ago.
Sebastopol, Texas, a little unincorporated community nestled in the rolling hills of western Palo Pinto County, owes its unusual name to a faraway war. Back in 1856, when the community was finding its feet along those early transportation routes, the Crimean War was fresh in everyone's minds. The siege of Sevastopol – that's Sebastopol spelled the old way – was a major event, a symbol of fierce resistance. So, that's what the settlers chose to call their new home, perhaps hoping to imbue their own community with that same spirit of resilience. Or maybe, as some folks say, there really was an old hermit everyone called "Seb" who lived out that way. Whatever the truth, the name stuck. It's a fitting name, really. This is a place that's weathered its share of storms, both literal and figurative. The tornado that ripped through here in the early 20th century left a mark, but the community rebuilt, just like those soldiers held out in Crimea. Agriculture, especially cattle ranching, has always been at the heart of life here, a constant rhythm tied to the land and the Brazos River nearby. Even though the old pottery works are gone, and time seems to move a little slower these days, Sebastopol persists, a quiet corner of Texas with a name that echoes a world away.
Sebastopol sits nestled in those gentle hills, a place where the Brazos River’s nearby flow has always shaped life. It’s a name that might conjure images of distant battlefields – and that's exactly the point. Founded back in 1856, they say the settlers, fresh off news of the Crimean War, chose the name Sebastopol to mark their own little corner of the world. Some folks even whisper that a local hermit, Old Seb, had more to do with it. Whatever the truth, the town benefited from being right there along those early transportation routes. It saw a boom in its early days, even developing a pottery industry that thrived for a time, shipping goods out across the region. But life in Sebastopol hasn't always been easy. The land provides, especially for cattle ranching which remains a cornerstone of the economy. But the weather can be unforgiving. In the early 20th century, a tornado ripped through the town, leaving devastation in its wake. It was a blow that reshaped the community and tested its resilience. Still, folks rebuilt, held on to their land, and kept the spirit of Sebastopol alive. Now, Sebastopol is a quiet place. Time seems to slow down a bit. But if you listen closely, you can still hear echoes of its past in the wind rustling through the trees.
This cemetery originally served residents of the Vaughns Mill community (later Bold Springs and then Carlisle). The settlement was named for Moses Bond, who donated property for this burial ground after coming here with family in the 1870s. The oldest marked grave here is of Civil War veteran William Cooper (d. 1867). Others interred here include area pioneers, community leaders, and two original cemetery trustees, W.E. Clark and Charity Hall. The cemetery features grave slabs, vertical stones, A false crypt and curbing. John and Alice Chessher deeded additional land in 1941 and acreage was again added in 1990. Today, the Carlisle Cemetery Association, organized in 1980, cares for this historic burial ground. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2008
Rebert H. “R. H.” Harris, gospel singer, was born on March 23, 1916, in Trinity, Texas, to James and Katie Harris. He was the sixth of nine children. He grew up on a farm thirteen miles outside of Trinity in Trinity County northeast of Huntsville. The Harris family lived about 300 yards from the Eastham Prison Camp. Harris grew up listening to the mixture of spirituals and blues sung by the prisoners, and at the age of seven, he started arranging his first gospel quartet called the Friendly Four. While still a young child, Harris wrote the song “I Want Jesus to Walk Around My Bedside.” When Harris moved to Trinity to start seventh grade at Trinity Colored High School the group became known as the Friendly Gospel Singers. After tenth grade, fifteen-year-old Harris was attending seminary at Mary Allen College in Crockett, Texas, when he met Silas Roy Crain and was asked to join Crain’s Houston-based group, the Soul Stirrers , a jubilee group that sang up-tempo poppy songs such as “Down by the Riverside.” Harris agreed and joined the group in the mid-1930s as tenor and innovatively changed their sound by directing the group away from the old jubilee style to a slower, deeper, and more passionate and modern gospel style. In addition to Harris’s first tenor vocals, Crain brought in another tenor, James Medlock, who served as a second lead vocalist. Harris and Medlock traded lead vocals, using what Harris deemed “delayed time,” with one singer crooning high and sweet and the other shouting hoarse and low, creating irresistible syncopations. In the late 1930s the group moved to Chicago but spent much of their time touring the country and performing on the gospel circuit. The group was nationally known by the early 1940s. In 1947 Harris with other quartet lead singers organized the National Singing Quartets Union of America to promote their music. Harris was later named president. The Soul Stirrers recorded for Aladdin in 1948. Eventually, the extensive touring began to take its toll on Harris and in 1950, despite the Soul Stirrers being signed to the Specialty label earlier that year, he announced that he was leaving the group. Before his exit, the group recorded more than twenty songs for Specialty that appeared on their highly-rated album Shine On Me. After Harris’s departure, the group replaced him with Sam Cooke, a young singer who idolized and modeled his singing style after Harris. After leaving the Soul Stirrers, Harris formed the group the Christland Singers with ex-Soul Stirrers James Medlock and Leroy Taylor. The group recorded for the Peacock and Nashboro labels. He later sang for the Gospel Paraders, which recorded on Sam Cooke’s label, SAR Records, about 1960. He was also a member of the Masonic Quintet. However none of these groups experienced the success Harris had with the Soul Stirrers. Harris moved on to work as a florist to support his ex-wife Jeannette Harris (ex-Golden Harps singer) and their four children, but he always remained close to gospel music. In 1972 his career experienced somewhat of a revival after his performance at Radio City Music Hall, and in 1973 he sang three songs on Precious Lord: The Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey, an anthology for Columbia. In 1975 Harris recorded the album The Father of Them All with his Masonic Quintet for Nashboro Records, and in 1978 he recorded another album, Because He Lives, for his own RHJC label. This was his last recording. Due to a throat ailment, Harris was unable to sing the last several years of his life, but he remained active in the National Gospel Quartets Union. Despite his many musical projects after the Soul Stirrers, Harris will always be remembered as one of the original Soul Stirrers. In 1989 he was inducted as an early influence into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Soul Stirrers. He was also inducted as a member of the group in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000. Harris was married twice: first to Jeannette Harris, with whom he had four
The Soul Stirrers was one of Texas’s most innovative gospel groups and pioneers of the contemporary quartet sound. It was the first gospel group to incorporate two lead singers. Their unique arrangements, which served as the basis for doo-wop and R&B, set the pace for gospel and pop vocal groups making the Soul Stirrers forefathers in the development of R&B. The musical group traces its beginnings to two different quartets. Silas Roy “Senior” Crain had been performing since the mid-1920s in Trinity, Texas, when he formed a quartet with some of the other teens in his church and named themselves the Soul Stirrers after an audience member told Crain how their music had stirred his soul. When Crain’s group fell apart, he relocated to Houston. There he met Walter La Beaux who, in September 1929, had organized the New Pleasant Green Gospel Singers with himself as tenor, Edward Allen Rundless, Jr. (second tenor), C. N. Parker (baritone), and W. R. Johnson (bass). Upon Johnson’s passing four years later, O. W. Thomas took his place and a year later, upon Parker’s passing, he was replaced by Crain. Crain joined La Beaux’s group with the condition that they change the name to the Soul Stirrers. In 1934 La Beaux left the group to preach the gospel and was replaced by A. L. Johnson. Two years later, in 1936, Jessie James (J. J.) Farley (bass) joined the group. It was this same year that Alan Lomax first recorded the group for the Library of Congress. About this time M. L. Franklin of Trinity, Texas, sang second tenor. Around 1937 first tenor Rebert H. Harris of Trinity, Texas, joined the group. Harris, who admired blues artists such as Leroy Carr, Blind Lemon Jefferson , and Lil Green, brought a new sound to the group’s old-fashioned Jubilee harmonies. Soon Crain recruited another tenor, James Medlock, who served as the second lead vocalist to complete the classic early lineup of the group. Under Harris’s direction, the group began to develop their innovative modern gospel style by creating the “swing lead” concept by combining four-part harmony and two alternating lead vocalists. His other concepts included introducing ad-libbing lyrics, singing in delayed time, repeating words in the background, and having its members move about stage in time to the music. These new ideas differentiated the Soul Stirrers from other groups, causing their popularity to quickly grow. The group moved to Chicago in the late 1930s and toured the gospel circuit across the country. In 1939 they began performing on radio alongside the Stamps-Baxter Quartet , becoming one of the superior gospel groups by the 1940s. During World War II they played in USO shows. The group’s popularity led them to perform at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In 1948 the Soul Stirrers made their first public recording with Aladdin, and in 1950 they were signed to Specialty Records where they recorded more than twenty tracks for their album Shine On Me, including their debut single “By and By,” which was followed by originals “I’m Still Living on Mother’s Prayer” and “In That Awful Hour.” Through the years the group was joined by other great singers such as Leroy Taylor, Julius Cheeks, T. L. Bruster (Brewster), and R. B. Robinson, founder of the Highway QCs, which drew several of the group’s lead singers. The 1950s brought many changes to the Soul Stirrers. Near the end of 1950, Harris left the group and was replaced by nineteen-year-old Sam Cooke, singer with the Highway QCs, who had idolized and modeled his style after Harris. The group also added Paul Foster to be the new second tenor (replacing Medlock). In 1951 the Soul Stirrers recorded their first album featuring Cooke, entitled Jesus Gave Me Water. Cooke’s youthfulness, angelic voice, and idol good looks brought a sexual presence to the group causing women, even in this religious setting, to faint. Their single “Peace in the Valley” featuring Cooke became a classi
Johnnie Harrison Taylor, singer, was born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, on May 5, 1937, to Willie Taylor and Ida Blackman. Taylor grew up in West Memphis, Arkansas, but spent much of his adult life in Texas. Inspired by blues and gospel music , he recorded with a doo-wop group called the Five Echoes during the early 1950s. While still a teenager, he joined such gospel groups as the Highway QCs and the Texas-based Soul Stirrers, in which he replaced Sam Cooke as lead singer. The Soul Stirrers, who traced their origins to Trinity, Texas, in the mid-1920s, are considered the founders of modern gospel, an urbane, secularized variation of rural church music. One of their innovations was to employ two lead singers. In 1963 Taylor was signed to Cooke's SAR label, where he recorded the hit single "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day." Although by that time he had found secular music more lucrative, Taylor's vocal style continued to reflect his strong religious roots. SAR folded after Cooke's death in 1964, and Taylor signed with Stax Records in Memphis in 1966. There he recorded his biggest hit to that time, "Who's Making Love?," which went to Number 1 on the R&B charts in 1968 and sold a million copies. This was followed by a string of bestsellers, including "Take Care of Your Homework," "I've Got to Love Somebody's Baby," "Steal Away," and "Cheaper to Keep Her." Although such big names as Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs, and Sam & Dave all recorded with Stax, Taylor was that label's all-time best-selling artist. During the early 1970s Taylor continued to score with Top 10 R&B singles, including his second Number 1 in 1971, "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone," and his third in 1973, "I Believe in You (You Believe in Me)." When Stax folded in 1975, Taylor went to Columbia Records, where, in 1976, he had the biggest hit of his career, "Disco Lady." The song was the first single ever to be certified platinum for two million copies. Eargasm , the album from which the single came, was banned by many radio stations because it was considered too suggestive. Nevertheless, the record's success demonstrated that Taylor's sexually-charged soul music appealed to popular audiences. Because the single was released in the middle of the 1970s disco era, Taylor found himself incorrectly tagged as a disco artist, a label he disavowed. Temporarily unable to generate additional success, Taylor left in 1982 for Beverly Glen Records, where he climbed back onto the charts with the single "What About My Love?" His final stop (1984) was at Malaco Records, where he made well-received albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s, such as This Is Your Night , Wall to Wall , and Gotta Get the Groove Back . Although his career had waned considerably, Taylor continued to tour across the country and draw respectable crowds in various R&B venues. Known as the "Philosopher of Soul," during his long career he incorporated blues, soul, pop, and funk into his repertoire. He scored eleven Top 40 hits on the Billboard pop chart, and recorded about twelve albums for Stax alone. Taylor was the recipient of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award in 1996. He made his home in Duncanville, Texas, and died of a heart attack in a Dallas hospital on May 31, 2000. He was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. During his life, Taylor was married twice and openly acknowledged his paternity of six children. He died intestate, and during probate proceedings, three more individuals (one woman and two men) came forward as his children. DNA tests confirmed their claims, and Taylor’s estate was divided equally among his nine children. The case was later featured in an episode of Investigation Discovery’s documentary series The Will: Family Secrets Revealed in 2011. In 2016 Taylor’s life and career were featured in an episode of the documentary series Unsung .
This cemetery marks the site of Thomas Plantation and Steamboat Landing. John R. Thomas, a native of Alabama, settled here in 1854. A Confederate soldier during the Civil War, he was captured at the Battle of Arkansas in 1863 and transferred to Camp Chase, Ohio. He died there one month later. Graves include those of his mother Lucy Day Thomas (1794-1869) and brothers Budd Fry Thomas (1838-1862), also a veteran of the Confederate army, and Leroy Thomas (d. 1871), who owned land across the river. A nephew, Jack Thomas, sold this property by 1883 and moved to Polk County.
The Trinity Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church traces its beginnings to 1882 when it was established as a mission church. The Reverend W.M. Apling was appointed as the first pastor. Land for a church was donated in 1887 by the New York and Texas Land Company, Ltd. A small one-room building was erected by 1890. To house its growing numbers, the members redesigned the sanctuary. Changes included relocating the entrance, adding a bell tower, and attaching a wing to the north and south sides. The pews were hand-hewn wooden benches, supported by backs decorated with nine-inch spindles. Several prominent area citizens have been members of this church. The congregation promotes programs such as Sunday school and vacation Bible school, and supports civic responsibility through local scholarships and financial patronage of Paul Quinn College in Dallas, and the Trinity Community Cemetery. The Church also sponsors a clothing bank, promotes an African American parade and contributes to other social outreach programs. The Trinity Chapel A.M.E. Church continues to serve the Trinity area as it has for more than a century.
Texas's most haunted road. An 1830s cemetery on Bowden Road near Huntsville where cars rock on their own and handprints appear on windows.
A 35-foot-tall house shaped like a cowboy boot built from salvaged materials by artist Dan Phillips and completed in 2017. He added a matching…
85 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
Sebastopol, Texas. It's a place that whispers stories if you know how to listen. Drive through today and you'll see rolling hills dotted with cattle, a testament to the enduring agricultural heart of this land. The…
You're driving past the site of Sebastopol, a town that boomed in the late 1850s. It was named to honor a Russian naval station, and served as a major shipping point for this region. But its importance faded once…
You're driving past the Hedrick House, a Victorian beauty originally built way back in 1900 for J.E. Coldwell in Huntsville. It was bought in 1919 by Walter Gibson Hedrick, who ran a local grocery and meat market. His…
You're driving past the Taylor Cemetery, the final resting place for a family who shaped this corner of Trinity County. It started in 1851 when James Durdin and his wife Sarah bought land here. Tragedy struck early; two…
This cemetery originally served residents of the Vaughns Mill community (later Bold Springs and then Carlisle). The settlement was named for Moses Bond, who donated property for this burial ground after coming here with…
You're driving past Mount Capers Cemetery near Point Blank. Sarah Washington Ricks Durdin Chrznowski donated land for this cemetery, likely in the 1860s, from her late husband's estate. The oldest legible headstone here…
You're driving past the site of Thomas Plantation and Steamboat Landing. In 1854, John Richard Thomas arrived from Alabama and developed a 1060-acre plantation right here. He built wharves on the Trinity River, turning…
This cemetery marks the site of Thomas Plantation and Steamboat Landing. John R. Thomas, a native of Alabama, settled here in 1854. A Confederate soldier during the Civil War, he was captured at the Battle of Arkansas…
You're driving past the site of Newport, founded way back in 1846 by a German immigrant named Joseph Werner. For a time, this town thrived thanks to the Trinity River, serving as a vital hub for steamboats. But as river…
Rebert H. “R. H.” Harris, gospel singer, was born on March 23, 1916, in Trinity, Texas, to James and Katie Harris. He was the sixth of nine children. He grew up on a farm thirteen miles outside of Trinity in Trinity…
The Soul Stirrers was one of Texas’s most innovative gospel groups and pioneers of the contemporary quartet sound. It was the first gospel group to incorporate two lead singers. Their unique arrangements, which served…
Johnnie Harrison Taylor, singer, was born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, on May 5, 1937, to Willie Taylor and Ida Blackman. Taylor grew up in West Memphis, Arkansas, but spent much of his adult life in Texas. Inspired by…
You're driving through Trinity County, not far from Groveton. Right here is the site of Sumpter, a town that was once the heart of this county. Established in February of <say-as interpret-as="date"…
The Trinity Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church traces its beginnings to 1882 when it was established as a mission church. The Reverend W.M. Apling was appointed as the first pastor. Land for a church was donated…
You're driving through Trinity County, the birthplace of Calvin Boze. Born in 1916, Boze became a pivotal figure in the Los Angeles rhythm-and-blues scene of the 1950s. He honed his trumpet skills and unique vocal style…
You're driving through Trinity, Texas, a town that owes its existence to a railroad and a county seat dispute. Founded in the winter of 1872-73 as Trinity Station, it quickly became a key stop on the Houston and Great…
You're driving through Trinity County, and right here is the story of a railroad that was meant to connect Trinity on the International and Great Northern line to the Neches and Angelina rivers. Chartered in 1881 by…
You're driving past the site of a pioneering power plant in Trinity. Ranald McDonald, who settled here after <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1876</say-as>, kept bees and buggies on his land along the Trinity…
You're driving past the site of the First United Methodist Church of Trinity. This congregation got its start way back in 1872, the same year the city itself was founded! Reverend John Woolam, the first itinerant…
You're driving past the site of the Dorcas Mills Memorial Church, which began life way back in 1876 as the Trinity Baptist Church in Christ. Organized by Reverend D.S. Snodgrass, this congregation was a cornerstone of…
You're cruising through Trinity, and right here is the story of Jacob Pope and Elizabeth Ann Barnes. They came to Texas from Mississippi in 1866, settling in Trinity just six years later. Jacob opened a mercantile store…
You're driving past Cedar Grove Cemetery, a final resting place for Trinity's earliest residents. The first documented burial here was Phebe A. Martin, back in 1875. But this ground holds many more stories, especially…
You're driving past the I.N. Parker House, built around 1888. This was home to Isaac Newton Parker, a Confederate Civil War veteran, and his family. He and his first wife, Mary, raised eight children within these walls.…
You're driving past the land where Isaac Jones carved out a life in Texas. Born way back in 1793 in Mississippi, Jones arrived here in 1834, snagging a Mexican land grant on the Trinity River. He even served a few…
You're near a real piece of Texas railroad history: the Riverside Swinging Bridge. Back in 1904, the International and Great Northern Railroad built this bridge to carry trains across the Trinity River, connecting…
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You're driving through Walker County, just outside Riverside, where Eugene Campbell Barker was born in 1874. He wasn't born into wealth, starting his career as a blacksmith after his father died. But Barker's real…
You're driving through Riverside, a town born from the railroad and the river. Back in 1872, the Houston and Great Northern Railroad laid tracks and founded this spot right on the west bank of the Trinity River. Its…
Riverside, Texas – it's a place that might not be on everyone's radar, but it holds a certain charm. You can feel it in the air, a peacefulness that comes with being nestled on the banks of the Trinity River. They named…
You're driving through East Texas, and right here, you're passing through the lands once home to the Coushatta people. These Muskogean speakers migrated from Alabama in the late 1700s, eventually settling along the…
You're driving through what used to be a major hub for the Coushatta people in the 1830s and 40s. Right here, near present-day Onalaska, was Battise Village, a key settlement on the Trinity River. It was so important,…
You're driving through Polk County, near Onalaska, where the Pakana Muskogee Indians established a village back in 1834. They were a branch of the Creek nation, migrating from Alabama and Louisiana. Their leader, John…
You're driving through Onalaska, a town whose first boom was built on lumber and a railroad. Around 1905, a lumberman named William Carlisle developed this area, naming it after another mill town he operated. The…
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You're driving through Onalaska, a community that owes its start to the Carlisle-Pennel Lumber Company. In 1908, the company's owner helped establish this Methodist church, with lumber company superintendent L.O.…
You're driving through what is now San Jacinto County, not far from Point Blank. Right here, in the first half of the 1800s, lived Ben-Ash, chief of the Coushatta village called Battise. He was a key figure in Republic…
You're driving through what is now San Jacinto County, near Point Blank, on the Trinity River. This was the home of George Tyler Wood, a soldier, a legislator, and the second governor of Texas. He arrived here in 1839…
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You're driving past the Robert Tod Robinson House, a home built in 1857 by a planter who brought architectural ideas all the way from Alabama. It started as a log house with wide verandas on two floors, sitting on high…
You're driving past the site of Oakhurst Center Hill Church and Cemetery. Five successive buildings have served as community worship centers here since the 1830s, originally called Hibbetts Church. The land for the…
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You're driving through Trinity County, and right here is a marker about how this county picked its county seats. It's a story of fires and theft! It all started in 1850 when the county was organized. The first seat was…
You're driving through Groveton, the county seat of Trinity County. It all started in 1881 when the railroad arrived and the town was laid out. The very next year, voters picked it as their new government center. The…
You're driving past the site of Camp Huntsville, a World War II prisoner of war camp completed right here in 1942. It was one of the very first POW camps built in the United States during the war. Designed for 3,000…
You're driving through East Texas, maybe not too far from Groveton, where jazz saxophonist Ernest Archie Jr. was born in 1919. He became known as Tom Archia, and his father even changed the family name to Archia to…
You're driving through Groveton, a town born from the timber industry. It all started in 1881, when the Trinity County and Sabine Pass Land and Railway Company laid track and built a lumber mill. They plotted a…
You're driving through what was once Trinity County, near Groveton, where Ernestine Hill was born around 1910. She'd later become the Hollywood actress and photographer Jean Howard. After her mother died in 1925, she…
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You're driving past Glenwood Cemetery, a place that's been serving the people of Groveton for over a century. This town itself sprang up fast in 1882, becoming the county seat that same year. But by 1896, residents…
You're driving past the site where Captain Benjamin I. Harper, a veteran of Texas independence, once farmed and is traditionally buried. Harper arrived in Texas in 1833, working as a schoolmaster before heading off to…
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You're driving through Trinity County, and right here is Nogalus Prairie. The story goes that this community got its name from a rather grim spectacle. Back in the 1850s, two horse thieves met their end, hanged from a…
You're driving through Trinity County, near Groveton, on roads 355 and 356. You're passing through what was once Sebastopol, a bustling port on the Trinity River. Settled in the 1850s, it got its name from Russian…
You're driving through Trinity County, near what was once Woodlake. Right here, a woman named Helen Kerr Thompson turned 12,000 acres of forest land into a model agricultural community. After World War I, she took her…
You're driving past Akin Hill, a landmark on the old Colony Road. Thomas Akin, a horse trader and singing teacher, settled here in 1854 with his wife Ruth. While Thomas served as a courier for Confederate General John…
You're driving through Trinity County, and right here, you're passing near where Alford's Bluff once stood. It was a cotton plantation and a vital river landing on the Trinity River, established by George G. Alford back…
You're driving through western Trinity County, and right here is Glendale. This town owes its very existence to timber and fruit. In the late 1870s, a lumber company built a sawmill, and by the 1880s, a small settlement…
You're driving through Pennington, in Trinity County, where a school with a lot of names once stood. It started as Pennington College in 1866, offering collegiate-level courses alongside primary and academic studies. It…
You're driving through Pennington, a community that started out as Tyler's Prairie. It all began back in 1855 when the land was purchased by A. F. Westall and Daniel Daily. By 1866, Dan Daily had laid out the town,…
You're driving through Apple Springs, a town that's literally moved to keep up with progress. It started out after the Civil War, known as May Apple Springs, named for the wild plants growing near a local creek. When…
You're driving through what used to be Saron, Texas, a community that sprang up around a sawmill in 1883. William Cameron and Company built a big operation here, and when the Trinity and Sabine Railway arrived in 1882,…
You're driving through Trinity County, named for the river that forms its southeastern border. This area was home to Native Americans for thousands of years before European explorers arrived. But it wasn't until the…
You're driving through southeastern Trinity County, heading towards Woodlake. This community really got going in the early 1880s, thanks to the Thompson and Tucker Lumber Company. It went by a few names – Willard, Old…
You're driving past Chalk Cemetery, a final resting place named for the very ground it sits on. Founded in the 1870s on land owned by Lacy Harrington, it holds the earliest documented burial of Civil War veteran Barney…
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You're driving past the site of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, established in 1862 by J.M. Russell and five charter members. The congregation's first building, located about two miles west, hosted Baptist Association…
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You're driving past the site of the Fodice Community School. It began in the 1880s, first meeting in a local church before a schoolhouse was built around 1900. The building saw improvements in the late 1930s and served…
You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Lovelady. Baptist activity here began with a union Sunday school around 1876, and a formal congregation was mentioned by 1879. The church shared its first…
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You're driving through Lovelady, a town born from the railroad boom. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1872</say-as>, investors with the Houston and Great Northern Railroad laid tracks through land granted…
You're driving past the site of Steele's Academy, a place that once drew students from all over. It was named for its founder and principal, D. W. Steele, who brought his New Hampshire Academy experience here. Imagine…
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You're driving past Lovelady, home of the Rev. Thomas Nelms Mainer. Born right here in 1877, Mainer edited the local newspaper before heading to seminary. He served as a pastor in the area, but his impact didn't stop…
You're driving past Antioch Cemetery, originally Neville's Prairie Cemetery. It was renamed in 1890 when the community became known as Antioch. The earliest documented burial here is David Houston, who died in 1870. The…
You're driving through Houston County, passing the land where Albert Holley and his family put down roots. In 1857, Holley, his mother, and brothers migrated from Alabama. While his family traveled by boat, Albert drove…