Name: Winnsboro, Texas
Address: Winnsboro, TX

City Park RoadyGoat

City Park in Winnsboro began as a Caddo campground shaded by century-old oaks and fed by a spring. Acquired by Uncle Charlie Moore in eighteen eighty-eight and later A. H. Schluter, it became known as the showplace of Winnsboro, with a grand house and a horse track. After R. G. Andrews bought it in nineteen thirteen, a lightning strike destroyed the home, and the property passed to the city in nineteen twenty-five. Renamed Reid City Park, it gained a concrete natatorium and a wooden auditorium that hosted everything from political speeches to the Old Fiddlers Contest and the Singing Convention. Today it still hosts the rodeo, Autumn Trails, and the farmers market as the town's community hub.

Winnsborro, TX RoadyGoat

Winnsboro, Texas, might seem like just another small town tucked away in the Piney Woods, but it has a surprisingly rich history of producing remarkable individuals. It’s the kind of place where the Friday night lights shine bright, and the echoes of bygone eras linger in the air. While some towns boast about their size or industry, Winnsboro quietly holds its head high knowing the talent that has sprung from its soil.

3.1 mi away

Suiter, Mary Elizabeth

1943

Mary Elizabeth Suiter, attorney and state legislator, was born in Winnsboro, Wood, County, Texas, on October 6, 1911. She was the only child of Minnie Bell (Stutsman) Suiter and William David Suiter. She graduated from Winnsboro High School and earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1934 she graduated from law school and passed the Texas bar exam at the same institution. Her father, who was a lawyer and state senator from 1915 to 1923, inspired her career path in law and politics. Elizabeth Suiter was the first woman to practice law in Wood County and the first woman attorney to try a criminal case in East Texas. In 1940 she ran for the Texas House of Representatives against first-term incumbent William Jackson "Jack" Bailey in District 34 representing Wood County. In her campaign, she opposed a sales tax and supported a "reasonable luxury tax with increased levies on oil, gas, and sulfur to pay pensions." She lost the race by twenty-nine votes. In 1942, during World War II , she ran again and campaigned on the platform of "rigid economy." She advocated no new taxes during wartime and aimed to streamline the procedures for applying for Social Security benefits. She also fought for stricter regulations on insurance companies to prevent fraudulent advertising practices. Suiter was vocal about the issue of gender during her campaign. She noted that she was "aware of the prejudice of some against voting for a woman," but she stressed that of the few women who had served in the legislature, "not one of them has been found wanting." By contrast, she claimed, many male legislators "have been accused of selling out," and it was men "who have gotten the State government into [an] awful mess." She argued that women "should have some recognition," especially since they were now "expected to prepare themselves to do the same work as men" in the wartime economy. In the July Democratic primary, she defeated her opponent, Alba school principal Jack McIntosh, by 647 votes. In the Forty-eighth Texas Legislature, Suiter served on the committees for Education, Federal Relations, Judicial Districts, Judiciary, and Uniform State Laws. She sponsored or co-sponsored five bills of public significance: House Bill No. 68, House Bill No. 86, House Bill No. 166, House Bill No. 658, and House Bill No. 687. House Bill No. 68, which included virtually the entire House as co-sponsors, provided equal rights to all people of the Caucasian race in public accommodations. In keeping with the state's Good Neighbor policy (see GOOD NEIGHBOR COMMISSION ), the purpose of the bill was to prevent insults to visiting Latin American dignitaries who might face discrimination from the state's system of racial segregation. House Bill No. 86, which she co-sponsored with six other members, was designed to reform the state's juvenile justice system and replace the current criminal procedure with a system of guardianship when possible. Suiter also co-authored House Bill No. 687 with the two other female members of the House, Rae Files and Florence Fenley . This bill attempted to "ease the statutory requirements on married women with property" and acknowledge conveyance apart from their husbands. While those bills failed to pass, both House Bills No. 166 and No. 658 were successful. House Bill No. 166, of which Suiter was the sole author, required family group insurance policies to specify the names of all insured people on the policies. House Bill No. 658, co-sponsored with two other East Texas members, called for the reorganization of the Special District Court of Upshur, Wood, and Smith counties, creating a seventh judicial district of Texas. Suiter ran unopposed for a second term in 1944. In the Forty-ninth legislature, she served on the Judiciary, Uniform State Laws, Public Health, and Rules committees. She sponsored two significant bills during this term, House Bill No. 713 and House Bill No. 146. House Bill No. 713 was a statute which

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Lankford-Stinson House

1890

Probably built in the early 1890s for merchant and civic leader J. M. Lankford, this home was originally a one-and-one-half-story structure. It was remodeled into its current configuration in 1906, soon after it was purchased by J. A. Stinson, a Civil War veteran and father-in-law of Texas Governor James S. Hogg. The house, which remained in the Stinson family until 1956, exhibits influences of the colonial revival style in its stately columns and front portico. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988

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Carlock Home

1903

1903 - Colonial mansion built by Marcus DeWitt Carlock, Sr., prominent early-day attorney, Confederate courier, political leader, friend of Governor Jim Hogg, member Electoral College that named Woodrow Wilson president. Entertained many high officials in his home Stairway of rare, curly pine. 17 rooms, 53 windows, 4 porches, 6 columns; double floors, 5-ply walls; foundation had enough brick to build a 5-room house. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966

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Winnsboro, TX

1850

Winnsboro (Winnsborough), an incorporated city, is at the junction of State highways 11 and 37, fifteen miles northeast of Quitman in northeastern Wood County and extends into Franklin County. The town, first settled in the early 1850s, was named for John E. Wynn, an Englishman who settled in the area. Originally the settlement's name was spelled Wynnsborough, but when a post office was established in 1855, it was changed to Winnsborough. By 1861 the community had, in addition to the post office, two general stores and a church. After the Civil War it grew rapidly; in 1876 the East Line and Red River Railroad built a narrow-gauge road west from Jefferson, and Winnsborough developed into an important local shipping center. By 1885, Winnsborough, now incorporated, had Baptist, Methodist, and Cumberland Presbyterian churches, schools, eight steam grist and cotton gins, an opera house, a weekly newspaper, the Sentinel , and some 700 inhabitants. In 1893 the town's name was shortened to Winnsboro, evidently at the request of city leaders. In 1904 the Texas Southern Railroad built through the town, and by 1914 the flourishing community had four banks, two potteries, a public library, a cottonseed mill, two weekly newspapers, the Wide Awake and the Wortham Messenger , and a population of 2,300. The onset of the Great Depression and plummeting cotton prices in the early 1930s combined to bring hard times for Winnsboro. The population dropped to 1,900 in 1936, and many businesses were forced to shut their doors. After World War II , however, the town began to grow again. A new hospital, a high school, and a 917-acre lake were completed. Autumn Trails, a fall nature show, featured theater productions, arts and crafts, music conventions, and other events. In 1970 the city reported 155 businesses, eight churches, a hospital, a library, and a newspaper. Since the mid-1960s the population has been steadily growing, and in 2000 Winnsboro had 3,584 residents and 354 businesses.

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Winnsboro Cemetery, Old

1812

One of oldest cemeteries in East Texas. First burial (date unknown) was an accident victim. The earliest gravestone belongs to Andrew Vannoy (1812-58), co-owner with Dr. Joseph McGee of one of first sawmills in area. Buried here also are members of the Cook family who were donors of Winnsboro townsite and probably gave land for this cemetery. The many important persons interred here include industrial leaders, three pioneer ministers, eight early-day doctors, a patriot who fought under Gen. George Custer, veterans of Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II. (1971)

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Lake Fork Reservoir

1972

Lake Fork Reservoir is on Lake Fork Creek in the Sabine River basin five miles northwest of Quitman in Wood County (at 32°48' N, 95°32' W). Though most of the reservoir is in northwestern Wood County, it also inundates land in Rains and Hopkins counties. The reservoir, owned by the Sabine River Authority of Texas, was constructed to conserve water for municipal and industrial use. The contractor was Holloway Construction Company of Wixom, Michigan. Construction was funded through an agreement with Texas Utilities Generating Company, Incorporated, and it and the cities of Longview and Dallas contracted to buy water from the reservoir. The rolled earthfill dam is about 12,410 feet long. The reservoir's storage capacity at the conservation pool level of 403 feet above mean sea level is 675,819 acre-feet, and at that level the conservation surface area is 27,690 acres. The drainage area for the dam is about 493 square miles. Initial engineering studies for the dam began in the fall of 1972, and actual construction began in the fall of 1975. Final closure of the dam occurred in February 1980, and the conservation pool was reached in December 1985. The reservoir is a popular center for recreation, particularly fishing. In 1978 the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department began stocking the reservoir with Florida largemouth bass, and in 1992 a largemouth bass caught at the reservoir set a new state record at 18.18 pounds. In 2017 thirty-three of the fifty largest largemouth bass ever caught in Texas were caught in Lake Fork.

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Winnsboro, Texas

Rivers & Roads in Song near Winnsboro

History of Winnsboro

City Park RoadyGoat

Winnsborro, TX RoadyGoat

Suiter, Mary Elizabeth

Lankford-Stinson House

Carlock Home

Winnsboro, TX

Winnsboro Cemetery, Old

Lake Fork Reservoir

Everything Near Winnsboro