Huntsville in Walker County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Site of Pleasant Gray's Trading Post

Huntsville Founded 1835

Photographed by James Hulse, August 21, 2021

1. Site of Pleasant Gray's Trading Post Marker

Inscription. The first building erected in Huntsville is thought to have been the log trading post built near this site about 1835-36 by the town's founder, Pleasant Gray, in order to barter with the Bedias and other friendly tribes of Indians in the vicinity. According to early settlers the trading post was a small cabin in a grove of oak trees where the town's first business houses were built a few years later on the east side of Main Street (University Avenue) fronting the Courthouse Square. The location was chosen for its convenience to a spring about one block to the north (near an artesian well and, later, the electric-light and ice plant of early Huntsville). A small prairie west of the trading post afforded grazing for the ponies of Gray's Indian customers, and the spring provided a pleasant location for their camping ground. The prairie afterward became the site for the courthouse and surrounding blocks of businesses. Pleasant Gray's home was close to the trading post. His brother Ephraim, who assisted with the trading post, lived just north of the spring. The Grays operated the business for only a few years. Pleasant Gray

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

built a tavern and hotel north of the Courthouse Square in 1841, and Ephraim moved a few years later to Madison County, where he remained until his death.

Erected 1998 by The Citizens of Huntsville, Texas.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1841.

Location. 30° 43.415′ N, 95° 33.022′ W. Marker is in Huntsville, Texas, in Walker County. It is at the intersection of University Avenue and 11th Street (U.S. 190), on the right when traveling north on University Avenue. The marker is located at a small pocket park across from the Courthouse. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1101 University Avenue, Huntsville TX 77340, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American South

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Republic of Texas,

one of the Confederate States

The view of the Site of Pleasant Gray's Trading Post Marker from the street image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, August 21, 2021

2. The view of the Site of Pleasant Gray's Trading Post Marker from the street

of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Five Courthouses of Walker County (within shouting distance of this marker); Walker County (within shouting distance of this marker); Memorial Gazebo (within shouting distance of this marker); Sam Houston Whittling Site (within shouting distance of this marker); Richard Williams (within shouting distance of this marker); Cornerstone of the Fourth Courthouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Site of First Masonic Lodge Building (within shouting distance of this marker); Forrest Lodge No. 19, A.F. & A.M. (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Huntsville.

Also see . . . Bidai Indians.

The Bidai (Beadeye, Bedias, Biday, Viday) Indians lived between the Brazos and Trinity rivers in southeastern Texas. Although at times they ranged a larger area, their main settlements were in the vicinity of present Grimes, Houston, Madison, Walker, and Trinity counties, and a number of place names record their former presence in this area. The earliest
Paid Advertisement

reference to the tribe was in a Spanish document of 1691 which noted that a group of "Bidey" lived in proximity of the Hasinais. In 1718 and 1720, François Simars de Bellisle reported that an agricultural people by the name of Bidai lived near the Trinity in eastern Texas. Source: The Handbook of Texas

(Submitted on August 26, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 26, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 25, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 691 times since then and 104 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 26, 2021, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.