Trinidad in Henderson County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

The Trinity River

Photographed by Gregory Walker, March 13, 2010

1. The Trinity River Marker

Inscription. Three main tributaries - the West, Elm, and East forks - feed the Trinity from headwaters in North Texas. Discovery of prehistoric Malakoff Man carved stone heads near this site in the 20th century revealed that humans inhabited the Trinity valley thousands of years ago. Indian villages dotted the river banks when European exploration began. French explorer Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle called this waterway the River of Canoes in 1687. Spaniard Alonso de Leon is credited with first using the name "Trinity" in 1690.

The fertile Trinity floodplain drew Anglo-American settlers to this area during the Republic of Texas. Buffalo, first Henderson County Seat, was founded a few miles upstream at a ferry crossing. Navigation of the Trinity has been proposed in a number of ambitious plans since the 1850s. Steamboats plied the river carrying cotton, cattle, and lumber to Galveston and other Gulf of Mexico ports until the 1870s. Arrival of the railroad ended the era of riverboat trade.

Founded in 1881 on the St. Louis Southwestern Railroad, also known as the Cotton Belt, the town of Trinidad had a pump station to draw water for the boilers of steam locomotives. A ferry crossed the Trinity here until a bridge was erected in 1900.

Erected 1977 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker

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Number 10379.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Notable Places • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1687.

Location. 32° 8.844′ N, 96° 5.659′ W. Marker is in Trinidad, Texas, in Henderson County. It is on State Highway 31 west of Farm to Market Road 764 (State Highway 274), on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Trinidad TX 75163, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American South

and in the Piney Woods.

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 of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 6 other markers are within 15 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Malakoff Man (here, next to this marker); First Baptist Church (approx. 4.4 miles away); First United Methodist Church (approx. 5.2 miles away); Union Cemetery (approx. 11 miles away); William Richardson (approx. 12.4 miles away); Home of Whitney Montgomery, Poet (approx. 14.8 miles away).

Site of Malakoff Man and Trinity River Markers. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Gregory Walker, March 13, 2010

2. Site of Malakoff Man and Trinity River Markers.

Credits. This page was last revised on October 22, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 23, 2010, by Gregory Walker of La Grange, Texas. This page has been viewed 2,601 times since then and 140 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 23, 2010, by Gregory Walker of La Grange, Texas. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.