Prominent area land developer and merchant J. H. Chancellor (1876-1938) built this residence about 1909. The house was located in the center of Smithville's business district, near the railroad depot and several hotels. It exhibits Classical Revival . . . — — Map (db m160318) HM
Organized in 1888 by the Rev. H. M. Haynie and eight charter members, the Methodist congregation in Smithville met in the local school until a frame sanctuary was completed in 1893. A new brick structure was built in 1912-13. Following damage in a . . . — — Map (db m160314) HM
This historic house was built for B.T. Smith in 1900 by Virgil Sullivan Rabb Jr. (1870-1943), one of the premier builders in the area. The home was designed in the folk Victorian architectural style which features decorative detailing on the . . . — — Map (db m187525) HM
Virgil Sullivan Rabb, Jr. (1870-1943), came to Smithville in 1891 with his family when his father bought the Calcasieu Lumber Company. The Rabb family had been in this area since receiving land grants in Fayette County in 1823. Rabb ran the lumber . . . — — Map (db m160321) HM
In 1691 missionaries on the expedition of Don Domingo Teran De Los Rios sighted a lagoon which the Indians called Nenocadda. The lagoon, known today as Shipp's Lake, is on the southern edge of present Smithville. Frederick W. Grasmeyer operated a . . . — — Map (db m41902) HM
Maryland native Stephen Scallorn (1787-1887) lived in Kentucky and Tennessee, where he practiced medicine and was active in the Primitive Baptist Church, before moving to Texas. He was attracted to the Republic by the favorable accounts of his . . . — — Map (db m160302) HM
West End Park in Smithville, located 200 yards west, was one of the last Texas stops on the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a string of performance venues in the south that served as safe and accepting spaces for African American performers. “Chitlin’ Circuit” . . . — — Map (db m187518) HM
In 1872, area pioneer John P. Young (1829-1906) donated two acres of his land for a community school and cemetery. The earliest marked grave, that of W. T. Sanders, is dated 1874. Since then, the cemetery has been used primarily by area settlers and . . . — — Map (db m160307) HM
