On U.S. 59 0.2 miles west of County Road 4683, on the left when traveling east.
Georgia native George Washington Green grew up in Tennessee and in 1878 set out for Texas. He married Tempie Ann Fowler in Logansport, Louisiana, that year, and they settled in this part of Texas. Green worked first as a sharecropper, growing cotton . . . — — Map (db m268298) HM
On Austin Street at San Augustine Street, on the left when traveling east on Austin Street.
Held on this spot April 4, 1964, to honor Texans who made up the greater part of forces fighting in the Civil War Red River Campaign of 1864–1865, that prevented a Federal invasion of Texas.
Descendants answering to roll call for soldiers . . . — — Map (db m110999) HM
On State Road 7 0.2 miles west of County Road 1250, on the left when traveling east.
Common schools (public schools) sometimes including both primary and secondary grades but usually primary grades alone, blanketed most of rural Texas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the 1880s, the citizens of Aiken created . . . — — Map (db m268213) HM
On Martin Luther King Drive 0 miles south of Florence st.
Established in 1901, Fairview Cemetery was added as the City of Center's second oldest cemetery to augment burial plots for the first cemetery, the First United Methodist Church Cemetery (est. 1866). Fairview Cemetery Association was formed in 1901 . . . — — Map (db m221222) HM
On Cora Street at Pecan Street, on the left when traveling north on Cora Street.
Formed in 1856, this congregation is one of the oldest in Shelby County. Mr. and Mrs. T.H. Day, Mr. and Mrs. George King, Major and Mrs. Alfred Truitt, Mr. and Mrs. Leggett, P.F. Southern, Council Billingsley, Alfred Padon, W.S. Dabney, and George . . . — — Map (db m160470) HM
On Porter Street at Church Street on Porter Street.
The First United Methodist Church Cemetery, one of the oldest in Shelby County, is located in the Nancy Smith Survey on land deeded by Judge M.W. Wheeler and Sam Samford to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The first burial was that of a small . . . — — Map (db m268216) HM
On Nacogdoches Street south of Shelbyville Street, on the left when traveling south.
John Joseph Emmett (J.J.E.) Gibson was born in Dublin, Ireland. Because of an illness, he was left behind with an aunt when his family immigrated to the United States about 1851. Gibson reportedly studied architecture in Dublin, and finally joined . . . — — Map (db m110998) HM
Near Express Boulevard at Civic Center Drive, on the right when traveling west.
John Moosberg was born in Fort Worth in 1899. He received his education at Texas A&M University and moved to Shelby County in 1936 to serve as county agent. His tenure as county agent began with Moosberg realizing that Shelby County was losing . . . — — Map (db m111093) HM
Near Express Boulevard at Civic Center Drive, on the right when traveling west.
Born in Tenaha, Texas, January 4, 1910 to Luke and Pauline Motley Sr.
Moved to Center, Texas in 1937 to begin his banking career at Farmers State Bank serving as President 38 years and as Shelby County’s banker a total of 61 years.
He was one of . . . — — Map (db m111106) HM
Near Express Boulevard at Civic Center Drive, on the right when traveling west.
Malcolm Samuel Weaver was born June 5, 1918 in Center, Texas.
He served as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers, World War II, where he met his wife, Constance Mary Stanley.
Malcolm built custom homes and poultry houses throughout East Texas . . . — — Map (db m111094) HM
Near Express Boulevard at Civic Center Drive, on the right when traveling west.
Martin M. Middleton, son of Drue and Maggie Middleton, was a lifelong resident of Shelby County. He married Shirley Faye Booth in July 1941, five months before the war started in December of that year. Soon after serving his country in the United . . . — — Map (db m111083) HM
Near Express Boulevard at Civic Center Drive, on the right when traveling west.
Marion Martin Weaver, Jr. was a driving force in the broiler, timber, and commercial/residential construction industries, building over 2,000 poultry houses across East Texas and Western Louisiana.
As a proud lifelong resident of Center and an . . . — — Map (db m111086) HM
On County Road 1490 at County Road 1396 on County Road 1490.
Born in Maine in 1812, Milton Irish came to East Texas in 1835 at age 23. His service in the Texas Army in 1835 and 1836 included action with Capt. John English's Company of Shelby County volunteers and Ben Milam's assault during the Siege of Bexar, . . . — — Map (db m268285) HM
On Southview Circle (U.S. 96) at Old San Augustine Hwy, on the left when traveling north on Southview Circle.
The Rev. James Allen and John M. Mull, brothers who married sisters Rebecca and Mary Dempsey, respectively, brought their families here from Alabama in 1894. In Mar. 1896, Mary died of smallpox at age 34. Interment in the City Cemetery was denied . . . — — Map (db m268214) HM
Near Express Boulevard at Civic Center Drive, on the right when traveling west.
In 1948, the farming income of Shelby County was disappearing due to competitive prices on cotton from West Texas and on tomatoes and watermelons from South Texas. To survive, it was imperative that the county and its farmers find an alternative . . . — — Map (db m111079) HM
On Martin Luther King Drive at Hicks Street, on the left when traveling south on Martin Luther King Drive.
Racial Terror Lynchings
Thousands of black people were the victims of lynching and racial violence in the
United States between 1877 and 1950. During this era, racial terror lynching of
African Americans emerged as a stunning form of violent . . . — — Map (db m221216) HM
On Farm to Market Road 414 at County Road 3085, on the right when traveling east on Road 414.
Neighbors in a small rural community in this area gathered together in 1872 to organize a church congregation. The need for a house of worship was met when members of the community worked together to cut trees and build a log structure.
The two . . . — — Map (db m268215) HM
On Austin Street at Runnels Street, on the left when traveling east on Austin Street.
Part of the neutral ground, 1803–1819. Settled by Anglo-Americans, 1824–1836. In 1833 a district of the Municipality of Nacogdoches, known as Tenehaw. In 1835 became municipality of Tenehaw with Nashville as the seat of government.
Name changed . . . — — Map (db m111000) HM
On Shelbyville Street west of San Augustine Street, on the left when traveling west.
Built to resemble Irish castle (1883-1885) by architect J.J.E. Gibson, from Ireland. Style is, in part, “Romanesque Revival.”
In 1866 County records were held at this site after being secretly taken from Shelbyville by R.L. . . . — — Map (db m111028) HM
On State Highway 87 0.1 miles Farm to Market Road 414, on the right when traveling south.
Between bands of regulators and
moderators led by Ephraim Daggett
and Ned Merchant, which
occurred in this vicinity, led to
an unorganized war, 1841-1844, by
regulators, under the leadership
of Watt Norman, and moderators,
led by John M. . . . — — Map (db m221238) HM
On Bell Street (U.S. 84) at South Chalk Street, on the right when traveling west on Bell Street.
Alabama-born Benjamin Franklin Morris (1827-1900) came to Texas in 1838 and settled in the area that became the pioneer village of Sarat. A prosperous farmer and rancher, he gave right of way through 500 acres of his land to the Houston, East & . . . — — Map (db m212225) HM
On U.S. 84 at Farm to Market Road 2787, on the right when traveling east on U.S. 84.
Georgia natives Henry L. and William Rubin Brook, brothers who married sisters Mary Jane and Caroline E. Henry, respectively, migrated from Alabama to Shelby County by 1850. Henry Brook settled 320 acres through an 1845 Republic of Texas Act . . . — — Map (db m160610) HM
On Farm to Market Road 3082 0.8 miles east of State Road 7, on the left when traveling east.
Lone Cedar Cemetery was founded on land that was part of a 1280-acre grant issued to Josiah White in 1841. White subsequently set aside two acres for a cemetery and another acre for a school. A church was organized in 1892 and eventually took the . . . — — Map (db m268286) HM
On County Road 3831 0.1 miles north of County Road 3804, on the right when traveling north.
Several families from Henry County, Alabama, settled in this area in 1846, including the John and Nancy (Kirkland) Scott family. Their son William sold his brother-in-law David Sholar 111 acres here in 1850. This site became a burial ground in the . . . — — Map (db m268287) HM
On Farm to Market Road 3343 near County Road 3705, on the left when traveling south.
Also known as Willow Grove, this early Texas community was named for its founder, pioneer settler James Truitt (1795-1870). Truitt was a Republic of Texas congressman, a state legislator and military company leader in the Regulator-Moderator War . . . — — Map (db m268288) HM
On State Highway 87 0.7 miles north of Farm to Market Road 417, on the right when traveling south.
In this county of Shelby once a part of the neutral ground, an unorganized feud known as Regulator-Moderator War was waged between 1841 and 1844. After heavy sacrifice of life and property, General James Smith, commanding troops of the Republic of . . . — — Map (db m261308) HM
On State Highway 87 0 miles County Road 2100, on the left when traveling south.
August 14, 1844, between Regulators and Moderators, warring factions in Shelby County 1841-1844, who caused heavy sacrifice of life and property before General James Smith with Texas troops restored order — — Map (db m221239) HM
On North George Bowers Drive (U.S. 59) at McNeill St, on the right when traveling north on North George Bowers Drive.
This Methodist Church was one of the first institutions established in Tenaha after its founding in 1886. The congregation was established by Methodists from the Woods Post Office and Ramah communities, who had come to help develop a railhead town . . . — — Map (db m268292) HM
On County Road 4475 north of U.S. 84, on the left when traveling north.
The Ramah community dates to the early 1870s, when William Tell Pou and his wife Mollie Lucy (Grace) first homesteaded here. They helped found Ramah Baptist Church, established in 1874 and named for the biblical city of Ramah, meaning high place. . . . — — Map (db m268289) HM
On Farm to Market Road 947 at County Road 4653, on the right when traveling west on Road 947.
Originally known as Mount Carmel, the community served by this cemetery adopted the name Tennessee, as many families from that state settled here. Ancestors of John B. Woodfin (1856-1945) are said to have first set aside land for this burial ground, . . . — — Map (db m268296) HM
On Farm to Market Road 1645 south of County Road 2026, on the right when traveling south.
This cemetery serves the Buena Vista community, which organized in 1848. Joseph Penn Burns, a native of South Carolina, donated land for the burial ground. The earliest marked grave dates to 1851, though it is believed there is at least one earlier . . . — — Map (db m268299) HM
On North 2nd Street at Timpson St, on the right when traveling west on North 2nd Street.
Area Baptists had established a church at Buena Vista (4.3 mi.E) when the railroad bypassed that community and founded Timpson in 1885. The Houston, East & West Texas Railroad dedicated church sites for the new town in 1886, and the Baptists were . . . — — Map (db m268376) HM
On Park Plaza Street at Bremond Street, on the right when traveling west on Park Plaza Street.
In memory of our boys who gave their lives for God and Country
World War I
Pvt. Preston Archer •
Pvt. Owen E. Barnes •
Pvt. Jodie Ferguson •
Lt. Clyde T. Morrison •
Sgt. Ernest H. Shipp •
Pvt. Nathan H. Tims
World War II . . . — — Map (db m268300) WM
On Park Plaza Street at Bremond Street, on the right when traveling west on Park Plaza Street.
In memory of our boys who gave their lives for God and Country
Korea
Cpl Cecil A. Brittain, USMC •
TSgt Clifford Hughes, US Army •
Sfc Willie E. Windham, US Army
Vietnam
Pfc Ted W. Adams, US Army •
Sgt William H. Eaden, . . . — — Map (db m268304) WM
On Farm to Market Road 947 at County Road 4653, on the left when traveling west on Road 947.
This congregation traces its history to 1857, when a Union church was organized to serve Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian settlers in this area, many of whom migrated here from Tennessee. Named Mount Carmel, the church building was a one-room . . . — — Map (db m268295) HM
On Farm to Market Road 947 near County Road 4653, on the right when traveling west.
Organized in 1857, this church was originally known as Mount Carmel. It was the First Presbyterian Congregation established in Shelby County. A one-room log cabin served as a meeting place until a large two-story frame building was constructed in . . . — — Map (db m268297) HM
On Jacob Street (State Road 87) at Park Plaza St, on the right when traveling north on Jacob Street.
In 1884, Houston businessman Paul Bremond (1810-1885), and other investors began planning for a new railroad to connect Houston and Shreveport, Louisiana. Surveys soon began along the proposed route, and in 1885 the town of Timpson was founded, . . . — — Map (db m268375) HM
