Near Interstate 20 at milepost 538, on the right when traveling west.
Pioneer nickname appropriate to this area’s many freedoms–particularly from want and fear. (Food was obtained with little effort; and although the Indians fought white men here as late as 1842, the settlers by 1847 slept in the open with no . . . — — Map (db m84510) HM
On Farm to Market Road 47 1.8 miles east of County Road 3707, on the right when traveling east.
Van Zandt County was among the Texas counties that voted for secession in the spring of 1861 as the Civil War loomed. At the outbreak of the conflict, Texas troops began training for service to the Confederate States of America (C.S.A.). Military . . . — — Map (db m244647) HM
On U.S. 69 at County Road 2405, on the right when traveling south on U.S. 69.
In 1836, General Sam Houston negotiated a treaty with the Cherokees in Texas allowing possession of the lands they occupied in east Texas. The leading figure among the Cherokees at that time was Duwali (also known as Bowl, Chief Bowles and Bold . . . — — Map (db m40654) HM
On State Highway 64 0.2 miles north of Veterans Memorial Parkway (State Highway 243), on the right when traveling north.
A portion of the original
Mercer Grant created from
Henderson County in 1848
Named in honor of the illustrious
statesman Isaac Van Zandt
Born in Tennessee, July 10, 1813
Delegate to the Annexation
Convention in 1845
Died in . . . — — Map (db m187059) HM
On North Rice Street (U.S. 281) at East Main Street (State Highway 36), on the right when traveling north on North Rice Street.
Influential early promoter of Norwegian emigration to Texas; born Elise Tvede in 1815.
In 1846, after John Reiersen migrated to Texas to found the first Norwegian settlement in the state, she became editor of his periodical "Norway and . . . — — Map (db m175573) HM
On East Dallas Street (State Highway 64) east of South Buffalo Street (State Highway 198), on the right when traveling east.
A South Carolina-born Alabama legislator, Oran M. Roberts came to San Augustine, Texas in 1841. He served in district and state judicial positions, including the first district court in Canton in 1850, and was president of the Secession Convention . . . — — Map (db m53959) HM
On County Road 3838 west of Farm to Market Road 47, on the left when traveling north.
Came to Texas from Kentucky in 1816. Hunted buffalo in Van Zandt County about 1839 and settled here later. Fought in Battle of San Jacinto during Texas War for Independence. Was later a member of Texas Rangers. Fought in Indian campaigns. Served in . . . — — Map (db m256670) HM
On Farm to Market Road 858 0.1 miles east of Farm to Market Road 279, on the right when traveling east.
The tradition of making syrup from sugar cane and sorghum started in East Texas in the second half of the nineteenth century. Syrup production arrived along with migration from the Deep South to East Texas. Van Zandt County provided the ideal . . . — — Map (db m237028) HM
On State Highway 31 0.2 miles west of Parker Street (County Road 3302), on the left when traveling west.
In 1830, John Crane applied to be a part of Joseph Vehlein's colony. Reportedly from Virginia, he was a veteran of the War of 1812. He moved his wife and seven children to what is now Walker County, Texas, in 1834. There, he organized men and became . . . — — Map (db m31567) HM
Near Interstate 20 at milepost 538, on the right when traveling west.
A man whose public service was of highest order. Born on a farm near this site in Van Zandt County. Educated at Cumberland University (Tennessee) and Tyler Commercial College, was County Attorney and County Judge of Smith County. As chairman of . . . — — Map (db m84511) HM
On Mineola Highway (U.S. 69) at Old Mineola Highway (County Route 431), on the left when traveling north on Mineola Highway.
On Burleson Lake, 3.5 miles west of here was last Cherokee War Camp of the Army of the Republic of Texas
Under Gen. Kelsey H. Douglass, Gen. Thomas J. Rusk, Gen. Edward Burleson, and Col. Willis H. Landrum. Texas Secretary of War Albert . . . — — Map (db m92517) HM
On County Road 1820 at County Road 1824 on County Road 1820.
The first documented mention of a settlement at this site, just west of Jordan's Saline, comes from an 1863 letter by Alice Merrifield. The community was mostly made up of people who fled west to escape the southern battle sites of the Civil War. . . . — — Map (db m255905) HM
On South Buffalo Street (State Highway 198) south of East Dallas Street (State Highway 64), on the left when traveling south.
John Henninger Reagan was born in 1818 to Timothy Richard and Elizabeth Reagan in Sevier County, Tennessee. He worked at his father's tannery and on the family farm, attending school sporadically, until leaving the state in 1838.
Reagan came in . . . — — Map (db m54002) HM
On Houston Street (County Road 3415) at Corky Boyd Avenue (State Highway 64), on the right when traveling east on Houston Street.
Tennessee native William A. Wills (1804-1864) moved to Texas with his wife, Mary Ann "Polly" (Phillips), and their children in 1847 and settled on the Dallas-Shreveport Road in what became Van Zandt County. They hosted many travelers in their home. . . . — — Map (db m244621) HM
On North Trade Days Boulevard 0.1 miles north of East Dallas Street (State Road 19), on the right when traveling south.
In 1867, a group of citizens, resentful of Northern control of the State and county, attempted to secede from Texas and the U.S. General Philip Sheridan, Commander at New Orleans, sent federal troops to restore order – resulting in a battle, won by . . . — — Map (db m247165) HM
On Farm to Market Road 279 at Farm to Market Road 858, on the left when traveling south on Route 279.
Just as Native Americans were attracted to this area because of the climate and resources, early settlers also utilized these resources. The area was originally named Clough after George W. Clough (1820-1884) who, in 1868, purchased the 640-acre . . . — — Map (db m73951) HM
The youngest of seven children born to William and Elizabeth
(Jones) Towles, Thomas Jefferson Towles was born on December
29, 1843, in Jones County, Georgia. After losing his father in 1847
and his mother in 1854, Thomas came to Van Zandt County, . . . — — Map (db m237031) HM
On Farm to Market Road 858 0.2 miles south of Texas Highway 64, on the left when traveling south.
Legislator Morgan Gurley Sanders was born near Ben Wheeler. He published newspapers, worked as journal clerk of the state senate and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas before winning a seat in the state legislature. His public service as a . . . — — Map (db m74159) HM
On East Dallas Street (State Highway 64) east of South Buffalo Street (State Highway 198), on the left when traveling east.
Born in Georgia, Raines came to Texas in 1858. After serving in Gen. R. M. Gano's Texas Cavalry Regiment in the Civil War, he was a teacher in New Braunfels and a lawyer in Canton. Van Zandt County Judge from 1876 to 1878, he played a major role in . . . — — Map (db m54081) HM
On State Highway 243 at County Road 2504, on the left when traveling west on State Highway 243.
Gen. Joseph O. Shelby's command refused to surrender at the close of the Civil War. Shelby's men, the First Missouri Cavalry of the Confederate States of America, marched via Clarksville to Van Zandt County, proceeding through Grand Saline to Canton . . . — — Map (db m237016) HM
On East Dallas Street (State Highway 64) east of South Buffalo Street (State Highway 198), on the right when traveling east.
Built in 1937 with Public Works Administration funds, this is the sixth building to serve as the Van Zandt County Courthouse. According to local lore, the Commissioners Court decreed that a modern courthouse should be erected in order to provide . . . — — Map (db m54055) HM
Benjamin Franklin Wheeler, namesake for the Ben Wheeler Community, contributed to the development of communications across the region in his mail-carrying career and influenced land ownership in the area. He was born in 1818, in Adair County, . . . — — Map (db m255899) HM
Near Barnes Bridge Road at Harbinger Drive, on the right when traveling east.
David W. (1848-1932) and Julia Savannah (Beaty) Florence (1850-1914) built the first portion of this ranch house in 1871-72 after moving here from Van Zandt County. Elaborate wood trim decorates the gallery of the simple frame structure. The house . . . — — Map (db m97699) HM
On Arnold Paul Road 0.3 miles south of Texas Highway 243, on the left when traveling south.
Before discovery of a dip (1894) and vaccine (1898), the American cattle industry faced ruin, as it lost $40 million annually from cattle tick fever. In 1918, tick eradication began in East Texas, with colorful, exciting "dipping days" enforced . . . — — Map (db m285757) HM
On North Main Street at W Elm St, on the right when traveling north on North Main Street.
Adolphus Lane Spradlin (1863-1946) came to Texas from Indiana in 1875 with his parents. He settled at Hiram in Kaufman County and married Lee Ann Henson (1864-1939), of Cherokee ancestry. In 1898 he bought land in the Van Zandt County community of . . . — — Map (db m245164) HM
On Farm to Market Road 857 at County Road 1701, on the left when traveling north on Road 857.
John Jordan established the community of Jordans Saline when he settled here in 1844 and joined with A.T. McGee in organizing a salt company. When Van Zandt County formed in 1848, Jordans Saline was named temporary county seat. Although the county . . . — — Map (db m237020) HM
On County Road 3805 north of U.S. 80, on the right when traveling west.
The W.O. Rowden family moved from Gurley, Alabama to
Van Zandt County in 1895 and, in 1898, the family moved to
the H.H. Carmack place just at the outer edge of Wills Point.
Carmack received a cotton boll from a friend in Florida
and gave it to . . . — — Map (db m244641) HM
On FM 858 0.2 miles south of Texas Highway 64, on the left when traveling south.
In 1890 Van Zandt county had 81 schools but none for higher learning. In April 1890, Prof. James F. Davidson and J. W. Downs held a community meeting in the Old Clough School House in Ben Wheeler. They presented a plan, adopted unanimously, to . . . — — Map (db m74158) HM
On South Buffalo Street (State Highway 198), on the right when traveling south.
The Hilliard family has long been identified with the general trade business in Canton. Founded because of its central location, Canton became the seat of Van Zandt County in 1850. George McIntosh Hilliard came to Texas in the 1870s and migrated to . . . — — Map (db m187056) HM
On East Dallas Street (State Highway 64) east of South Buffalo Street (State Highway 198), on the right when traveling east.
In 1894, the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court approved construction of a new brick courthouse at this site. Built between 1894 and 1896, it replaced a frame courthouse that had served the county since shortly after the Civil War. The noted San . . . — — Map (db m53917) HM
On Houston Street (County Road 3415) at Corky Boyd Avenue (State Highway 64), on the right when traveling east on Houston Street.
A trail established by Caddoan Native Americans and later used by French traders who traversed this area is known today as the Dallas-Shreveport Road. The trail emerged in the mid-1830s as a main route into North Texas for emigrants and cargo from . . . — — Map (db m244619) HM
On Farm to Market Road 751 0.2 miles south of County Road 3812, on the right when traveling south.
Settlers William McBee and Adam Sullivan established the Union Grove community in 1844. McBee built and operated the first corn mill in Van Zandt County, and Union Grove grew to include a Baptist Church and the McBee School. Charles Rufus Peery . . . — — Map (db m244644) HM
On West Bermuda Street (Texas Route 154) at South Main Street ( Route 37) on West Bermuda Street.
Ambrose Fitzgerald was born March 17, 1827 in Tennessee and came to Texas in 1846. On his arrival he settled on a 640 acre land grant in the Mercer Colony about 7 miles south of the present Lone Oak. In 1846 this land grant was a part of Nacogdoches . . . — — Map (db m139560) HM
On North Trade Days Boulevard (State Highway 19) north of East Dallas Street.
The Wynne community of Canton is one of the oldest African American communities in Texas. Its namesake, Edmund Arnold Wynne, was born June 18, 1850, in Cherokee County to a family of slaves. His family moved to the Big Rock area of Van Zandt County . . . — — Map (db m247166) HM
On South Buffalo Street (State Highway 198) at West Tyler Street, on the right when traveling south on South Buffalo Street.
George Washington Tull, Sr. (1827-1917), better known as G. W. Tull, was one of the earliest and most successful merchants in Canton. His family migrated from Georgia, where G. W. was born, to Alabama, Mississippi, and then Tennessee. In 1852, G. W. . . . — — Map (db m187053) HM
On Farm to Market Road 2339 0.6 miles east of Farm to Market Road 1861, on the left when traveling west.
Located along the Tyler-Porter's Bluff Road, a major route for pioneers coming through Texas from eastern and southern parts of the United States, this burial ground is a reflection of 19th- and 20th-century settlement in this area of Van Zandt . . . — — Map (db m310461) HM
On Groves Street at North Capitol Street, on the right when traveling west on Groves Street.
The Texas Legislature created Van Zandt County in 1848. It originally included nearly 2,000 square miles of territory. Jordan's Saline, now Grand Saline, was near the county's geographic location and became the first seat of government. Two years . . . — — Map (db m187057) HM
On County Road 3204 0.2 miles south of Farm to Market Road 859, on the right when traveling south.
Established by 1894, this burial ground serves the Highland community. In the 1880s, pioneering farmers settled the area after construction of a road which allowed easier access to markets. In 1889, John and Elizbaeth Valentine deeded property for . . . — — Map (db m296288) HM
On Farm to Market Road 2339 0.5 miles west of Farm to Market Road 4712, on the right when traveling west.
The first recorded burial on this site was that of Asbury Lowery (1836-1855). The new burial ground was named in his memory. In 1863, Prairie Flower (1858-1863), the young daughter of celebrated Comanche Indian captive Cynthia Ann Parker and . . . — — Map (db m105485) HM
On North Walnut Street near West Ohio Street, on the left when traveling north.
The Pure Oil Company conducted seismograph surveys in Van Zandt County in 1927 and that summer leased about 17,000 acres in the Van area for exploration. Core drilling began in January 1929, and the first derrick was erected in a cotton patch on the . . . — — Map (db m255873) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.
