The U.S. Army built stateside camps by early 1942 to house prisoners of war (POWs). Camp Alto south of this site was a small branch operation of the Camp Fannin base facility in Tyler. The military set up branch camps to address local labor needs . . . — — Map (db m212162) HM
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
Kings Highway
Camino Real
Old San Antonio Road
Marked by The
Daughters of The
American Revolution
and The State of Texas
A.D. 1918 — — Map (db m219169) HM
Kings Highway
Camino Real
Old San Antonio Road
Marked by The
Daughters of The
American Revolution
and The State of Texas
A.D. 1918 — — Map (db m219176) HM
Kings Highway
Camino Real
Old San Antonio Road
Marked by The
Daughters of The
American Revolution
and The State of Texas
A.D. 1918 — — Map (db m219186) HM
Bulging out of the earth a few yards from this point, three prehistoric Indian mounds interrupt the prevailing flat terrain. Long overgrown with grass, the mounds and adjacent village (covering about 100 acres) constitute one of the major aboriginal . . . — — Map (db m219203) HM
Built before 1835 as a home and trading post by Martin Lacy, Indian agent for the Mexican government.
Used as a place of refuge after the massacre of the Killough family, October 5, 1838. — — Map (db m121259) HM
Originally established as Mission San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690 by Franciscan missionaries for the purpose of Christianizing and civilizing the Neches and other Indians of the region. Reestablished in 1716. Abandoned temporarily due to French . . . — — Map (db m121257) HM
Here at the opening of the 18th century stood a village of the Neches Indians. Their name was given to the river and later to a mission, San Francisco de Los Neches, established near by. With the Cherokees, the Neches Indians were expelled from . . . — — Map (db m121335) HM
Noted as interpreters and messengers of peace, the Delawares were chiefly instrumental in bringing other tribes to the General Treaty at Bird's Fort (in the present county of Tarrant) in 1843. — — Map (db m121258) HM
Freed African Americans organized the Weeping Mary Community following the Civil War. Two sisters who were born into slavery, Nancy (Ross) Lockhart and Emily (Ross) Skinner, purchased the land on which the settlement developed. The community and . . . — — Map (db m219470) HM
In 1807, under commission from Gen. James Wilkinson, Governor of the Louisiana Territory, Lt. Zebulon Pike led an expedition to explore the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red Rivers and to report on Spanish settlements in the New Mexico area. . . . — — Map (db m121256) HM
The earliest area settlers were Andrew "Andy" Bragg and Nelson Sneed, black farmers who moved here in 1870. Former slaves, they were later joined by other freedman farmers, landowners and tradesmen. The settlement that resulted was known as Andy. . . . — — Map (db m28191) HM
Organized in 1891 at the Shiloh schoolhouse by members of the Baptist Church of Christ at Corinth, this church was originally called the Baptist Church of Christ at Shiloh. Charter members elected E. M. Carter as the first pastor. The church was . . . — — Map (db m31865) HM
Elijah Earle (1804-1880) and his second wife, Mary Elizabeth Jarratt Tatum (1824-1904), set aside land for this graveyard in 1858. Elijah selected his own burial site at the time, marking it by carving his initials on a tree trunk. He was buried . . . — — Map (db m122853) HM
Settlement of the Earle's Chapel community began several years before the organization of Cherokee County. W. J. Ragsdale (1811-1884), a veteran of the Texas War for Independence, and his wife Patsy McAdams (1816-1898) had settled on Prairie Branch . . . — — Map (db m122852) HM
This congregation traces it history to the origins of the town of Jacksonville. When the International and Great Northern Railroad promoted the new town of Jacksonville along its rail line in 1872, city lots were set aside for local churches. . . . — — Map (db m122855) HM
On this nine mile long ridge there are two historic lookout points which command a view of 30 to 35 miles. Between this site, with an elevation of 713 ft., and Point Lookout (1/4 mi. NW), lies a narrow valley. An Indian trail and later a pioneer . . . — — Map (db m31698) HM
Originally an Indian trail. Used in 1765 by the Spanish priest Calahorra on an Indian peace mission. Gained importance, 1820s, for use in hauling salt from Neches Saline to Nacogdoches.
Survivors of the Killough family massacre of 1838 fled via . . . — — Map (db m81748) HM
As a branch of the Boy Scouts of America, sea scouting promotes mental and physical fitness through maritime skills. In 1936, Jacksonville attorney John C. Box, Jr., organized a unit for local boys, sailing the Sea Scouts Ship 400. The Sea Scouts . . . — — Map (db m136138) HM
In 1906, the Texas State Railroad built to this area for timber to fuel iron manufacturing at the penitentiary in Rusk. The branch prison established at the railhead was called Camp Wright. When Rusk native Thomas Campbell became governor, he . . . — — Map (db m128989) HM
In operation from 1908 to 1912, the Mewshaw State Sawmill at this site produced 35,000 board feet of lumber daily and was staffed by convict laborers from the nearby Rusk Penitentiary. The village of Maydelle later developed on the rail line that . . . — — Map (db m128987) HM
Located on the original homestead of William and Clarissa
Johnson and their family, this community cemetery began in the
1850s. Although there may have been earlier interments (possibly
including Wiliam Johnson), the earliest documented . . . — — Map (db m163906) HM
In 1901, a new townsite was laid out on the Texas & New Orleans Railroad. Promoted by brothers Lee D. and William T. Guinn, it was named Hubb for county surveyor Hubbard S. Guinn. It was renamed Ponta (an adaptation of the Latin Ponte, which . . . — — Map (db m107325) HM
Formed by 15 young single women in 1902 with fewer than 50 books, this library club would later donate to the City of Rusk a volume of books that greatly contributed to an inventory in excess of 23,000 books. The Book Club, originally housed-in . . . — — Map (db m41138) HM
Cherokee County has a rich and varied history. Spanish and French explorers of the seventeenth century found Tejas and Hasinai Indians living in this area, and Spanish missions were established in the region.
Driven out of the United States, . . . — — Map (db m212151) HM
(front)
Civil War manufacturing, supply and military center. Field Transportation Bureau shop made and repaired wagons, saddles, harnesses. Gun factory produced "Mississippi rifles" and pistols. Two iron works cast plows, skillets, pots, . . . — — Map (db m95136) HM WM
This courthouse, the fourth to serve the citizens of Cherokee County, was built in 1940-41 with the assistance of the Federal Works Progress Administration. Designed by the architectural firm of Gill & Bennett, the modern structure is built of . . . — — Map (db m40618) HM
In the winter of 1819-1820 Chief John Bowles led about sixty Cherokee families from Arkansas to East Texas. Near this site a small settlement of about six families was established by a Cherokee leader named Little Bean. They remained until 1839, . . . — — Map (db m128988) HM
Birthplace of James Stephen Hogg, son of Lucanda McMath Hogg and Joseph Lewis Hogg. Born March 24, 1851. Died March 3, 1906. First native Texan to serve as governor. Inspirer of the passage of the Railroad Commission Law, Stock and Bond Law, Alien . . . — — Map (db m40474) HM
Wyatt Thomas Norman and William Harrison Shook, both Cherokee County natives, opened a law office on the Courthouse Square in 1898. George Gibson became a partner in 1918. He later moved to Jacksonville and opened a branch there. Wyatt T. Norman's . . . — — Map (db m41085) HM
Founded 1846. Named for Republic of Texas Statesman Thomas J. Rusk.
Industrial site and supply depot in the Civil War. Notable for iron manufacturing.
Birthplace of Texas Governors James S. Hogg, Thomas M. Campbell. City and county rich in . . . — — Map (db m201999) HM
First built 1861 as the means for residents east of valley to get to town during rainy seasons.
Rebuilt in 1889 by T.H. Barnes, engineer building New Birmingham (now ghost town, to the east).
Maintained by city of Rusk until 1950. Restored . . . — — Map (db m40464) HM
Bill Brunt (1910-1939) was born near Alto on his family’s farm off Sand Flat Road in Cherokee County. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Upon honorable discharge, Brunt was hired by Southern Pacific as a railroad detective . . . — — Map (db m210287) HM
Two speeches were delivered by Sam Houston in Rusk. The first, in 1855, was a debate with politician Frank Bowden. Houston, a U.S. Senator, was on a tour through central and east Texas trying to regain public favor after voting against the . . . — — Map (db m128992) HM
New Birmingham was a boom town nearby in the late 1880s built around local iron ore operations. The furnaces, capable of producing 50 tons of iron daily, were named "Tassie Belle," after the wife of the town founder A. B. Bevins, and the "Star and . . . — — Map (db m30033) HM
The first hotel to occupy this site was the Union Hotel, a wood frame building erected in 1849. Renamed Bracken House for a subsequent owner, it continued to serve the city until 1889. Civil War General Joseph L. Hogg, father of future Governor . . . — — Map (db m128991) HM
In the late 1880s the Texas Prison System built a short rail line from the state penitentiary facility in north Rusk, southwestward to hardwood timber stands, where charcoal was made for use in firing the prison's iron ore smelting furnaces. The . . . — — Map (db m128990) HM
Attorney James N. Thomas (b. 1816) erected the one-story portion of this residence before 1851. James I. Perkins (1847-1923) built the two-story wing and added Victorian detailing after he purchased the property in 1883. Head of a leading Rusk . . . — — Map (db m41034) HM
In the late 1860s or early 1870s, Republic of Texas Army veteran James H. Bowman offered one hundred acres of land to the Rev. W.D. Lewis, Sr., of nearby Barsola, on the condition that he move to the Mt. Hope community for the purpose of . . . — — Map (db m40680) HM
As the population increased in Angelina and Cherokee counties in the 1860s, a formal system of roads began to take shape. Until that time, roads were usually forged by farmers and other pioneers carrying goods to market or traveling to new homes, as . . . — — Map (db m28167) HM
Joseph H. Bowman, a veteran of the Texas War for Independence from Mexico, offered one hundred acres of land to the Rev. W.D. Lewis to come to Mt. Hope community and establish a Methodist church and cemetery. The Rev. Mr. Lewis agreed and the . . . — — Map (db m28138) HM
