East Texas, the area that borders Louisiana, is where the culture of the Deep South mingles with the Texan culture. Unlike the rest of Texas, this region has a significant number of people of Cajun and Creole descent whose ancestors came from Louisiana. Historical traditions in East Texas are based more on plantation life rather than the ranching life of other parts of Texas. In 1901 oil was discovered near Beaumont then in 1930 the massive East Texas Oil Field was discovered. The East Texas Oil Field is second only to Alaska in terms of number of barrels of oil produced to date and it was crucial to the Allied effort during World War II. In the second half of the 20th century oil production from East Texas began to fall causing many towns and cities in the area to go into decline. As a result, many of the towns and cities have well preserved historical buildings dating from the oil boom era.
Goodman LeGrand House, Tyler
It is difficult to believe that the this grand mansion started as a single storey four room house. It was built in 1859 by Samuel Gallatin Smith who gave it the name Bonnie Castle. When the Civil War started Smith joined the Confederate Army and was killed in action. The house was bought by a local school teacher, then in 1866 it was bought by retired doctor Samuel Adams Goodman. The following year it was bought by his newly married son, Dr. William Jeffries Goodman. He and his wife raised three children in the house and in 1880 they added a second storey. Eldest child Sallie Goodman married James LeGrand in October 1893 and they lived in the house with her parents. Sallie inherited the house when William Goodman died in 1921, and in 1926 the LeGrands completely remodelled the house to a Classic Revival style complete with semi-circular porticos and massive columns. James LeGrand died in 1935 and Sallie in 1939, bring to an end 73 years of ownership by the same family. Sallie bequeathed the estate to the City of Tyler, including all of the contents of the house. The City has maintained the Goodman LeGrand House and opened it to the public. It is still furnished just as it was in Sallie’s days and her extensive diaries have provided a fascinating insight into life in the house. Click Tab 2 to see the South Parlor, also known as the Gold Room.
East Texas
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Kilgore Street from Main, Kilgore
Kilgore was founded in 1872 when the railroad arrived. The land on which the town stands was sold to the International-Great Northern Railroad by Constantine Buckley Kilgore. The railroad split the land into individual plots and sold off the plots at a profit. The town initially prospered as a trading centre for the local cotton growing industry until at the beginning of the great depression cotton prices fell. Kilgore was hit hard and its population plummeted. All that changed in October 1930 when oil was struck near the neighbouring town of Henderson. The huge East Texas Oil Field had been discovered. By 1936 the skyline of Kilgore was a sea of oil derricks. Although the boom years were over by the 1940s, oil production remains key to the economy of Kilgore. All but one of the oil derricks in downtown Kilgore were removed in the 1960s. The memory of the oil boom is kept alive by the remaining derrick, which has been joined by a host of replicas to create The World's Richest Acre Park.
Texas & Pacific Railroad Museum, Marshall
The first settlers arrived in the Marshall area back in 1839, but it was two years later that the town was founded. The Texas Republic was in full swing and since it was close to the US border (as it was then), Marshall grew quickly as a gateway into the Republic. It continued to grow even after Texas became part of the US, and by 1860 it was the fifth largest city in Texas and a leading cotton market. During the Civil War Marshall was a major Confederate centre. Railroads arrived in the 1870s sparking another burst of growth with the Texas and Pacific Railway establishing workshops, offices and a hospital in the city. In 1930 the discovery of the East Texas Oil Field sparked another spurt of growth. After World War II, Marshall’s fortunes changed because the local oil industry had peaked and the railroads had gone into decline due to competition from air and road transport. The Texas & Pacific workshops closed in 1960 and the last passenger train ran in 1970. The 1912 Texas and Pacific Railway Depot at Marshall came close to demolition in 1988 but it was saved and has been turned into a museum complete with a vintage steam locomotive and a caboose.
Caddo Mounds State Historical Park
Most of the historical structures that you come across in Texas date from the 19th century but here is a rare one that is a lot older. The Caddoan Mississippians lived here long before Spanish, French and American settlers arrived in the area. Caddo Mounds State Historical Park is the site of a Caddoan village which has long disappeared, but three mounds built by the Caddoans are clearly visible. It is thought that the village dates back to around 800 AD, reaching its peak around 1100 and around 1300 the site was abandoned. The mounds served as focal points for religious and civic ceremonies and on top of the largest mound there were temples and the houses of community leaders. Until 1995 there was a replica of a Caddo grass house to help visitors to understand their culture. When we visited in 2011, there was no grass house, but the good news is that a new one has now been built.
Log School House, Millard's Crossing, Nacogdoches
Nacogdoches dates back to Spanish Colonial days and it lays claim to being the oldest town in Texas. Its historic buildings are mainly from the Victorian era when Texas had become a US state and they give a wonderful insight into how a city would have looked at the time. To find out what a country village would have looked like at that time, travel 6 kilometers (3.8 miles) north of Nacogdoches. At Millard’s Crossing you can explore a 19th century East Texas village. It started with the restoration by Lera Millard Thomas of the Millard-Lee House on its original site in 1966, then in the 1970s she relocated other historical buildings to the site to create the village. At Millard’s crossing you can see East Texas architecture ranging from Log Cabins to Victorian Homes. There is a Chapel, General Store, Parsonage, Caboose, Corn Crib and the Log School shown here. Click Tab 2 to see the interior of the Log School.
1930s Radio Station, Gregg County Historical Museum, Longview
Like Kilgore, Longiew is a product of the railroads. In 1870 Ossamus Hitch Methvin, Sr sold 40 hectares (100 acres) of land to the Southern Pacific Railroad for one dollar to entice them to bring the railroad through his land. The railroad came and Longview grew steadily, becoming the county seat in 1873. It remained a rough railroad town until in 1882 it became the home of a factory making agricultural machinery. In 1929 the great depression started and the railroad moved its offices out of the town leaving Longview in steep decline. Fortunately it was near enough to the East Texas Oil Field to benefit from the boom that it created from 1930. Modern Longview has relatively few historic buildings, but the Everett Building is one that escaped demolition. In the 1980s it was converted into the Gregg County Historical Museum. Exhibits include artefacts from the Caddoan culture, architecture exhibits, a 1930s Radio station and an exhibit on the Dalton Gang who were behind an 1894 bank robbery and shoot out in Longview.
Fire Museum of Texas, Beaumont
Beaumont sprang up in 1838 as a centre for cattle ranchers. It was named after Mary Beaumont, the wife of businessman Henry Millard. After the Civil Wari its location on the Neches River enabled it to also became a port for shipping lumber and a rice milling centre. In Everything changed in January 1901 when Captain Anthony F. Lucas drilling at Spindletop in the south of Beaumont hit oil. The oil from the ‘Lucas Gusher’ shot high in the air and nine days later it was still producing around 100,000 barrels a day. After the oil exploded out of the ground, the population of Beaumont also exploded, tripling in just two months. The oil boom has passed but because of its port Beaumont did not go into serious decline. Beaumont Port remains the 4th largest US port by tonnage. The city still has many historic buildings including the 1927 Central Fire Station which has been converted into the Fire Museum of Texas, full of historic fire fighting equipment. In the middle of the C A 'Pete' Shelton Plaza outside the museum is the World’s Largest Working Fire Hydrant. This was made by the Disney Corporation in 1999 to promote the re-release of the animated version of 101 Dalmatians. Disney painted it white with black spots and donated it to Beaumont. At 7.3 metres (24 feet) tall it was the largest in the world when it was built. It has since been overtaken twice but the bigger ones are non functional. Click Tab 2 to see the Giant Fire Hydrant.
Plaza Principal, Nacogdoches
Mission Nuestra Seņora de Guadalupe de los Nacogdoches was established by the Spanish in 1716 to serve the Nacogdoche tribe. The mission closed in 1773 but in 1779 settlers led by Don Antonio Gil Y’Barbo occupied the mission buildings and founded the town of Nacogdoches. By 1820 immigrants from the US began to settle illegally in the area. After Mexico gained independence in 1821 its government imposed a General Colonization Law which provided a legal but controlled route to settlement. In December 1826 Nacogdoches was the centre of a conflict between legal and illegal settlers that triggered the first attempt to secede from Mexico, the short lived Fredonia Rebellion. In 1832 settlers drove the Mexican garrison out of town, freeing the area from military rule. Texas became a republic in 1836 then in 1845 it joined the USA. Nacogdoches suffered as a result of the Civil War but in 1882 the railroad arrived and the city boomed. It declined in the second half of the 20th century, but this has left it with some of the best preserved historic buildings in Texas. The first building erected in 1779 by Don Antonio Gil Y’Barbo was a mercantile house that survived until 1902. In 1936 a replica of this building was built on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University. The building is called the Stone Fort Museum and it is open to the public. Click Tab 2 to see the Stone Fort Museum.
Jefferson Historical Museum, Jefferson
Jefferson was founded in 1841 on Big Cypress Bayou. In 1845 dredging of the Bayou enabled steamboats to reach Jefferson from New Orleans via Caddo Lake and the town boomed as a major port of entry into Texas. The boom years came to an end in the mid 1870s courtesy of the construction of railroads and falling water levels in the Bayou following removal of a huge natural logjam in the river. Today, Jefferson is full of historic buildings. Old Federal Court and Post Office Building dates back 1890 was used by the Court of Eastern District of Texas up to 1964. It is now the home of the Jefferson Historical Museum. The exhibits in the museum range from Indian artefacts, Victorian furniture, guns, quilts, weaving, porcelain, china to silverware. Part of the second floor is an Art Gallery, the Moseley Gallery. Click Tab 2 to see some of the paintings in the Moseley Gallery of the museum.
© Mike Elsden 1981 - 2025
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