Polk County, Texas
Livingston is home to 37 official Texas Historical Commission markers — each one telling a piece of the city’s story. Browse the markers below, then find them on the map and discover more nearby with RoadHistorical.
Polk County, created from Liberty County March 30, 1846, organized July 13, 1846 with Livingston as county seat. Named for James Knox Polk, 1795-1849, President of the United States who favored the annexation of Texas.…
View on map ↗Who came into Texas early in the 19th century and have always been friendly with the whites.
View on map ↗During Civil War, 1861-65, an area of piney woods, farms, thickets, with an Alabama-Coushatta Indian reservation. Had only 600 voters in 1860 but sent 900 soldiers into the Confederate Army. Furnished 4 units to Hood's…
View on map ↗Built 1901 for congregation organized Jan. 6, 1849, by Rev. J.W.D. Creath, among settlers from Louisiana. Membership in early days included the family slaves. First church, located at Colita, an early Polk County town,…
View on map ↗Built 1895 of long leaf pine with cypress siding and trim. Design, Victorian, with handmade gingerbread trim. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
View on map ↗Seat of Polk County, founded in 1846; incorporated 1902. Named by Moses L. Choate, donor of its 100-acre townsite. It became vital trade, educational and social center for people of sawmills and boat landings on the…
View on map ↗(1911-1955) World-famed genius of drama. Won Broadway acclaim directing "The Glass Menagerie." Led move to decentralize American theatre. Established, in Dallas, theatre-in-the-round (first professional, resident,…
View on map ↗Organized as a private bank -- Polk County Bank -- about 1898, by G. W. Riddle and C. H. Davison. Became Citizens National Bank in 1902, year the town burned. Rebuilt as Livingston's first brick building. Was…
View on map ↗Center civic, social and business affairs, early Polk County. Built about 1848 by James Andress, from South Carolina. Contained restaurant, saloon, grocery store, post office, stage station. Had livery stable nearby.…
View on map ↗(1805-1913) Came to Texas in 1830s; served in Confederate Army in Civil War; was chief of Alabama Indians here most of his life.
View on map ↗From 1830 to 1840 five Indian trails (some several centuries old) crossed Polk County. The Coushatta and Alabama tribes started two trails and also traveled Long King's, Kickapoo, and Battise traces. These routes helped…
View on map ↗(1806-1874) In 1827 moved here from Alabama. For battle injuries and services under Republic of Texas, he received a land grant and wooden leg. Was in Battle of Nacogdoches, 1832; delegate to Consultation of 1835,…
View on map ↗Founded in 1882 as "East Texas Pinery" by J. M. and J. C. Stockton. Changed name to "Polk County Enterprise" about 1903. when the office installed first linotype machine (1920), school was dismissed so pupils could…
View on map ↗Travel was of great importance in Polk County's early days. Civilized Indians-- particularly Creeks, Alabamas, Coushattas and Kickapoos-- were numerous and had many trails for intercommunication. Long King's Trace…
View on map ↗Early state bank of Texas. Organized in 1910 as Guaranty State Bank with H. D. Reynolds as the first president. L. F. Gerlach, second president, operated one of city's best-known stores. The descendants of J. L. Muller,…
View on map ↗In 1840 this Masonic Lodge was organized in the pioneer town of Swartout (Swartwout) (6 mi. SW) in what was then Liberty County. After erecting a two-story building, the Masons assisted in organizing the first school in…
View on map ↗Polk County's oldest public utility, the Livingston Telephone Company was organized Aug. 3, 1903, with S.H. Smith as president. The locally owned, independent telephone exchange operated a 24-hour switchboard on the…
View on map ↗This home was built in 1900 by Albert Leroy "Roy" Sawyer (d. 1958) for his bride, Estella Marshall Sawyer (1882-1964). Sawyer was an investor in land, cotton gins, and local utilities. Mrs. Sawyer, known to her…
View on map ↗Built in 1911 by Philadelphia's Baldwin Locomotive Works, this locomotive was first used to transport timber in Florida. In the 1920s, it was purchased for use in Texas' logging industry by the Angelina County-based…
View on map ↗This congregation traces its history to 1882, when seven families living in this vicinity organized a community church in the local one-room schoolhouse. Named for the wild flowers in the area, the congregation built…
View on map ↗Michel B. Menard, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, and his brother Pierre J. settled here in 1833. According to local tradition sometime prior to 1854 the Mt. Gileard Baptist Church built a small…
View on map ↗Alabama and Coushatta Indians of Polk County were trained as cavalrymen in 1861 by Indian Agent Robert R. Neyland as the war between the states advanced. In April 1862, nineteen Alabama and Coushatta, including Chief…
View on map ↗Andrew A. (1816-1898) and Mary Barnes (1817-1857) McKee came to Texas in 1845 and purchased land here in 1854. Mary, who died in childbirth, was the first person buried here. According to local tradition, just prior to…
View on map ↗Malachi Theophilus Nettles and his wife Harriett brought their family from Alabama to Texas in 1844 and settled near what became Livingston. Malachi T. Nettles was appointed first county treasurer when Polk County was…
View on map ↗This historic graveyard began in 1840 with the burial of four-year-old Josephus Choate, son of Moses Livingston Choate (1794-1867) and Ursula Choate (1807-c. 1880). Early pioneers from Kentucky, the Choates moved to…
View on map ↗Polk County Courthouse Completed in 1924, this is the fifth courthouse to serve Polk County. Citing "lack of space and modern conveniences," the Commissioners Ccourt hired the Houston architectural firm of McLelland &…
View on map ↗R.A. McCaghren Cemetery,established 1870. Historic Texas Cemetery-2002
View on map ↗West Tempe Cemetery, established August 24, 1883. Historic Texas Cemetery-2002
View on map ↗By 1905, all the lots in Livingston's Old City Cemetery had been filled, and community leaders began looking for a new cemetery site. Residents established Forest Hill Cemetery Association in 1906 and bought land from…
View on map ↗In 1846, local officials designated a block in the central part of Livingston for use as a cemetery for local African Americans. Originally called Livingston Colored Cemetery, the burial ground was bounded by Feagin,…
View on map ↗Livingston native Margo Jones was one of the leading figures of American theatre during her brief life. A director and innovator, she played a key role in the careers of many actors and playwrights, most notably…
View on map ↗Education has been integral to life in Livingston since the town's inception in the 1840s. Moses Choate's 100-acre donation for the townsite included land for a school. Trinity Masonic Lodge No. 14, A.F. & A.M. financed…
View on map ↗Formal education for African American children in Livingston started in a building on West Street in the late 1800s. By 1908, the school also offered teaching certificates through one-month institutes. Later, part of a…
View on map ↗The Baptists of Livingston established Ariel Baptist Church circa 1852. The church petitioned for membership in the Bethlehem Association, which consisted of nine Texas counties, in 1855. Ariel Baptist Church belonged…
View on map ↗John Blount was the son of William Blount, later a U.S. senator, and a Coushatta woman. While in Florida, he became principal chief of the Apalachee or Apalachicola Indians. During the First Seminole War (1814-1815), he…
View on map ↗Born in Houston and raised in Livingston, James Parker attended Lon Morris Junior College and Texas A&M University. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, with his first assignment to fly anti-submarine patrols…
View on map ↗(April 3, 1839 - April 15, 1863) was born in Putnam County, Georgia. His father, J. A. S. Turner, was a plantation owner with Texas landholdings in Polk and Liberty counties. The Turner family moved to Texas prior to…
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