Historical Markers in San Augustine, Texas

An Early Presbyterian Church in Texas · 1936

Organized as the Bethel Presbyterian Church at Goodlaw School House by the Rev. Hugh Wilson on June 2, 1838 with the following charter members: James, Isabella, Joseph and Martha Sharp; H. G. Peggy, James and Elam…

Edward Oswald LeGrand · 1936

A signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence -- Veteran of San Jacinto -- Born in North Carolina 1801 -- Died in 1870 Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Home of Col. Stephen William Blount · 1936

Born Feb. 3, 1808 in Burke County, Georgia. Came to Texas in 1835. Joined the Army of Texas after signing the Declaration of Independence. First county clerk of San Augustine County First district clerk of the First…

Home of Matthew Cartwright · 1936

Home of MATTHEW CARTWRIGHT (1807-1870) Built in 1839 by Isaac Campbell Purchased by Matthew Cartwright in 1847 Still in possession of his descendants Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Home of Thomas S. McFarland · 1936

HOME OF THOMAS S. McFARLAND 1810 * * 1880 Surveyor, soldier and statesman. Aide-de-Camp to Major Bullock in the battle of Nacogdoches, 1832. Laid off the town of San Augustine in 1833. Soldier in the Texan army, 1836.…

James Pinckney Henderson · 1936

[front] HENDERSON [back] Born in North Carolina March 31 1808 * Arrived in Texas June 3, 1836 at the head of a company of volunteers * Attorney General of the Republic 1836 * Secretary of State 1836-1837 * Minister to…

Mission Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Ais · 1936

Site of MISSION NUESTRA SENORA DE LOS DOLORES DE LOS AIS Established in 1716 by Padre Fray Antonio Margil de Jesus Here faithful Franciscans labored for the purpose of civilizing and christianizing the Ais Indians…

Site of Home of James Pinckney Henderson · 1936

Site of the home from 1840 to 1856 of JAMES PINCKNEY HENDERSON First governor of the state of Texas, 1846-1847 Born in North Carolina, March 31, 1803 Died in Washington, D. C., June 4, 1858 while serving as Senator from…

Site of San Augustine University · 1936

Site of SAN AUGUSTINE UNIVERSITY Incorporated June 5, 1837 Granted for leagues of land for its support Opened September 5, 1842 Marcus A. Montrose, President, 1842-1845 James Russell, M. A. University of Edinburgh,…

Site of the First Methodist Episcopal Church · 1936

Site of the First METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH Erected in the Republic of Texas. Cornerstone laid, January 7, 1838 with the usages of the Masonic order. The Reverend Littleton Fowler and General Thomas J. Rusk delivered…

Site of the home of Elisha Roberts · 1936

(1785-1844) Early influential citizen * Important figure in the Fredonian Rebellion * Alcalde of San Augustine in 1831 * A haven of hospitality to travelers Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Site of Wesleyan College · 1936

Site of WESLEYAN COLLEGE Established in 1842 Incorporated January 16, 1844 by the Methodist Church Named for John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism A successful school for a brief period United with the…

"Pet" Sharp House · 1962

Anderson House · 1962

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Captain T. W. Blount House · 1962

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Columbus-Cartwright House · 1962

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Cullen House · 1962

Greek colonial home; pediments, Doric columns. Garret ballroom runs length of house, has opening fan-shaped windows. Long, wide center hall. 5 fireplaces with crane in kitchen chimney. Virgin pine wood in wide board…

Matthew Cartwright Home · 1962

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McRae Church · 1962

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Memorial Presbyterian Church · 1962

RTHL medallion only

Old Garrett House · 1962

RTHL medallion only

Old Wade Place · 1962

FM 705 about 9.5 mi. south of San Augustine

Polk House · 1962

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Stephen W. Blount Home · 1962

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Sublett House · 1962

SH 21, 4 mi. east of San Augustine

William Garrett House · 1962

William Garrett (1808-84) purchased this land soon after coming to Texas in 1830. In 1861, he erected this two-story house using pine boards from his nearby sawmill. Built by slave labor, the structure had unusual…

Christ Church · 1965

East Texas mother church. Founded 1848 by Rev. Henry Samson, missionary sent on plea of Mrs. J. Pinckney Henderson, wife of first (1846-1847) Governor of State of Texas. Original brick building, 1851. This strongly…

Hillcrest · 1965

Built 1872 by Wm. R. Leonard; enlarged to 12 rooms, 1878, by Leonidas Cartwright. Hand-hewn timbers, ceilings and 1 1/2" heart pine floors cut locally. Brick made at old Ayish Bayou kiln. 7 fireplaces. Marble mantels…

Old Brookeland Depot · 1966

Formerly on Great Northern Railway, organized 1898 by John Henry Kirby, a leading Texas lumberman. Named for the Brooke family, donors of depot site. In 1960, when Sam Rayburn Dam was built, G. N. Railway (part of Santa…

San Augustine · 1966

An early eastern gate to Texas, in area claimed in 1600s by both France and Spain. To back her claim, Spain in 1691 chartered from Mexico past this site El Camino Real (The King's Highway) and established nearby in 1717…

Site of Old Customhouse · 1966

On El Camino Real - Old Spanish Road. One of 3 ports of entry in Republic of Texas, 1836-1845; here duties were collected for entire eastern border. For many years, only public building in town. Served as courthouse;…

Site of the Battle of Fredonia · 1966

Climax of first Anglo-American rebellion in East Texas. In 1826 colonizer Hayden Edwards defied expulsion orders of Mexico and founded Republic of Fredonia - raising flag of "Independence, Liberty and Justice." When…

The Gatling House · 1967

Built in 1890 for George E. Gatling, a first cousin of inventor of the Gatling gun. Classic Greek revival style. Native longleaf pine lumber. Fireplaces of handmade brick. Continuously occupied by five generations of…

Old Hollis Building · 1968

Built 1889 by I. H. Hollis. Succeeded the imposing home ("Yellow House") of John P. Border, merchant. Also on site was office of K. L. Anderson, last vice president of Republic. This structure escaped the great fire,…

Site of Law Office of Kenneth L. Anderson · 1968

San Augustine lawyer and public official who was the last Vice President of the Republic of Texas. Born in Hillsboro, N. C., Sept. 11, 1805. Moved in 1829 to Shelbyville, Tenn., and in 1837 to San Augustine. Here he was…

Site of the "Red Lander" Office · 1968

One of the most influential newspapers in the Republic of Texas during the 1840s. W. W. Parker bought equipment of "Texas Chronicle," Galveston, and brought it here in 1837. He published the "Red Lander" for three…

Early Texas Sawmill · 1969

One-fourth mile north to site of Early Texas Sawmill Texas' first million-dollar industry - lumbering - was born to recorded history with the building of two sawmills in 1819. One, located on Ironosa Creek in present…

Roberts Baptist Church · 1972

Founded 1872 by the Rev. John Patton, in Brush Arbor. Members erected building on land (2.5 mi. NE) given by Elisha Roberts, but in 1918 bought present site. Member families are faithful for generations; so are pastors:…

San Augustine City Cemetery · 1975

This burial ground originated as the private cemetery of the J. C. Anderson family, whose residence stood on a nearby lot. The oldest of the 500 to 700 graves date from the 1830s. Prominent citizens buried here include…

Alexander Horton Cemetery · 1977

Pioneer, soldier, civic leader, and state legislator, Alexander Horton (1810-1894) came to Texas in 1824. He served as an aide-de-camp to Gen. Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836. This cemetery is…

First United Methodist Church of San Augustine · 1978

The Rev. Littleton Fowler (1803-1846), one of the first Methodist missionaries sent to the Republic of Texas, came to San Augustine in October 1837. Within two weeks, a lot was given across the street from this site,…

Antioch Church of Christ · 1979

William P. Defee, a medical doctor, arrived in Texas in 1833 and began preaching in homes. In 1836 he began this congregation. They met in a dirt-floored, log building on Rhoddy Anthony's property. The name "Antioch"…

Antioch Cemetery · 1980

First used as early as the 1860s, this burial ground served the congregation of the Antioch Church of Christ, which was started in 1836. The property was deeded to Elders Thomas M. Baggett and N. W. Ware in 1880 by…

Bland-Fisher Home · 1981

James Jefferson Bland (d. 1939) had this one-story galleried home built about 1912. It was the center of the Bland Lake community, which included Bland's general store, sawmill, cotton gin, grist mill, a school, Santa…

St. Augustine Catholic Church · 1982

In 1716 Franciscan missionaries held the first Catholic services in this vicinity. For many years Catholics in San Augustine were without leadership until 1847 when the Diocese of Galveston recognized it as a mission…

Jerusalem Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church · 1983

Blacks in San Augustine worshiped together as early as 1845 when two slaves known as Sutton and Bartlett were granted licenses to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They built a place of worship, referred…

The Thompson Family · 1986

Dr. Samuel (1765-1843) and Precious Wofford (d. 1841) Thompson and their sons were among the earliest settlers of this area. Samuel Thompson served as Alcalde of the San Augustine municipality and later organized area…

Norwood Community · 1997

This rural community was settled in the 1840s by William Coleson (W. C.) Norwood (1794-1885) and Eliza LeGrand Norwood (1808-1869). They migrated from North Carolina, where W. C. was a merchant and postmaster in the…

Rev. Samuel A. Williams · 1997

Born in Tennessee about 1804, Samuel A. Williams became a Methodist minister. He was admitted to the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Church in 1834, and also served as a minister in Alabama. Williams became the…

Augus Theatre · 1998

Constructed in the 1920s by prominent citizen E. H. Blount, this building was originally divided for three businesses including a barber shop. The structure is best known for the August Theatre, operated by William M.…

Sam Houston in San Augustine · 1998

Sam Houston (March 2, 1793 - July 26, 1863) left home in 1809 and lived among the Cherokees. After two years he returned to the Anglo world; he opened a school, fought the British under Andrew Jackson, and was governor…

Price-Sossaman-Slaughter Cemetery · 2001

Little physical evidence remains of the family graveyard near this site that contains the burials of members of several early San Augustine families. The remaining historic tombstone, that of James H. C. Price, dates to…

San Augustine County Courthouse · 2001

San Augustine County Courthouse When the town of San Augustine was platted in 1834, this property was reserved for the public square, but it was another 20 years before the first courthouse was constructed here. San…

Inlow and Jeanette Mathews House · 2004

Inlow Mathews (d. 1879) and wife Jeanette (Hoffman) (d. 1897) brought their family and slaves to San Augustine County from Alabama in 1849. Inlow was a prosperous planter, and he served several terms as county…

Macune Cemetery · 2004

By the time Texas became a republic in 1836, Nathaniel Hunt had settled in this area with his wife, Mary Elizabeth (White), and their children, including their oldest daughter Clarissa and her husband, John M. Neely.…

McRae Cemetery · 2008

Minutes of the McRae church state that "at a place called Union Church, six miles southwest of the town of San Augustine, a number of persons assembled on this, the 15th day of October 1882 . . . The following persons…

Teel Family Burying Ground · 2008

This family cemetery was established in 1856 when George W. Teel was interred beneath a pear tree planted near his home. He and his wife, Rebecca (Johnson), came from Arkansas to Texas in 1824 as colonists with Stephen…

Thomas Cemetery · 2008

In 1822, North Carolina native Benjamin Thomas, then in Alabama, read an advertisement calling for families to settle Stephen F. Austin’s colony in Texas. Between himself as head of family, his wife Mary Ann “Polly”…

Camp San Augustine World War II POW Camp · 2009

During World War II, the U.S. military established multiple Prisoners of War (POW) Branch Camps at the request of East Texas communities seeking to boost federal economic investment and address local labor shortages.…

Chapel Hill Cemetery · 2010

The first recorded burial here is for Able Allison Lewis, a veteran of the American Revolution, in 1838. Oral tradition identifies his widow, Patsey Lewis, as giving land along El Camino Real for a public graveyard…