Historical Markers in Terrell, Texas

Dr. L. E. Griffith Home · 1962

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Robert A. Terrell Home · 1962

This house replaced the 1845 log cabin of Robert A. Terrell (1820-1881), a pioneer settler for whom the town was named. Built for him in 1864, it is one of the few remaining octagon-shaped houses in Texas. Since 1897 it…

Church of the Good Shepherd · 1967

Organized as mission by Rev. John Portmess, vicar, Trinity Sunday, 1877. First services were held at Terrell Academy, a private school founded by the vicar. In 1878 first church edifice was built on this site and…

Terrell State Hospital · 1967

Authorized 1883 by Legislature of Texas. Designed by J. N. Preston and sons, Austin. Built by John M'Donald. Opened in 1885 under administration of Dr. D. R. Wallace, superintendent, who was an internationally…

Carnegie Public Library · 1968

Opened 1904 through the efforts of local women's clubs. Building a gift of public benefactor Andrew Carnegie. Only library in Kaufman County; has been information center for students of five local colleges and a site of…

Cartwright House · 1968

Victorian residence, 1883. Built by third generation Texan, Matthew Cartwright (1855-1925), rancher, banker, civic leader; married Mary Cynthia Davenport. Had ten children. Entertained artists, statesmen in this house.…

John H. Corley Home · 1968

Built 1896 by John Neilson, a former shipbuilder. Many of the building materials were shipped to Jefferson, Texas, by boat, then here by railroad. Elaborate Victorian architecture. Curly pine and cypress stairway with…

Victorian Residence, 1883 (Cartwright House) · 1968

Homesite of Gov. Oscar Branch Colquitt · 1969

(1861-1940) (This block is the former homesite of) Twenty-fourth Governor of Texas (1911-1915). Known as "The Napoleon of Texas Politics" and "Little Oscar" because of his short stature, Colquitt was a strong and…

Porter Farms · 1970

Birthplace of agricultural (cooperative) extension, under lead of Dr. Seaman A. Knapp, U.S. Department of Agriculture. On Feb. 26, 1903, from places offered, a special committee of citizens selected farm of Mr. and Mrs.…

W. E. Henderson Home · 1970

Built 1898 by William Ebenezer Henderson (1847-1944), who moved from Louisiana to Texas (1862) in an ox-drawn barouche. Going to work at 19 for a cattleman, he became in time a prosperous commission dealer-- shipping…

Frank Reaugh · 1971

(December 29, 1860 - May 6, 1945) Graphic historian of Longhorn cattle, western trails, and range. Born in Illinois. Son of George W. and Clarinda Morgan Reaugh. In 1876 moved to Kaufman County, where on trail beside…

Saint John Catholic Church · 1972

On oldest church site in Terrell, which became a town when Texas & Pacific Railroad was built to this point in 1873. The Rt. Rev. Claude-Marie Dubuis, Bishop of the Diocese, acquired the land on May 22, 1876. First…

R. L. Warren House · 1973

Unusual mansion built 1904 by prominent residents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lee Warren. Architect was J. E. Flanders, Dallas; Keith & Co., Kansas City, stencilled interiors. House has 18 rooms, including a formal reception…

Poetry Baptist Church · 1974

The oldest Baptist church in Kaufman County, organized in 1855 by The Rev. J. J. Butler and The Rev. J. R. Briscoe. Original name was Salem Baptist Church, when the community was called Turner's Point. In 1870, the…

First Baptist Church of Terrell · 1975

The Rev. J. B. Daniel (d. 1884) organized this church in 1876 and served as its first pastor. The congregation started with 13 members, who met once a month for services. The first church building was a small frame…

First Christian Church of Terrell · 1976

Organized in 1876 with 18 to 20 charter members, this church met in borrowed quarters until its first sanctuary was built on this site in 1881. That building had become inadequate by 1895, as the membership had grown…

Rose Hill Cemetery · 1976

Wild roses covered this hillside when settlers from Tennessee camped here in 1866. The land was first used as a burial site after a son of W. R. Dickey died on Aug. 14, 1866. Dr. James R. Stovall, leader of the…

The American National Bank of Terrell · 1976

The city of Terrell was founded in 1873. C. M. Bivens, John H. Corley, and F. A. Waters opened a private bank here in 1875. In 1878, Asa Holt replaced Waters as one of the owners. Later the enterprise became the Bivens…

First United Methodist Church of Terrell · 1977

The Rev. J. W. Fields (1817-1886) organized this church in 1873, the same year the Texas & Pacific Railroad opened a station at the Terrell townsite. A frame church was built and the Sunday School started in 1877. In…

Poetry Methodist Church · 1978

Originally called Turners Point, this community was founded in 1845 by Elisha Turner. In 1855 the Methodist congregation paid Zachariah Turner and his wife Martha $20 for the original church site. The Rev. J. W. Fields,…

Dry Creek Cemetery · 1980

Named for a nearby ravine, this burial ground originally served the community of Turner's Point. Located on the stage road between Shreveport, Louisiana, and Dallas, the settlement was established by Elisha Turner in…

Texas Midland Railroad · 1982

A northeast line of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad was built through this area in 1882. In 1892 it was purchased by Mrs. Hetty Green and later reorganized as the Texas Midland Railroad. Under the innovative…

William Henry Burnett · 1982

(1872 - 1944) In the 1880s Presbyterian missionary Alexander R. Wilson began conducting school in the rural South Prong community of Ellis County. One of his pupils was a promising black farm boy named William Henry…

Carnegie Library Building · 1983

Completed in 1904, this library building is located on land owned in the 1890s by local publisher O. B. Colquitt, who later became the governor of Texas. It was designed by the Waco firm of Messer and Smith and features…

Oakland Memorial Park · 1983

After Terrell was established as a railroad town in 1873, its citizens saw the need for a community burial ground. In 1878 John R. Terrell sold 7 acres of land for use as a cemetery, and the first burials were those of…

Ables Springs · 1985

This small settlement, which lies in a region of natural springs, was named for an early Kaufman County family. James W. and Eliza (Godfrey) Ables moved to this area in 1853 and settled on land granted to his father,…

Public Education in Terrell · 1985

On July 3, 1883, the citizens of Terrell voted overwhelmingly to establish and support a system of public schools. The first classes were held in September of that year in buildings that had previously been occupied by…

Terrell State Hospital Cemetery · 1985

Soon after the Terrell State Hospital opened in July 1885, a portion of the property was set aside for burial of patients who died while hospitalized. The first burial here occurred Oct. 22, 1885. The oldest gravestone…

Bethlehem Baptist Church · 1988

The oldest black Baptist congregation extant in Terrell, this church traces its history to 1877, when a group of worshipers led by missionary A. R. Griggs met under a brush arbor. With the Rev. P. W. Upshaw serving as…

First Presbyterian Church of Terrell · 1988

This congregation traces its history to two Presbyterian churches formed in the 1870s. A Cumberland Presbyterian Church, formerly located in the town of Lawrence, and the First Presbyterian Church in Terrell, also…

Lawrence Cemetery · 1991

In 1873, soon after the Texas and Pacific Railroad built a line through this area, a group of investors formed the Texas Colony Association with the goal of promoting a town. Named for one of the company directors, the…

Pioneer Cemetery · 1994

Robert A. Terrell · 1994

(February 22, 1820 - March 8, 1881) A native of Tennessee, Robert Adams Terrell lived in Kentucky, Missouri, and Louisiana before coming to the Republic of Texas about 1840. A farmer and surveyor by trade, he was…

Texas & Pacific Railroad Freight Depot · 1996

Founded in 1873, the town of Terrell was located on the route of the Texas & Pacific Railroad. Robert A. Terrell, for whom the town was named, was a surveyor and landowner in Kaufman County. Portions of land were given…

The Old Graveyard (Pioneer Cemetery) · 1996

This small historic cemetery, also called the "Irvine Family Cemetery," predates the establishment of Terrell by more than 20 years. The first burial was that of Robert Alexander, nephew of W. D. Irvine, in 1851. Now…

Terrell Elementary School · 1997

This location has been home to a school building for the students of the Terrell area since 1901. The site was selected to serve the children living north of the Texas and Pacific Railway tracks nearby. A two-story…

Ables Springs Cemetery · 2002

Marrs, S. M. N. · 2003

On January 2, 1862, Starlin Marion Newberry Marrs was born in Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, Virginia (now West Virginia). At 16, he began teaching in rural schools, working in coal mines to make ends meet. He moved to…

Walter P. and Meck Allen House · 2004

In 1893, Rusk County native Walter Payne Allen (1870-1943) wed America "Meck" Peyroux Cartwright (1874-1959), a native of San Augustine. A banker, Walter was an organizer and later president of American National Bank.…

No. 1 British Flying Training School · 2010

By 1939, the British government recognized that in the event of war with Germany, training facilities would need to be established overseas in commonwealth countries, or in the U.S. at civilian schools similar to those…

Major W.F. Long · 2012

MISSOURI NATIVE WILLIAM FRANCIS “BILL” LONG WAS 17 WHEN HIS FAMILY MOVED TO TEXAS. DURING WORLD WAR I, HE WAS AN AERIAL OBSERVER AND PILOT IN THE 24TH AERO SQUADRON, FIRST ARMY OBSERVATION GROUP. AFTER THE WAR, HE…

Griffith House · 2017

This 1909 house was designed by noted Dallas architect, James E. Flanders, for Lycurgus Edward (L.E.) Griffith, Jr. (1865-1928), and his second wife, Netta Washington (Morrill) Griffith. The site originally housed the…

Oakland Memorial Park

(supplemental plaque)

Rockwall and Brin Church of Christ

Growing out of meetings held in members' homes, this church was organized in 1896. Services were held in Odd-Fellows Hall until 1900, when a small frame church was built on College Street. C. A. Norred became first…