Historical Markers in Van, Texas

Brady P. Gentry · 1967

Park dedicated to memory of Texas State Highway Commission Chairman Brady P Gentry (March 25, 1895-Nov 9, 1966) A man whose public service was of highest order. Born on a farm near this site in Van Zandt County.…

Battle of the Neches · 1968

(Site 15 miles southeast) Main engagement of Cherokee War; fought July 15 and 16, 1839, between 800 Indians (Including; Delawares and Shawnees) and 500 troops of the Republic of Texas. An extraordinary fact is that…

The Free State of Van Zandt · 1968

Pioneer nickname appropriate to this area's many freedoms-- particularly from want and fear. (Food was obtained with little effort; and although the Indians fought white men here as late as 1842, the settlers by 1847…

Jarman No. 1 Discovery Well · 1986

The Pure Oil Company conducted seismograph surveys in Van Zandt County in 1927 and that summer leased about 17,000 acres in the Van area for exploration. Core drilling began in January 1929, and the first derrick was…

Marvin Chapel Cemetery · 1993

This cemetery traces its origin to the Marvin Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, South, established here (in the pioneer community of Owlet Green) in the 1860s. The first recorded burial was that of Nannie E. Graham in…

Primrose-Sexton Community · 1998

Thomas Horsley received much of the land in this area from the state of Texas in 1847, and settlers began to arrive in the 1850s. Johnson Watts and his family came in 1858 and bought 820 acres of Horsley land. B. H.…

Pure Oil Company Camp · 2009

During the late 1920s, geologists from the Pure Oil Company determined that the presence of oil in the Van area was likely. The company had previously leased 17,000 acres in order to harvest the commodity, and oil was…

Van · 2009

Swindall School · 2010

In the 1880s, the area now known as Van contained a scattered collection of farm houses and a general store. There was no school located close enough for community children to attend regularly. Recognizing the…

Van Common School · 2010

In 1916, Swindall and Spring Hill Schools were consolidated to form Van Common School. Money raised with a bond election and state aid enabled the district to build a new school on five acres less than one mile east of…

Van School, 1929-1947 · 2010

The discovery of the Van oil field in 1929 brought about many changes within the community, including an influx of school-aged children that required the transition from a five-room rural school to a large, ultra-modern…

Van United Methodist Church · 2011

VAN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN 1885, A GROUP OF AREA CHRISTIANS ESTABLISHED A CONGREGATION IN THE COMMUNITY OF SWINDALL (LATER VAN) BECAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY IN TRAVELING TO CHURCHES IN SURROUNDING SETTLEMENTS.…

C.S. Nicks · 2013

Charles Sparkman Nicks was a photographer with a dream, ambition and a talent for inventions. His photographs of the discovery of oil in 1929-1930 Van, Texas, document the birth of this new oil town and preserve its…