Topics (click on a topic to jump to that section).
Angelina County | Cheeseland | Clark's Ferry and Clark's Ferry Cemetery | Depot Explosion and Mystery | Gann House | Hoo Hoo Band, Site of Rehearsal Hall for The | Joaquin Crossing on Bedias Trail, Don | Lufkin CCC Camp | Prairie Grove | Stranger's Rest Cemetery
Angelina County
Marker Title: Angelina County
City: Lufkin
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: .5 mi. south of Lufkin on US 69
Marker Text: Created and organized in 1846. Originally a part of Nacogdoches County. Bears the name of the river traversing the region. The following towns have served as the county seat: Marion, 1846-1854; Jonesville, 1854-1858; Homer, Feb. 3 - May 17, 1858, when its name was changed to Angelina, 1858 - 1890; Lufkin 1890.
Cheeseland
Marker Title: Cheeseland
City: Lufkin vicinity
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1981
Marker Location: 9.2 mi. N of Lufkin on US 69, then W 2.3 mi. on SH 7, then N 3.5 mi. on Old Homer-Alto Road
Marker Text: In 1844 Jacob Ferguson Humphrey (d. 1882), a native of Wales, built a log cabin and stockade in this area. The community that grew up near his homesite became known as Cheeseland before the Civil War. The name was chosen because of the special cheese made and sold here by German natives Caroline and Wenzell Hillenkamp. Located on the Old Homer and Alto Road, an early mail route, and the site of a post office, Cheeseland remained an active settlement until the nearby development of wells in the 1880s. A few traces of the pioneer community remain. (1981)
Clark's Ferry and Clark's Ferry Cemetery
Marker Title: Clark's Ferry and Clark's Ferry Cemetery, Site of
City: Diboll vicinity
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1996
Marker Location: US 59 at Clark's Ferry Rd., 3 mi. south of Diboll
Marker Text: Established by I. D. Clark in 1856, this ferry provided an important crossing on the Neches River between Angelina and Polk counties. When Clark died in 1859, his widow, Ann, operated the ferry with the help of two slaves until her own death in 1863. Ownership of the land remained in the Clark family. In 1881 W. B. Clark was issued a license to operate the ferry. A town was platted at the ferry crossing and named Clark's Station, also known as Miami. In 1860 a community cemetery was established north of the town. The ferry was phased out after modern highways were built. (1996)
Depot Explosion and Mystery
Marker Title: Depot Explosion and Mystery
City: Lufkin
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1982
Marker Location: Calder Square - Ellis, Cotton and Angelina streets, Lufkin
Marker Text: On the evening of March 2, 1913, an explosion destroyed the Houston, East & West Texas Railroad depot at this site, disrupting the town's vital source of transportation and trade. Although a body was not discovered, it was presumed a railroad employee had been killed in the mishap. He was later declared legally dead and his stepmother collected on his insurance. In 1916, however, he was returned to Lufkin by Judge E. J. Mantooth, a local attorney acting on behalf of the insurance firms. The railroad employee stood trial for insurance fraud, but was subsequently acquitted. (1982)
Gann House
Marker Title: The Gann House
City: Lufkin vicinity
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1970
Marker Location: near Hwy. 94, 7.5 mi west of Lufkin
Marker Text: Early Texas double log cabin built of interlocking hewn pine logs. Originally had a "dog trot" (open center hall). Erected before 1860 by John D. Gann, first district clerk of Angelina County. Sold to W. H. Bonner in 1864. Remodeled in 1955 by L. F. Bonner, owner. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1970
Hoo Hoo Band, Site of Rehearsal Hall for The
Marker Title: Site of Rehearsal Hall for The Hoo Hoo Band
City: Lufkin
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1982
Marker Location: Perry Building, Lufkin Ave. and Cotton Square, Lufkin
Marker Text: At the turn of the century, a group of Lufkin men organized a town brass band. It later became known as the Hoo Hoo Band after representing Texas at a national convention of the Order of Hoo Hoo, an organization of American and Canadian lumbermen. In addition to concerts in nearby Cotton (Calder) Square, the band performed at various events and also directed such civic projects as the formation of the town's fire department. Inactive by the 1920s when school bands became popular, the Hoo Hoo Band remans a symbol of Lufkin's early civic pride and quality of life. (1982)
Joaquin Crossing on Bedias Trail, Don
Marker Title: Don Joaquin Crossing on Bedias Trail
City: Lufkin vicinity
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1979
Marker Location: at Angelina River Bridge, 9 mi. N of Lufkin on US 59
Marker Text: Used by Indians, explorers, traders and missionaries, this trail ran from Bedias Indian camps on the lower Trinity River to Spanish missions near Nacogdoches. Don Joaquin de Orobio y Basterra, captain of the presidio at La Bahia (present Goliad), led reconnaissance troops along the trail in 1746 and gave his name to the Angelina River crossing. Italian-born trader Vicente Michili owned a large ranch near the crossing before 1800. Bedias Trail was important in Angelina County's development. Railroads and major highways later followed the Trail's route. (1979)
Lufkin CCC Camp
Marker Title: Lufkin CCC Camp
City: Lufkin
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1984
Marker Location: intersection of Frank (SH 94) and Ellis St., Lufkin
Marker Text: Created by President Franklin Roosevelt and approved by an Act of Congress in 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided youth employment programs during the Great Depression. The Lufkin CCC Camp, located near this site from 1933 until 1942, was administered by the Texas Forest Service. Young men helped to build roads and bridges, string telephone lines, and plant trees. The Lufkin CCC Camp proved to be instrumental in relieving unemployment but also helped revive the East Texas forest industry through its use of progressive forestry techniques. (1984)
Prairie Grove
Marker Title: Prairie Grove
City: Diboll vicinity
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1996
Marker Location: 5 mi. east of Diboll at intersection of FM 1818 and CR 263
Marker Text: The community of Prairie Grove began in 1845 and became a place for early settlers to gather. A cemetery began in 1849 when the young daughter of John M. and Caroline Stovall died. In the 1880s a school/church building was erected near the cemetery, and became the heart of the community. The church became the Prairie Grove Missionary Baptist Church in 1921, and a new schoolhouse was built that served the area until 1948 when the school was disbanded. The church and cemetery continue to serve the area after more than a century. (1996)
Stranger's Rest Cemetery
Marker Title: Stranger's Rest Cemetery
City: Lufkin
County: Angelina
Year Marker Erected: 1995
Marker Location: corner of Knight & Walter St., Lufkin
Marker Text: R. D. Holland, Sydney Hackney, and S. D. Long, trustees of an Angelina County African American cemetery group, acquired one acre here from the Lufkin Land & Timber Co., in 1905. Recorded burials began in 1901. The graveyard was first known as Frost Cemetery but according to local tradition began to be called Stranger's Rest Cemetery about 1915 because of the large number of drifters buried here. The last recorded interment, that of Norris Patton, took place in 1946. The site fell into disrepair but was reclaimed by members of the local community and county volunteers in 1991-92. Sesquicentennial of texas Statehood 1845 - 1995