Historic Palestine

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HISTORIC PALESTINE 

An Illustrated History 

by Eric Dabney 

Commissioned by the Museum for East Texas Culture 

Historical Publishing Network 

A division of Lammert Incorporated 

San Antonio, Texas

CONTENTS 

3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

4 PROLOGUE 

5 CHAPTER I a n e w l a n d 

10 CHAPTER II P a l e s t i n e , Te x a s 

16 CHAPTER III g r o w i n g u p 

23 CHAPTER IV a p r o p h e t i c v o i c e 

27 CHAPTER V l i f e i n t h e c i t y 

32 CHAPTER VI a c i t y f l o u r i s h e s 

37 CHAPTER VII a c u l t u r a l f a b r i c 

50 TEXAS TIMELINE 

56 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

57 SHARING THE HERITAGE 

First Edition 

Copyright © 2011 Historical Publishing Network 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing 

from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Historical Publishing Network, 11535 Galm Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas, 78254. Phone (800) 749-9790. 

ISBN: 9781935377672 

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2011942250 

Historic Palestine: An Illustrated History 

author: Eric Dabney 

cover artist: Naomi Brotherton 

contributing writer for sharing the heritage: Garnette Bane 

Historical Publishing Network 

president: Ron Lammert 

project manager: Curtis Courtney 

administration: Donna M. Mata, Melissa G. Quinn 

book sales: Dee Steidle 

production: Colin Hart, Evelyn Hart, Glenda Tarazon Krouse, Omar Wright 

2 ✦ H I S T O R I C P A L E S T I N E

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Writing a book is a community project—and in a place like Palestine, Texas, the help and support and encouragement throughout 

such an endeavor is truly abundant simply because the people are so kind and generous with their time and talent. Therefore, very 

special thanks go to Museum Director Dan Dyer; Joy and Richard Phillips; Stuart Whitaker, who painstakingly scanned every Museum 

photograph in this book; African-American historian and friend June McCoy; Celsey Rodgers and Bhavil Patel; Theresa Holden at the 

Palestine Public Library; and Museum archivist and friend Lizzi Langenkamp. 

The writings of Norris White, Bob Bowman, Beverly Odom, Louise Goff, James Smith, Bonnie Woolverton, Mike Thomason, Jack 

Selden, and June Welch were rich with detail, while the voluminous narratives of Mary Kate Hunter and the work of courthouse historian 

James Neyland and Palestine historian Carl Avera were invaluable in their telling of the history of the area and providing a clear 

understanding of its many nuances and personal stories. Throughout the book, many of the earliest and most descriptive quotes about 

Palestine and its people come from the pens of both Carl Avera and Mary Kate Hunter and are noted in the text. 

❖ 

Mary Kate Hunter, c. 1930. Hunter was born outside Palestine in 1866 and tirelessly “recorded, promoted and preserved” much of the Palestine and Anderson County’s first century 

through detailed interviews regarding its people, places and events. She was a student at the Palestine Female Academy and became an accomplished pianist. She was also a charter 

member of the city’s Self-Culture Club and organized Palestine’s Equal Suffrage Association. Upon her death in 1945, she left her vast collection of historical materials to the Palestine 

Public Library, where it remains today in the Mary Kate Hunter Special Collections Room. 

COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM FOR EAST TEXAS CULTURE. 

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s ✦ 3

PROLOGUE 

“The past is not merely prologue. It is with us still.” – Walter Edgar 

Palestine—a city well-known both for its outstanding hospitality and abundant lush parks and 

forests filled with dazzling magnolias and dogwoods—is truly a place where history has found a 

hallowed home. It frames a great window into the American past and seems renewed in its sense of 

preservation by residents who have remained genuinely proud to honor the city’s deep roots, which 

run across generations of hearty pioneers and visionary leaders who have called this place home since 

the mid-nineteenth century. 

After it was established in 1846 by courageous families who had settled along its wild frontier, 

Palestine grew steadily as a hub of culture, commerce and community and would serve to link the 

current and former towns of Anderson County, which include Cayuga, Elkhart, Frankston, Montalba, 

Neches, Slocum, Tucker, Long Lake, Tennessee Colony, Plentitude, Flint Hill, Mound Prairie, Bethel, 

Blackfoot, Brushy Creek, Fosterville, Pert, Salmon, Alderbranch, Swanson Hill, and Providence, for 

generations to come. 

Today, whether it is for a visit to discover more about the history and people of Anderson County, 

the museums, old buildings, descriptive plaques, historical markers and grand old cemeteries are 

abundant. A leisurely stroll downtown to browse among antique shops like Star of Texas and Duncan 

Depot, hometown bookstores like Mary’s Books, or to see the award-winning collection of paintings 

inside The Art Depot will eventually give way to an admiration for the historic buildings, homes and 

landmark churches that line the streets of the city. Whether it is to enjoy a piece of pie at the Oxbow 

Bakery and General Store in Old Town, grab a bite to eat at Chip’s Burger Ranch or Eilenberger’s 

Bakery, or just take a peaceful drive through the other-worldly beauty of Davey Dogwood Park, this 

is a city filled with life and history and pride of place. 

Could those nineteenth-century city planners, pioneering farmers, tireless laborers, hopeful businessmen, 

dedicated educational leaders, and so many others who helped create this city nearly two 

centuries ago have imagined what they were ultimately building for the future? Could they have realized 

that their home would one day be regarded by many as the “Gateway to East Texas” and the 

“Queen City of the East?” Could they sense something of the pride and honor that twenty-first-century 

residents would one day place upon their home and its forefathers? 

This is the story of such a city and its compelling history. 


C H A P T E R 

A NEW LAND 

I 

I look across the lapse of near a century to find the beginning of Fort Houston. I see nature in her 

wild state embellishing the earth with vines and grass and flowers. I hear the hoofbeat of 

heavy animals and the scurrying of wild tiny feet hurrying away before the onrush of civilization; 

and I hear the distant echo of the advance…the spirit of the pioneer—a spirit of fearlessness 

and daring, which cannot be understood by those who do not possess it. 

– Mrs. Walter A. Patrick, 1926 

With its nearly perfect geographical location as the centerpiece of historic Anderson County in 

hilly East Texas, the county seat of Palestine is a thriving community that has drawn travelers to its 

beautiful forests, serene countrysides and cultural charm since the county was founded in 1846. 

Celebrated local historian Mary Kate Hunter (1866-1945) wrote of the area, “[It is] one of those 

wooded East Texas Counties, with red hills, tall pines, giants oaks, the autumn-radiant sweetgum, 

and an endless variety of trees; where not even highway engineers have been able to level and destroy 

the beauty of the up-hill and down-hill of the winding red roads.” 

The Trinity and Neches rivers border the western and eastern edges of the county respectively, and 

feed the surrounding countryside with a variety of sandy, clay and black soils known as Fuquay- 

Kirvin-Darco to form an area rich with beautiful, forested swaths of pine and hardwood timbers that 

include the mighty post and red oaks as well as groves of pecan, walnut, hickory, elm, and ash. 

Flourishing pastureland composes much of the county itself, which lies in the Texas Claypan area 

and the East Texas Timberlands of the Southern Coastal Plains. 

Native Texas tribes such as Caddo, Atakapan, Karankawan, Coahuiltecan, Jumano, and Apacheans had 

established themselves across the region by the time European explorers encountered them in the 1500s. 

In his detailed research of the prehistory of East Texas and Native American tribes, historian Norris 

White, Jr., places the earliest inhabitants of the region, the Caddo Indians, in present-day Palestine 

and Anderson County as early as 600 A.D., “a fully developed culture and society. They were 

❖ 

In 1853, Secretary of War Jefferson 

Davis received a message from 

Lieutenant Whitting that the Trinity 

River, shown here in 2011, was the 

“deepest and had fewer obstacles than 

any other river in Texas.” 

PHOTO BY SHELLEY DABNEY. 

C h a p t e r I ✦ 5

❖ 

Caddo artisans were arguably 

regarded as the finest pottery makers 

in pre-Columbian North America. 

Both vases date to the Middle Caddo 

Period (1200 A.D.-1500 A.D.) and 

are typical of Caddo pottery found in 

the Quashita River basin in 

southwestern Arkansas, the Caddo 

homeland. The vessels were donated 

to Palestine’s Museum for East Texas 

Culture from the estate of the late 

Jonathan Paul Hodges. 

PHOTO AND CAPTION COURTESY OF 

NORRIS WHITE. 

agriculturalist, skilled artisans, traders, 

astronomers, and mound builders.” 

In 1690, Spaniards established a mission in 

the area. Tribes including the Comanche, 

Kiowa, Tonkawa, Wichita, Cherokee and 

Kickapoo later migrated or were forced from 

their native lands into the state. By the late 

1700s and into the early 1800s, tribes including 

the Comanche, Kichai, Kickapoo, Waco, and 

Tawakonis were settling along the Trinity River 

near present-day Palestine. 

A variety of creeks and streams carrying 

modern names such as Hurricane, Lone, Brushy, 

Massey, Mansion, and Keechie were not only a 

treasure to the area’s human inhabitants, but 

also its abundant wildlife. This fertile land that 

includes present-day Anderson County had 

originally been granted in treaty to tribes 

including the Cherokees, Delawares, native 

Caddo, and Kickapoo by previous governments 

and would remain so only until 1840. 

Colonists officially arrived in the territory 

when Stephen F. Austin was allowed to begin 

colonization of Texas by the Mexican government 

in 1821. David Gouverneur Burnet (1788-1870), 

who would later serve as interim president of the 

Republic of Texas in 1836 and vice-president in 

1838, and was named Texas’ first Secretary of 

State in 1846, requested an empresario grant in 

which he would serve as a land agent to establish 

Burnet’s Colony in east Texas in 1826. Small 

settlements began to spring up across the area 

that would later become Anderson County and 

included Magnolia, Parker’s Bluff, Tennessee 

Colony, Fort Houston, and Mound Prairie. 

When word of the pioneering effort taking 

place in this wild and new frontier reached 

ordained minister and Illinois state senator 

Daniel Parker (1781-1844) and his brother 

James in 1832, they traveled to Texas to apply 

for a land grant with the Mexican government 

that would establish for themselves and their 

families and like-minded friends a new Baptist 

church organization. 

At the time, it was unlawful to organize a new 

Protestant church body in the territory because 

of the government’s longstanding Catholic 

heritage, and the Parkers were denied their 

request. Though discouraged, they were 

undeterred and made the arduous journey 

home to Illinois, where they met with a small 

group of family members and neighbors to 

establish the Pilgrim Predestinarian Regular 

Baptist Church on July 26, 1833. 


By the time of their departure in the early fall 

of that same year, historians record that the newly 

established church group may have included as 

many as twenty-five ox-drawn wagons on their 

return to settle in Texas. Notably, the large 

caravan was joined by Silas and Lucy Parker, 

whose daughter Cynthia Ann (c. 1825-c. 1871), 

later gave birth to the great Comanche warrior 

and chief, Quanah Parker (c. 1845-1911). 

The church and its members entered Texas 

and held their first church meeting in Stephen F. 

Austin’s Colony on January 20, 1834, under the 

direction of Elder Daniel Parker. They 

ultimately settled along San Pedro Creek in 

Houston County, established what historians 

consider one of the oldest forts in the state, 

Brown’s Fort, and built their first church. 

In 1834 Reverend Parker’s brother, John, 

moved with his wife, Sara, and their three sons 

further west to the headwaters of the Navasota 

River and established Fort Parker at Groesbeck 

in Limestone County. The fort, today a state 

historic site, would become well-known for a 

deadly raid by Native American warriors on the 

John Parker family, including Cynthia Parker, 

and other settlers at the fort in 1836. Historian 

Bob Bowman wrote that the legendary story 

remains a “slice of history almost as riveting as 

the Alamo” and notes that it took survivors of 

the massacre six days to make the 60-mile 

journey to safety behind the walls of the newly 

constructed Fort Houston in Anderson County. 

On July 4, 1835, Reverend Daniel Parker 

established a new home and branch of his original 

church group and held the first church service 

near present-day Elkhart, on a site that remains 

today as Pilgrim Church—considered the oldest 

continuous Protestant church in the state. 

Settlers including Williston Ewing and Joseph 

Jordan, himself a member of the Parker 

immigration to Texas and recorded as a “new 

member” of the Parker’s church at Claiborne 

Parish, Louisiana, in October 1833, developed 

land a few miles west of present-day Palestine in 

the early summer of 1835. W. L. McDonald joined 

Jordan in surveying a townsite at the location. 

A small community formed in the area, which 

historian Stephen Moore describes in Taming Texas 

as fertile land with “a magnificent spring where 

tradition has it that the water gushed forth from the 

earth,” and the town of Houston was established. 

At the same time, the battle for Texas 

independence was ablaze across the land. On 

November 2, 1835, Texas seceded from Mexico 

and Dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna 

ordered a military offensive across the state in 

hopes of quashing the rebellion. However, with 

cries of “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember 

Goliad!” still ringing across the land, Texans 

rallied in their legendary battle for independence 

at the decisive, eighteen-minute battle of San 

Jacinto led by General Sam Houston and the 

Republic of Texas was born in 1836. 

Small settlements could be found in what is 

now Anderson County by the time Fort Houston 

was ordered to be built by General Sam Houston 

(1793-1863), who served as commander-in-chief 

of the Texas armies, was a two-term president of 

the Republic of Texas and later a United States 

Senator. The fort was built on the public square of 

the growing community of Houston, a town that 

would flourish and endure for a time after the fort 

ceased to exist, to serve as a protective barrier 

against local Native American tribes. It consisted 

of a stockade built by Texas Rangers and a twentyfive-foot-square 

blockhouse built of heavy logs. It 

was used in the defense of a massive area of land 

along the frontier from 1836 to 1839, and was 

under the command of General Nathaniel, who 

oversaw the building of the fort. 

❖ 

The heartbreaking story of the life of 

Cynthia Ann Parker, which first began 

on a raid at her family’s settlement at 

Fort Parker, is commemorated along an 

outdoor wall of history near downtown 

Palestine that includes the stories of 

several of the area’s landmark events 

and people. The story of Parker and 

her family may have also inspired one 

of John Wayne’s most dramatic movies, 

The Searchers, in 1956 and was the 

subject of a 2006 biography, Return, by 

former mayor of Palestine and 

historian Jack Selden. 

PHOTO BY ERIC DABNEY. 


❖ 

A log structure, the first church built 

by the Parker family and members of 

the Pilgrim Predestinarian Regular 

Baptist Church was completed in 

December 1848. Pictured is the fourth 

structure on the same site, erected in 

1949 and reconstructed in 1997. The 

Parker family graveyard adjoins the 

site and includes historic memorials to 

Daniel Parker and his brother James, 

the founder of Fort Parker. Of the 

location, Mary Kate Hunter wrote, 

“Before the creation of the county, 

[Fort Houston and the Pilgrim Church 

settlement] were the most important 

settlements in the territory.” 


In the fall of 1838, General Thomas Jefferson 

Rusk (1803-1857), an original signer of the Texas 

Declaration of Independence in 1836 and later 

president pro tem of the United States Senate in 

1857, led a successful campaign against hostile 

Indians and Mexicans camped near present-day 

Frankston on the Kickapoo Battlefield, and the 

removal of local Native American tribes in eastern 

Texas was complete by 1841. Thus, the area that 

would ultimately become Anderson County 

began welcoming an increasing number of 

pioneer settlers from around the country. 

Mary Kate Hunter writes, “A stream of 

immigration poured into East Texas, not the 

rough and ready type one would expect in 

frontier settlements, but from the southern 

states came people of the highest type— 

descendants of some of the proudest families in 


America—aristocrats from the old south…a few 

rode through the wilderness in silver mounted 

carriage…others came in covered wagons.” 

By 1840, the Houston settlement itself would 

include a post office, Temperance Society, 

church and Sunday school programs, and the 

general store of future Palestine businessman 

Alexander Joost. 

On July 4, 1845, members of the Texas 

Congress and convention delegates met to debate 

annexation to the United States or independence 

recognized by Mexico. Annexation was approved 

and the historic land was celebrated as the 

twenty-eighth state admitted to the Union. 

❖ 

Top: The original site of nearby Fort 

Houston is commemorated by two 

markers in the twenty-first century. The 

fort was built by the Republic of Texas 

in 1835-1836 to protect settlers of the 

town of Houston. Men from Houston 

established one of the first ranger units 

in Texas. The fort was abandoned 

around 1841 and the site later became 

part of John Reagan’s farm. 

PHOTO BY JULIA DABNEY. 

Middle: After Joseph Jordan and 

William McDonald donated five 

hundred acres for the town of Houston 

in 1835, the townsite included a public 

burying ground. Fort Houston 

Cemetery remains in 2011 as “the only 

physical evidence of the early frontier 

town.” The historic cemetery includes a 

section of graves for soldiers of the 

Republic of Texas, the Battle of San 

Jacinto, and the War of 1812, as well 

as the grave of the first commander of 

Fort Houston, General Nathaniel 

Smith, a close friend of Sam Houston. 


Bottom, left: A sketch of Fort Houston 

by Robert Howarton. 

COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM FOR EAST 

TEXAS CULTURE. 

Bottom, right: This marker near 

Frankston commemorates the site of 

the Kickapoo Battlefield. 




C H A P T E R 

I I 

PALESTINE, TEXAS 

❖ 

The refurbished “Old Town” section of 

twenty-first-century Palestine includes 

the historic Gatewood-Shelton Gin 

Company, which stands at the 

approximate location of the 1830s 

trading post and gristmill established 

by Shelton and Fulton in the 1830s. 


“From a fort, to a log pole store in an open field, to a town of great houses and 

spacious lawns, is the story of Palestine.” – Carl Avera 

Settlers near Fort Houston and its surrounding communities soon joined their neighbors to sign 

a petition requesting the First Legislature of the newly formed state to establish a new county in 

1846. By this time, the area that included present-day Anderson County had grown to comprise 

Nacogdoches, Houston, and Cherokee Counties and residents soon “found that their large territory 

was becoming unwieldy and inconvenient for holding courts and elections.” 

For a brief period in the early 1840’s, the land carved from this massive territory was the Burnet 

Colony, recognized in several legal transactions of the time as “Burnet county,” then Nacogdoches 

County, and finally Houston County with Fort Houston and its townsite, Houston. However, the 

Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas eventually declared that “all counties organized for judicial 

purposes were unconstitutional, and all transactions of such illegal and void,” and a new county 

would have to be created under the law. 

After Isaac Parker introduced a bill to form a new county, on March 24, 1846, Anderson County 

was named in honor of Kenneth Lewis Anderson (1805-1845), who served as a Congressional 

member of the Republic of Texas from 1841 to 1842 and was its last vice-president, presiding over 

the historic meeting of the Senate in June of 1845 when annexation was approved. 

When Anderson County was officially founded by the state’s first Legislature, the towns of Fort Houston 

and Mound Prairie offered their communities as the official county seat. Prominent leaders including 

Micham Main, James Box and John Parker, a native of Palestine, Illinois, and himself among the handful 

of attendees at the first meeting of the Parker’s original church meeting in Illinois in 1833, debated the 

choices for the new county seat and eventually decided upon a hundred-acre tract of land that was 

originally part of the Samuel G. Wells Headright League and offered by entrepreneurs William Bigelow and 

J. R. Fulton for $500. Fulton and Bigelow were among the first to establish a log pole store and trading 

post in the area in the 1830s. 

1 0 ✦ H I S T O R I C P A L E S T I N E

Though the site would have otherwise 

remained “the cotton field it was of yore,” it was 

also suited for the new city because of the legal 

requirement that it be established closer to the 

geographic center of the county. The act creating 

the county had included the statement, “In no 

event shall the county seat of said county be 

located more than three miles from the center of 

said county.” Palestine was established as the 

county seat and the town of Fort Houston would 

miss the mark by just one-fourth of a mile. 

Johnston Shelton completed his survey of the 

townsite for Palestine on October 15, 1846. 

History records the names of two men, John 

Parker and Micham Main, either one of whom 

may have christened the city to honor his native 

home in Illinois, and Palestine, Texas, was born. 

Anderson County’s first county officials 

included Chief Justice Darius Edens, Sheriff 

Peyton Parker, District Clerk Alexander 

McClure, and County Clerk John Grigsby. 

Stagecoaches carrying passengers and news 

from Galveston left from every corner of the 

square and businesses quickly found a home 

around the square itself. There was a post office 

on the south block and the Hunter and Osceola 

Hotels were on the northeast corner. 

Specifications for the first county jail were 

completed in October 1846 and amended in 

November before it was completed at Market 

Street, southeast of the courthouse square, on 

February 22, 1847. It was replaced by a striking 

two-story limestone building with a large tower 

and clock donated by Colonel George Anderson 

Wright in 1879. The building was located on 

Avenue A, southwest of the courthouse square, 

and was used until 1931. The art deco style 

building was often mistaken by visitors for a 

hotel before it was replaced by a modern jail on 

Lacy Street in 1982. 

“Nestled snugly around the courthouse 

square,” (Avera) the city of Palestine quickly 

grew as a cultural center in the new state. 

❖ 

Above: Anderson County’s second jail 

(1879-1931) in Palestine, c. 1900. 



Below: Anderson County’s third jail 

(1931-1982) in Palestine, pictured 

here in 2011. 


C h a p t e r I I ✦ 1 1

Courthouse historian James Neyland wrote that 

the first session of the Anderson County court 

was called in downtown Palestine in July 1846 

“outdoors under the oak trees on the north side 

of the square” until the building of the first 

courthouse was completed in May at the north 

end of the east side of the square. It was later 

enlarged in 1848. 

The second courthouse, a two-story brick 

building constructed between 1852 and 1856, 

was in the middle of the square (which was 

actually in the shape of an octagon until 1913). 

It was made of native Anderson county brick 

from the brickmaking plant of O. C. Terrell and 

❖ 

Top: Anderson County’s second 

courthouse, c. 1870. Historian James 

Neyland wrote of this courthouse, “[It] 

had seen not only the Civil War and 

Reconstruction period but also the 

coming of the railroad…Old Town 

and New Town…Avenue A…a horsedrawn 

streetcar…[and] a boisterous 

boomtown, growing from a population 

of about 700 into a city of thousands 

within a few short years.” 



Middle: The marble cornerstone of the 

1885 courthouse stands nearly hidden 

outside the courthouse steps 

in 2011. 

PHOTO BY EMILY DABNEY. 

Bottom: Anderson County’s 

third courthouse opened in 1886. 

COURTESY OF STUART WHITAKER. 


❖ 

Left: Weary firemen stand at the 

courthouse square on the morning 

after fire raged through Anderson 

County’s third courthouse in 1913. 



Below: The Palestine Daily Visitor 

ran this headline of the destructive 

fire that claimed Anderson County’s 

third courthouse in 1913. 



cost $6,000. After it was completed, the original 

courthouse was sold and became a mercantile 

store. The enclosed yard that surrounded the 

courthouse was also planted with trees and 

grass, making it, as Judge A. J. Fowler 

remembered, “a place for a nice retreat on 

pleasant summer night for the citizens, after the 

labors of the day are over to meet in social 

intercourse, abandoning for the hour, as they 

should, all care of business.” 

By 1884, the second courthouse had 

deteriorated so badly that it was deemed unsafe 

by building inspectors and the county rented a 

nearby office building on the west side of the 

square until a third courthouse was completed 

in May of 1886. As demolition of the second 

courthouse began in 1885, the Galveston News 

reported the scene, “A thousand sad and 

pleasant memories cling about this time 

honored relic…and a few hours hence not a 

brick or shingle will be left to 

murmur…Farewell, revered old temple of law 

and learning; there be white-headed men and 

women, here and there, who live to dream of 

thy fresh and palmy days.” 

When the third courthouse opened in 1886, 

the Galveston News again reported, “It is one of 

the prettiest and best planned for the purpose 

intended and well-constructed public buildings 

in the state, and cost about $40,000.” 

Tragically, much of the third courthouse was 

destroyed by a fire set by two men in the early 

morning hours of January 6, 1913. Percy 

C h a p t e r I I ✦ 1 3

❖ 

Above: The first registered license tag 

for an automobile in Palestine is now 

housed in the archives of the Museum 

for East Texas Culture. 

Right: The first registered automobile, 

a 1902 Oldsmobile Rambler, made its 

debut in Palestine in 1903. It was 

won in a raffle by local blacksmith 

Charles R. Stewart, who soon gave it 

to J. V. Prather, owner of the local 

gunsmith shop. 



Below: An early depiction of 

Anderson County’s fourth and 

present courthouse. 




Wynne and Arthur Smalley had been charged 

with burglarizing a local pool hall and Smalley 

suggested that they should burn the 

incriminating paperwork that awaited them in 

the courthouse. Wynne hid nearby while 

Smalley poured oil inside the courthouse and 

set it ablaze. Palestine’s Daily Visitor reported on 

the scene, “The whole city was illuminated 

bright as day.” 

Anderson County’s present courthouse was 

nearly complete when it was dedicated on the 

historic square in Palestine on December 20, 

1914. A century later, the classic structure 

remains “shining on the hill.” By the 1980’s, 

need for more space in which to store the 

massive collection of county records that had 

been previously kept in the dome of the 

building led to the acquisition of the city’s 

Federal Building, which was built in 1914, to 

become the courthouse annex. A new 

courthouse annex was built on Mallard Street 

in 2005. 

❖ 

Left: The Anderson County 

Courthouse, pictured here in 2011, 

was listed in the National Register of 

Historic Places by the U.S. 

Department of the Interior in 1992. 

The courthouse was renovated in 

1986 through a grant from the Texas 

Historical Commission and 

improvements to its grounds 

commenced in 1988. 


Below: Important historical markers 

stand vigil on the grounds around the 

Anderson County courthouse in 2011 

and include the stories of Palestine’s 

Confederate Salt Works, Governor 

Thomas Mitchell Campbell, Micham 

Main, the Anderson County 

Courthouse, and a military memorial 

honoring those from Anderson County 

who gave their lives in World War I, 

World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. 


C h a p t e r I I ✦ 1 5

C H A P T E R 

I I I 

GROWING UP 

❖ 

Among the city’s oldest homeplaces is 

the Mallard home, pictured here in 

the 1950’s. Judge Mallard died here in 

1854. Originally built in 1848, it 

remains the oldest home in Palestine. 



“In this part of East Texas almost anything that is stuck in the ground will grow; the roses, flowers, crepe 

myrtle trees that adorn the yards here are a show in themselves.” – Mary Kate Hunter 

As settlers moved into the new and exciting city, church congregations began to gather for weekly 

services at the temporary courthouse to hear visiting circuit riders. Historian Carl Avera writes, “In 

1846, since there was no established church plant, the people all worshipped together in the 

courthouse when the circuit rider came to town. [They] were a noble breed, fording streams, riding 

through Indian country and braving every danger to bring the gospel into the wilderness settlements. 

As there was no church bell in 1846, the worshippers were called together by the continued blasts 

of a cow horn.” 

By the early fall of 1846, Anderson County’s first tax was levied and the construction of roads 

began, a courtroom and jail “with an underground dungeon” were under way, and the first District 

court for the county met on November 9. In the following year, a post office opened. A local 1848 

census recorded the bustling town’s population at nearly 200 people, and J.A. Clark debuted the city’s 

first major newspaper, The Trinity Advocate, in September 1849. 

A school was established by the Masons along Rusk Road in 1850 and was followed in 1852 by 

the Red Brick schoolhouse, a girls’ school that flourished as it welcomed students from several nearby 

counties. The Palestine Female Institute, which joined another well-respected academy in the county 

at nearby Mound Prairie, was founded in 1858 as citizens of the city subscribed stock for its 

construction on land donated by Reuben A. Reeves (1821-1908), associate justice of the Texas 

Supreme Court and member of the state’s 1866 Constitutional Convention, and Paul and Mary 

Simons. The school offered courses in literature, music, art and telegraphy and was renamed 


❖ 

Top, left: Among the first to build a 

church in Palestine was the Methodist 

denomination. Originally located on 

North Mallard Street, it was named 

Bascom Chapel to honor the life of the 

late Bishop Henry B. Bascom and 

welcomed all denominations to use the 

facility for their church services. The 

illustration, by Dr. Henry J. Hunter at 

the age of twelve in 1850, and story 

here are among the unpublished 

papers of local historian Mary 

Kate Hunter. 

COURTESY OF THE PALESTINE PUBLIC LIBRARY, 

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. 

Palestine Female College after a new charter 

was established in 1876. The college was 

eventually transferred to the city’s public school 

system in 1881. 

Businesses began to dominate Palestine’s 

public square nearly from the moment it came 

into existence and commerce was thriving. By 

1852, the Hunter House Hotel had opened to 

wide acclaim on the northeast corner of the 

square. Kentucky native Judge John Graham 

Gooch brought little more than his vast 

collection of books to Palestine and soon 

opened the city’s first free circulating library 

from his home in 1853. By 1866, twelve drygoods 

stores were already prospering. 

From the beginning, Anderson County 

was well-known for its several ports along 

the Trinity River—all having a profound 

impact upon not only the economy of the 

Top, right: Methodist missionaries first 

arrived in the area as circuit-riding 

preachers in the late 1830’s and built 

their first church in Palestine in 1850. 

Pictured here is Centenary Methodist 

Church, named in honor of 

Methodism’s 100th anniversary, which 

opened in 1884. The congregation 

later divided to form First United 

Methodist Church and Grace United 

Methodist Church. 



Below: St. Phillip’s Episcopal Church, 

shown here in 2011, was established 

in 1859 and opened the congregation’s 

first church in 1874. It was destroyed 

by fire in 1982 and rebuilt in 1983. 


C h a p t e r I I I ✦ 1 7

❖ 

The First Presbyterian Church was 

organized in Palestine in 1849 and 

the Gothic-style building, shown here 

in 1900 and in 2011, was dedicated 

on Avenue A in 1888. 



area but also the growth in population 

as visitors traveled up and down the busy river. 

These famous ports of call included Bonner’s 

Ferry, Magnolia Ferry, and Parker’s Bluff. 

Paddle-wheel steamers traveling up the 

mighty Trinity River were often docked at 

Magnolia, “the little St. Louis on the Trinity,” 

and brought a variety of products to eager 

consumers throughout the county. The port was 

founded around 1847 as a ferrying point on the 

Caddo Trace and eventually became a major 

landing site for flatboats and steamers making 

their way along the river. 

The only stop between Dallas and Galveston, 

Magnolia included several hundred residents 

and a variety of merchants and hotels by 1863. 

The town’s warehouses were often “packed with 

up to five thousand bales of cotton” awaiting the 

arrival of steamboats with colorful names like 

Black Cloud, Lone Star, The Mustang, Captain 

Peacock, The Texas Ranger, Early Bird, A. S. 

Ruthven, The Lucy Gwin, and Belle of Texas. 


❖ 

Left: The congregation of First Baptist 

Church was originally organized in 

1851 and built their first sanctuary in 

1853. The Avenue A (or “Nickel”) 

Baptist Church building, shown here 

in the 1920’s, was built through a 

nickel fundraiser and was completed 

in 1887. A new sanctuary on 

Sycamore Street replaced the church 

in 1912 after it was destroyed by fire. 



Below: A marker along North Perry 

Street commemorates the site of the 

city’s first lending library and the 

establishment of the Masonic 

group’s Palestine Female Institute here 

in 1858. 



Among the county’s most prolific and 

well-respected pioneer steamboat men, and later 

county commissioner and mayor of Palestine, 

was George Anderson Wright. In September 

1927, the Dallas Morning News related Wright’s 

historic role in the life of the ferry and the great 

importance the Trinity River played in the life of 

East Texas as a trans-river traffic way. Wright 

said, “As far back as I can remember [Bonner’s 

Ferry, Parker’s Bluff and Magnolia] were in 


❖ 

Top: Kolstad’s Jewelry, believed to be 

the first business of its kind to open 

west of the Mississippi and the oldest 

retail store in continuous operation by 

its founding family in the state of 

Texas, ultimately settled into the 

location pictured here at the corner of 

Oak and Sycamore in 1933. 

Norwegian born founder Soren 

Kolstad (1823-1918) arrived in Texas 

in 1852 and opened the store the 

following year. 

PHOTO BY EMILY DABNEY. 

Middle: Among the city’s first stores 

was the A. Joost Cheap Cash Store, 

pictured here around 1875, on the 

courthouse square at 601 E. Lacy. 

Before moving to this location near 

the courthouse, Alexander Joost had 

operated his store at Fort Houston. 



Bottom: The successful effort by John 

Gooch to make books available for the 

citizens of Palestine in 1853 

eventually led to a city library that 

was later replaced by this structure in 

1914 with the help of the Carnegie 

Foundation. The Palestine Carnegie 

Library, noted by Mary Kate Hunter 

as “not outclassed in its selection of 

books by any public library,” was 

listed in the National Register of 

Historic Places by the U.S. 

Department of the Interior in 1988. 

PHOTO BY CLAIRE DABNEY. 


❖ 

Top, left: Cotton was king in East 

Texas and Magnolia “reigned queen of 

the river” (Avera) as a major port 

along the Trinity. 



Top, right: The steamboat A. S. 

Ruthven was both a passenger and 

cargo ship that arrived on the Trinity 

in 1860 and was often seen in ports at 

Parker’s Bluff and Magnolia. It had a 

capacity for 900 bales of cotton and 

made its final journey from Galveston 

into Anderson County in 1872. It 

later sunk in the Trinity River at 

Parker’s Bluff. The ship’s anchor was 

retrieved fifty year later and now 

stands as a memorial at Spring Street 

near downtown Palestine. 

PHOTO BY RUTH MOORE. 

Middle: A steamer appears 

around a bend in the Trinity River 

near Magnolia in the late 

nineteenth century. 



existence. And that’s pretty far back, for I crossed 

Bonner’s Ferry first when I was 10 years old. 

They charged from 50 cents to $1.50 for a twohorse 

wagon, the price varying with the stage of 

the river. And at these ferries were landed boats 

from Galveston, bringing groceries, such as flour, 

salt, sugar and coffee and whiskey…Magnolia 

was the principal cotton shipping point…when 

the river was too low for boat traffic the cotton 

was hauled overland to Houston or Galveston 

with four yokes of oxen drawing each wagon. It 

took six weeks to make the trip.” 

Trains replaced riverboats as the preferred 

mode of transportation from the late 1870’s and 

into the 1880s and small port communities 

such as Old Magnolia soon declined throughout 

the state. 

Bottom: An historical marker is all 

that remains near the site of 

Magnolia. Historian Carl Avera wrote 

of the place, “The river runs swiftly 

and hums its quiet tune as it rushes 

past Magnolia to Galveston. The only 

thing afloat is a fallen branch of an 

ancient tree.” 



❖ 

Top: The Colonel George Anderson 

Wright home was located at 900 

South Sycamore. Wright’s family 

settled at Fort Houston in 1839 before 

they moved to a farm at Mound 

Prairie and built the county’s first gin 

mill. Wright was born on the farm in 

1846 and his father, the first County 

Commissioner, gave him the middle 

name Anderson to honor the creation 

of the new county. Colonel Wright 

operated ferries across the area. 

When U.S. President Benjamin 

Harrison visited the county in 1896, 

Wright, with a strong resemblance to 

the President, spent 40 minutes as a 

stand-in waving to passersby from the 

back of the President’s train so he 

could have breakfast in peace. 



Middle: Dr. H. H. Link came to the 

area in 1846 and built his family’s 

first home at this site around 1851. 

His son, Dr. Henry Link, later 

enlarged the Greek revival home 

in 1912. 



Bottom: Colonel George Robert 

Howard moved to this Greek Revivalstyle 

home, built in 1848 by Judge 

Reuben Reeves, in 1851. The Howard 

House, the third oldest home in the 

city, was sold to the city to be used as 

a museum in 1964 and was listed in 

the National Register of Historic 

Places by the U.S. Department of the 

Interior in 1993. 




C H A P T E R 

I V 

A PROPHETIC VOICE 

“The real history of Palestine and Anderson County is written on 

gravestones in the silent cities of the dead surrounding Palestine.” – Unknown 

Tennessee native John Henninger Reagan (1818-1905) obtained his law license in 1847 and was 

elected to the Texas House of Representatives before moving to Palestine in 1851. By this time, 

Palestine was “improving very fast” and he opened a law practice in his home. In his published 

memories, John Reagan wrote of the event, “Meantime, in the summer of 1851, I had become a 

citizen of the town of Palestine, then the largest in our judicial district, and having the ablest lawyers. 

Friends advised me that I could not expect to succeed in competition with so strong a bar. My answer 

was that if I could not, then I ought not continue in the profession of the law.” 

He succeeded and was soon elected to the state’s Ninth Judicial District in 1852 and later served 

as a United States Congressman for the Eastern District of Texas from 1857 to 1861. 

When the looming clouds of Civil War began to rise across the land, Reagan resigned his seat on 

January 15, 1861, and attended the Secession Convention in Austin on January 30. At the time, 

Anderson County had “more than tripled” in size and Palestine had become one of the largest cities 

in East Texas. Nearly every one of the county’s voting citizens approved secession and sent John 

Reagan, A. T. Rainey, T. J. Word, and S. G. Stewert to the state’s Secession Convention in Austin. 

When the state ultimately agreed to the historic decision to secede in February of 1861, John Reagan, 

one of only seven Texans sent to Montgomery, Alabama, as a delegate of the new Confederate 

government, was named postmaster general of the Confederacy. 

In Palestine, men began practicing military drills outside the Masonic Hall and, by April, the 

county said farewell to its first group of volunteer soldiers. 

The first company made up entirely of the men of Anderson County was organized in Palestine 

by Dr. John Woodward as Company G, First Texas Regiment. The regiment’s first battle occurred at 

❖ 

John Reagan sits in his extensive 

library at home, Fort Houston, in the 

early twentieth century. Still in 

existence in 1923, a writer to the 

home at that time wrote of this room, 

“In the library where the ‘Old Roman’ 

spent many happy hours browsing 

among his books, his favorite chair 

occupies one corner. On a little center 

table lie two or three of his favorite 

volumes…. Students of Texas and 

Confederate history may find in Fort 

Houston an unlimited wealth of 

material, the extent of which has 

never been estimated.” 



C h a p t e r I V ✦ 2 3

❖ 

Left: John Henninger Reagan, pictured 

here in 1860, first “cast his lot with 

the pioneers of the infant Republic” of 

Texas in 1839 at the age of twenty. At 

his eulogy at Texas Christian 

University on May 29, 1905, beloved 

Palestine schools superintendent and 

historian Bonner Frizzell said, “But 

the one dearest to all Southerners and 

the one whose name thrills the heart 

of every Texan with pride was John 

Henninger Reagan…” 



Right: John H. Reagan, c. 1900, was 

unparalleled as a public servant 

throughout much of his life and held 

the offices of justice of the peace, 

county judge, militia colonel, district 

judge (in Palestine in 1852), 

congressman, U.S. senator, railroad 

commissioner, and Confederate 

Postmaster General. Many years 

later, Ernest Jones wrote, “This man, 

this giant, this tradition is ingrained 

in the rocky red foundation of 

Palestine…perhaps his spirit here 

now lives and shapes the character of 

a city, of an area—rugged, honest, 

forthright, plain, God-fearing, 

honorable, fearless to do right by the 

Golden Rule.” 



Manassas, where Dr. Woodward was killed. 

Eventually, the First Texas Regiment was joined 

by other regiments and became renowned as 

John B. Hood’s Texas Brigade. General Robert E. 

Lee said of the group, “Never mind their 

raggedness, the enemy never sees the backs of 

my Texans!” 

During the war, Palestine’s unique terrain 

included a vast salt works field—the Palestine 

Salt Dome, among the largest of its kind in the 

United States—which lay several miles 

southwest of the city. Regarded as the Palestine 

or Confederate Salt Works, saltwater was hand 

pumped by a slave from wells into makeshift 

pipes that led to large kettles of boiling water, 

and then transferred to smaller kettles to 

evaporate the water. The leftover salt was then 

sacked and hauled away for distribution. The 

company was assigned “to produce salt for the 

Confederacy at a fixed price of $8 for a 

hundred-pound sack. Private customers from 

East Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana often paid 

$20 for a sack.” 

A foundry for producing guns was built at 

Concord and joined a munitions factory at 

Plentitude as well as a large Quartermaster Depot 

at Mound Prairie and a supply depot at Palestine. 

In 1864, a wing of the Hunter Hotel was 

converted into a hospital, where Aunt Bee Small, 

a niece of Jefferson Davis, cared for many soldiers. 

In 1865, Jefferson Davis appointed Reagan to 

the post of Secretary of the Treasury only days 

before Union troops captured both men on May 25 

at Marietta, Georgia, and placed them in solitary 

confinement at Fort Warren in Boston harbor. 

At war’s end, the number of Anderson 

County men who had served would total 

between 900 and 1,000. 

During his imprisonment, Reagan determined 

that the people of Texas and Anderson County 

must “renounce immediately both secession and 

slavery” and wrote an open letter explaining his 

dramatic change in perspective at War’s end. The 

letter was not well-received at home in Texas 

and, upon his release in December, Reagan 

moved to his family farm, Fort Houston, at 

Palestine. Though for a time he remained 

unpopular in public opinion, his views proved 

true and over the course of the next decade 

Texans once again revered him as a wise, 

“prophetic voice” in difficult times and honored 

him as “The Old Roman.” 

In 1874, Reagan received the Democratic 

nomination and served in the First 

Congressional District from 1875 to 1887. He 

served as a delegate to the Texas Constitutional 

Convention that framed the Constitution of 

1876 and was the head of the Committee on 

Commerce in its passage of the Interstate 

Commerce Act in 1887. In the same year, he 


was elected to the United States Senate and 

served in the role until Governor James Stephen 

Hogg (1851–1906), born at nearby Rusk, 

named him the first chairman of the influential 

Texas Railroad Commission. During this time, 

he was also instrumental in the founding of the 

Texas State Historical Association in 1897. 

In 1903, Reagan retired and returned to 

Palestine and his beloved Fort Houston farm to 

“write his memories and ponder six decades of 

public service.” The last surviving member of 

the Confederate government, John H. Reagan 

died of pneumonia on March 6, 1905. In a 

eulogy to his friend and fellow Palestine citizen, 

Bonner Frizzell said, “He saw the Lone Star rise 

from cloudy fields of carnage, take its place in 

the constellation of nations, and then sink 

beneath the horizon to rise and shine again with 

more radiant beauty in the firmament of Red, 

White, and Blue…we hand his name to history 

as a heritage for all future generations.” 

The end of the Civil War brought a time of 

difficult transition as the era of Reconstruction 

began in Anderson County. Federal troops were 

stationed at Palestine and the trials and 

tribulations of local government policy and 

tradition were headline news. In his Brief History 

of African Americans in Palestine, James Smith 

writes, “Before the war, even with the continual 

influx of new people, there had been only two 

distinct social classes—white citizens and black 

slaves—living on the same land, though not in 

the same houses…. After the war, blacks and 

whites continued to maintain their old ties.” 

With the formation of the railroad in 

Palestine in the 187 0s, the birth of “New Town” 

rendered many of the buildings around the 

courthouse square obsolete and they were 

converted to houses for poor African Americans, 

while other families purchased homes northeast 

❖ 

Left: A “tireless promoter of public 

education,” Dr. Bonner Frizzell 

(1882-1968) was raised in Athens 

and graduated from Texas Christian 

University in 1909 before becoming 

the news editor of the Waco Tribune. 

After teaching at Texas A&M for 

three years, he became the principal 

of Rusk Elementary in Palestine in 

1913 and became superintendent of 

the Palestine Public Schools in 1919. 

He remained in that position until his 

retirement in 1950. He was the 

president of the Palestine Rotary 

Club, the Chamber of Commerce and 

the Y.M.C.A, and served as a full time 

historian with the Anderson County 

Historical Commission, which he 

helped found. 



Below: Freedmen gather at the 

Anderson County courthouse for their 

first opportunity to vote under the 

protection of Union soldiers in 1868. 



C h a p t e r I V ✦ 2 5

❖ 

Though no longer standing, the John 

Reagan home (known as Fort 

Houston) is pictured here in the early 

1940s. The Reagan family lived in a 

one-story home on the farm after the 

Civil War and enlarged it in the 

1880s. One visitor to the grand home 

wrote, “Arriving at the Reagan home 

is something of an event for anyone.” 

A historical marker placed here in 

1951 commemorates the site, where 

the home’s original brick sidewalk 

remains in 2011. 

COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM FOR EAST TEXAS 

CULTURE. COLOR PHOTO BY JOE MOORE. 

of the square in “Old Town” or acquired meager 

homes in neighborhoods such as Yellow Basket 

and Tin Cup Alley. 

Eventually, McKnight Plaza rose to 

prominence near downtown Palestine as the 

“economic center” for African Americans in the 

area and included the successful Farmers and 

Citizens Savings Bank and other outstanding 

shops, businesses, restaurants and pharmacies. 

The plaza was the namesake of James B. 

McKnight, who settled in Anderson County in 

1848 and in 1876 and 1879 bought the land 

that would eventually include the plaza. Upon 

McKnight’s death in 1907, the property was sold 

to the Farmers and Citizens Savings Bank and 

became McKnight Plaza. 

James Smith continues, “The war between 

the states to unite the North and South and 

abolish slavery remains alive today through 

memorabilia, artifacts and living relics…. The 

churches, schools, and business and community 

leaders have come together over the last 

150 years in a complex weave of relationships 

that has constructed the colorful tapestry 

that is the African-American community in 

Palestine today.” 

By the end of the early 1870s, the city was on 

the cusp of great change—the railroad was 

nearing its borders and “the whole scene would 

change...Palestine would emerge the efflorescent 

butterfly from the cocoon” (Avera). 


C H A P T E R 

LIFE IN THE CITY 

V 

“Could the fastidious visitor who now rides into Palestine in the ease and 

luxury afforded by palace coaches, and over our streets in elegant carriages, 

have looked upon the place then a rough and rugged sight would have met his view…the equestrians of the 

day did not ride over improved streets, nor had the special comfort of pedestrians been looked after by 

arranging nice walks and crossings.” - Jim Mears, 1877 

From its beginning, the economy of Palestine had relied heavily upon the well-traveled Trinity 

River to establish commerce and trade in the county. Steamboats brought staples such as sugar and 

coffee to the area and, in exchange, loaded their decks with an abundance of East Texas timber, 

cotton, tobacco and other items to be shipped to parts of Texas and across the country. 

However, the river was not always dependable as its waters rose and fell throughout the year and 

often forced long, overland travel by wagon to perpetuate the flourishing agricultural trade that 

continued to dominate the commerce of the period. 

Leaders such as John H. Reagan and George Anderson Wright began to encourage the citizens of 

Palestine to consider the necessity of the railroad and rallied support for its movement into the city. 

By 1870 the county recorded its population again increasing to over 9,000 and further growth proved 

imminent as residents, many reluctantly, welcomed the arrival of the state’s expansive International 

Railroad in Palestine on July 11, 1872. It would transform the city, as well as the county, in many 

ways and for many generations to come. 

❖ 

In the late nineteenth century, 

Palestine’s Spring Street was often 

referred to as the “Great White Way,” 

a fitting description for the numerous 

streetlights that seemed to turn the 

city’s main thoroughfare from night 

to day. 



C h a p t e r V ✦ 2 7

❖ 

Above: I. &.G.N. Railroad crew, 

c. 1880. 



Right: A Palestine locomotive and 

crew, c. 1900. 



At first, the “noisy, puffing engines, the flying 

cinders that blackened their lace panels and 

brought danger of fire” (Avera) seemed to 

threaten the cultured social world that had 

made its home around the courthouse square 

and among the grand residences that 

crisscrossed the area. 

Bypassing the city’s courthouse square and 

surrounding businesses, called “Old Town” or 

East Palestine, the railroad constructed its 

switching yards, offices, and trains shops west of 

the area. This eventually influenced the creation 

of a new business district, called “New Town” or 

West Palestine, as hotels, saloons and stores 

established themselves closer to the bustling 

tracks and depot. 

For nearly three years in the mid 1870’s, two 

mule-drawn streetcars served commuters as 

they made their way between the courthouse 

and railroad depot, or Old Town and New Town 

respectively. This innovative style of 

transportation was established by J. W. Ozment, 


R. J. Royall, J. F. Weidermeyer, M. Ash, H. J. 

Hunter, M. R. Royall, and W. M. Lacy who 

formed a corporation under the name, 

“Palestine Streetcar Railroad Company.” The 

cars were green wagons with five windows on 

each side with slats that could open to ventilate 

the car. Passengers sat along two benches on 

either side of the car, which was lighted with an 

oil lamp. In 1947 the Frankston Citizen 

described the demise of the innovative service in 

Palestine, “The people must have found the 

walk from the courthouse down the avenue very 

enjoyable, or else they found nickels very 

scarce, for after a year or two, they stopped 

affording it sufficient patronage to remain in 

business.” A short time later, the streetcars were 

sold to the growing city of Dallas. 

A vivid description of the city appeared in 

The Advocate in 1875, “[Avenue A] leading from 

the public square, where business men do 

congregate, to the depot, is in fine 

condition…This avenue is an institution. It 

cements and links the two hills and all other 

hills together, so far as relates to Palestine and 

its present and prospective prosperity.” 

James Wisdom Ozment grew up in Rusk and 

moved to Palestine after his service in the 

Confederate army. He first owned a mercantile 

store before opening a successful insurance and 

real estate business. Upon a visit to the Dallas 

State Fair, Ozment witnessed the use of 

incandescent light and determined to bring the 

amazing invention home to Palestine. He 

organized the Palestine Electric Light Company 

in 1875 and held a grand opening to 

demonstrate the use of the area’s first lightbulb 

at the railroad depot. Ozment made lightbulbs 

available to families for $1 per light per month, 

bulb and electric lines provided. As production 

increased, the electric plant, located on presentday 

Gooch Street, was only on for several hours 

after dark and then “off at bedtime.” Ozment 

later purchased the city’s first telephone 

exchange, originally established by L. C. 

Ketcham, and organized the Palestine Telephone 

Company, Palestine Waterworks, and the 

Palestine Men’s Business League. 

Palestine also became increasingly wellknown 

for its outstanding neighborhoods 

consisting of homes styled in Gothic Revival, 

Italianate, Queen Anne, and Victorian 

architecture. Many were even illuminated by 

“that strange innovation, electricity, [which] 

brightly lighted the parlours and fell upon 

lovely fabrics, dark woods, deep carpets, fine 

china and lovely objects d’art.” 

A large, permanent market and public 

hall building was built at the corner of Market 

Street and Avenue A in the fall of 1875; 

while the 150-acre Palestine Fruit Farm 

flourished as the area’s “peculiar adaptability of 

the soil and climate affords [farmers and 

gardeners] a rich reward.” 

After the International Railroad reached 

Palestine in 1873, the line merged with the 

Houston and Great Northern Railroad in 

September 1874 to form the International 

and Great Northern Railroad (I. & G.N.) 

and “marked a booming railway era for the 

❖ 

Above: An 1872 photograph captures 

the “crowded business block” that was 

well-established along the south block 

of the courthouse square. 



Below: Street signs mark “Old Town” 

in 2011. Located on Crawford Street 

near the courthouse square, turn of the 

century buildings are being restored 

and include shops, restaurants and a 

park. In the early 1900s the tin barn 

west of the creek was the Illuminary 

Barn for the City of Palestine, which 

held equipment for the lighting of the 

city’s gas street lamps. 

PHOTO BY JOE MOORE. 

C h a p t e r V ✦ 2 9

entire county, but especially for the city of 

Palestine.” I. & G.N.’s general offices, shops and 

yards were moved to Palestine in between 1874 

and 1875. 

The railroad built a large hospital for its 

employees and a unique “Immigrants Home” to 

entice settlers to stay in the large home until 

they were able to find a permanent place to live. 

Early historians Allen and Mears wrote that the 

surge in population was due in part to “terminus” 

people, many of whom terminated their 

wanderings by locating in Palestine. 

❖ 

Top: New Town” Palestine along 

Spring Street in 1874, note the trolley 

tracks that connected the depot in 

“New Town” to the courthouse in “Old 

Town”. A one-way trip on the 

Palestine Street Railroad Company’s 

trolley cost 5 cents. 



Middle: The Anderson County 

Immigration Society was established 

in 1876 and The International and 

Great Northern Railroad built an 

“Immigrants Home” on North 

Sycamore in 1877. 



Bottom: Historically known as the 

Pennybacker-Campbell-Wommack 

House, this home was among the 

famous “Silk Stocking Road” 

residences on South Sycamore and 

was built in 1890. It was the family 

home of Mrs. Percy Pennybacker 

(1861-1938), a noted teacher and 

author of a widely-used school 

textbook of state history. She was also 

the first Texas President of the 

General Federation of Women’s Clubs. 

It was purchased in 1900 by 

Thomas Campbell, lawyer, banker, 

and Texas governor. 




❖ 

Top, left: Governor Thomas Mitchell 

Campbell, pictured here circa 1900, 

returned to Palestine after his tenure 

as governor and remained active in 

Democratic politics. He was 

unsuccessful in a bid for the U.S. 

Senate in 1916, and continued his 

private law practice in Palestine. 



The permanence of the railroad in the now 

flourishing city of Palestine was also responsible 

for bringing several legendary Texas leaders to 

the city. When the International & Great 

Northern Railroad began defaulting on its debts 

in the late 1880s, attorney Thomas Mitchell 

Campbell (1856-1923) and a native of the 

nearby city of Rusk, was appointed by the court 

as the company’s receiver and brought his family 

to settle in Palestine, where he remained as 

general manager of the railroad. Upon his 

resignation from the railroad in 1897, Campbell 

opened a private law practice in the city and 

began a political career that would eventually 

result in serving as the governor of Texas from 

1907 to 1911. 

While serving as governor, Campbell was 

instrumental in sustaining the longevity of the 

Texas State Railroad system, originally organized 

in 1894, especially in its existence across 

Anderson County. The historic railway first 

began as a short rail line built by inmates of the 

Texas State Penitentiary at nearby Rusk in 

Cherokee County in the late 1800s. 

Only months after taking office, Governor 

Campbell requested that the legislature approve 

operating the local industrial railroad system 

near Rusk as a common carrier and extending 

the line into Palestine. 

The new line was again constructed by 

prisoners of the state prison system and went 

into service in Palestine on April 15, 1909, and 

connected with the International-Great 

Northern as well St. Louis Southwestern 

Railway of Texas and the Texas and New 

Orleans Railroad Company at Rusk. The 

company’s general business offices were moved 

to Palestine. 

After the faltering line was transferred to the 

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1972, 

enthusiasts petitioned the agency and ultimately 

won approval for the creation of the Texas State 

Railroad State Historical Park. The 

park’s two passenger trains and steam 

locomotives began operating out of Rusk and 

Palestine in 1977 and the park, now owned by 

the American Heritage Railways, remains a 

landmark tourist experience for twenty-first 

century visitors today. 

Top, right: The entrance to the Texas 

State Railroad Park near Palestine in 

2011. The rail line operated 

intermittently between Palestine and 

Rusk from 1909 to 1969 and was 

transferred to the Texas Parks and 

Wildlife Department in 1972. 

Originally built by prison laborers as 

a plant facility at the prison in Rusk, 

the tracks were restored by inmates of 

the Texas Department of Corrections 

and new depots and parks were built 

at both towns in the 1970’s. Vintage 

steam locomotives and rail cars were 

purchased and the Park remains one 

of the most popular tourist attractions 

in Texas. The site was named a 

historical landmark by the Texas 

Historical Commission in 1997. 


Below: One of the historic trains of the 

Texas State Railroad. 



C h a p t e r V ✦ 3 1

C H A P T E R 

V I 

A CITY FLOURISHES 

❖ 

The Dilley family, synonymous with 

the prominent leadership of early day 

Palestine, built this building in 1882. 

The first occupant of the building may 

have been a shoe store, but from 1890 

to 1894 it housed the city’s post office 

and later a music store. The building, 

as it stood at the corner of Main and 

Queen Streets in 1970, was part of an 

expansive effort in the renovation of 

downtown and is now the 

headquarters of the city’s Chamber 

of Commerce, shown on the right 

in 2011. 



“For quiet, pastoral beauty, the scenery of the environs of 

Palestine is not surpassed in Texas.” - Mary Kate Hunter 

It was a new age in Palestine and Anderson County and an 1880 census revealed the population 

of the city at over 4,000 and the county at over 17,000. The railroad quickly became the city’s major 

employer and hundreds of new families began working in its shops and on its passenger and cargo 

carriers. The city established a public school system, the first bank, Robinson and Bonner, Bankers 

and Dealers in Exchange, opened in 1881, waterworks were constructed between 1881 and 1882, a 

telephone system was introduced in 1882, and a gas plant opened in 1884. 

The Palestine Advocate described the city in 1883, “The denizens of older states are apt to 

think Texas is too new and crude to boast of much in the way of handsome residences; but a stroll 

around Palestine and a glance through some of the dwellings of the city will soon convince them of 

their mistake.” 

The city now included a number of general stores, hardware stores, drugstores, two bookstores, 

three jewelry stores, fruit stores, farm implement stores, four brickyards, a real estate office, a grist 

mill and cotton gin, a mattress factory, bakeries, dairies, insurance agencies, lawyers, doctors, 

mechanics, churches of nearly every denomination, a female college, several schools, a newspaper, 

and numerous fraternal organizations. 

Among the state’s oldest fire departments remaining in the twenty-first century, the Palestine Fire 

Department was originally recognized by the city as the Palestine Hose Company on June 1, 1876. 

Volunteers were equipped with a few axes and lanterns and used hand-pulled carts and hand-operated 

pumps as they drew water from local wells and other water sources. After water mains were laid, the 

first horse-drawn fire engine began racing courageous firefighters to destinations across the city. In 

April of 1900, Palestine’s three fire departments were consolidated into the Palestine Fire Department. 

In the fall of 1881 the buildings of the Palestine Female Institute, which had existed from 1858 

to 1859, on Avenue A were transferred to the newly created Palestine Public School System. In 1888, 

Central High School was built to replace the former Institute buildings and served as the high school 

until 1916. 

On July 2, 1915, overcrowding and curriculum needs required the building of a high school that 

would be located in the newly created Reagan Park on Micheaux Avenue. Palestine Mayor George 

Anderson Wright chose architects Marshall Sanguinet and Carl Staats to design the complex and construction 

began late in 1915. 


❖ 

Top: Palestine’s original Hope Hook 

and Ladder Company at its founding 

in the early 1880s. 



Middle: The Palestine Firehouse 

around 1900. 



Bottom: The Palestine Fire 

Department, shown here in 2011 

near the courthouse square, includes 

the original bell from the city’s 1895 

fire station. 

The new Palestine High School was 

dedicated on July 20, 1916, and students 

celebrated its modern conveniences. The school 

included a library, several classrooms, a 

gymnasium with a spectator’s gallery; an 

auditorium/study hall that included over 500 

opera chairs, a stage and balcony; a full 

“domestic science” department with a sewing 

room, kitchen and cafeteria; and a manual 

training department that had been equipped 

under the supervision of the Mechanical 

Engineer of the I. & G.N. Railroad. The first 

class of thirty-eight students to occupy the 

building graduated on May 27, 1917. 

For the next 22 years, the “school on the 

hillside” would graduate over 2,000 students. Its 

C h a p t e r V I ✦ 3 3

❖ 

The Dilley Rifles came to prominence 

in Palestine in the 1880s and were a 

crack drill team led by Captain 

Warner Williams that remained in 

high demand for events in East Texas. 

The photo at the top of the page, 

taken around 1890, includes the 

Moroccan-inspired theater, the 

Temple Opera House in the 

background at left. 



final class of 118 graduating students walked 

across the stage in 1939, when the high school 

was moved to the Davy Crockett site on Avenue A. 

The building at Reagan Park then became the 

home of Palestine’s junior high students in 1939 

and was later named John H. Reagan Junior High 

School in 1955. When Palestine’s current high 

school opened in 1966, junior high students 


were moved to the Davy Crockett buildings and 

the Reagan building became the home of the 

city’s elementary students. After Southside 

Elementary School was built in 1976, the historic 

building at Reagan Park became the home of the 

Museum for East Texas Culture in 1982. 

Today, Palestine’s Independent School 

District includes nearly 3,500 students at 

Palestine High School, Palestine Middle School, 

A. M. Story Elementary, Southside Primary, and 

Northside Early Childhood Center. The western 

side of Palestine is served by the Westwood 

Independent School District, formed in 1960. 

With nearly 1,700 students today, the district 

includes Westwood High School, Westwood 

Junior High, Westwood Elementary, and 

Westwood Primary School. 

The city also includes the extension 

campuses of The University of Texas at Tyler, 

which offers courses in nursing, business, 

education, health, kinesiology and history, and 

Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC- 

Palestine), with courses in a variety of 

vocational-technical programs as well as courses 

in continuing education and adult education. 

❖ 

Top, left: Sacred Heart Church, 

successor to the 1874 Church of St. 

Joseph, is at Oak and Queen Streets in 

Palestine. The International and 

Great Northern Railway gave the 

church this site for construction of its 

first building, which was destroyed by 

fire in 1890. Construction on the 

handmade brick building that remains 

today was begun later that year by 

architect Nicolas J. Clayton of 

Galveston. The historic church was 

recorded as a Texas Historic 

Landmark in 1964 and its 

congregation remains active in the 

twenty-first century. 

PHOTO BY PAIGE KEITHLY. 

Top, right: The interior of Sacred 

Heart Church. 



Left: Among the first industries in 

Palestine was the George Dilley Iron 

Foundry at 600 May Street. It was 

formed in 1873 to supply iron and 

brass castings to the railroad. 



C h a p t e r V I ✦ 3 5

❖ 

Top: A passenger car stands ready for 

business outside the depot at 

Palestine. 



Middle: The grand, Victorian-style 

depot at Palestine was built in 1891 

and razed in 1956. 



Bottom: Four Pines School, shown 

here in the 1920s, was first 

established in a converted tobacco 

barn in 1911 and replaced by a threeroom 

frame schoolhouse in 1918. By 

1946, enrollment reached sixty-seven. 

The Pleasant Grove and Woodhouse 

School Districts had merged with the 

school by 1959 to form the Tucker 

Common School District. It was 

renamed Westwood in 1976 and 

Westwood Elementary remains at the 

same site of the original Four Pines 

School today. 




C H A P T E R 

V I I 

A CULTURAL FABRIC 

“History is not about places and events, as important as though may be. 

It is about the people who made that history.” - Bob Burke 

The Museum for East Texas Culture is at home in the historic building of the former Palestine 

High School. A Tudor-Gothic style building of fine brickwork and high arches surrounded by tall 

trees and standing at the highest point of the city’s famed Reagan Park at Micheaux Avenue, its rooms 

once rang with the sounds of busy high school (1916-1938), junior high (1939-1965) and 

elementary (1966-1976) students, and generations of dedicated teachers and faculty members. 

Renovated and debuting before the public as “the keeper of our history” in 1982, today the rooms 

and hallways of this grand building are inhabited by the very history that many of those students and 

teachers lived while growing up in Palestine and Anderson County. 

There are displays of the area’s heroes ranging from John H. Reagan and Thomas Campbell 

to the courageous firemen, policemen, and other public servants of the area. Artifacts from 

ancient civilizations to full exhibits of an early day classroom or the world of the railroad and 

its important impact upon the city and East Texas, and archives overflowing with the words and 

legends and photographs that encompass nearly two centuries of East Texas life can be studied to the 

finest detail. 

When the museum’s Black History room opened in the fall of 2003, its exhibits represented a year 

of dedicated work by many individuals as well as a lifetime of collecting photographs, newspaper 

articles and unique artifacts by generations of African-American families in the city. June Singletary 

McCoy was joined by Bobbye Russell Myers, Mildred Thompson Smith, Helen S. Hooper, Rose D. 

Jackson, Charlene H. Hutchinson, and Ella Mae Smith in compiling the massive amount of 

information that began to overflow as citizens heard of the Museum’s efforts to honor the African- 

American community and many of its most prominent leaders and important historical landmarks. 

The people, places, and events captured within the room, and in the following pages and 

photographs compiled by June McCoy, are a stirring fabric that together reveals the depth and 

breadth of a culture upon the city. 

❖ 

The Museum for East Texas Culture 

at Reagan Park in Palestine, 2011. 


C h a p t e r V I I ✦ 3 7

H I S T O R I C A L 

M A R K E R S 

Many of Palestine and Anderson County’s 

most important African-American landmarks 

have been commemorated with official Texas 

historical markers. They include the stories of 

Paul Rutledge, Sr., Alonzo Marion Story, Mt. 

Vernon A.M.E. Church (also listed on the 

National Register of Historic Places in 2002), 

Green Bay School, Green Bay A.M.E. Church, 

Northeast Texas Christian Theological and 

Industrial College, Antioch Baptist Church, 

Magnolia Brotherhood Cemetery, Swanson 

Cemetery, Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, 

McKnight Plaza, Lincoln High School, Frederick 

Douglass Elementary School, and Nathaniel A. 

Banks Elementary School. 

E D U C A T I O N 

Prior to the integration of schools in 1967, 

African-American schools in Palestine included 

Lincoln High School, A. M. Story High School, 

Frederick Douglass Elementary School, N. A. 

Banks Elementary School, Booker T. 

Washington Elementary School, and Fourth 

Ward School. 

There were many other elementary schools 

located in the rural communities of Anderson 

County. Students from those schools attended 

high school in Palestine or at Green Bay High 

School in Tucker. Other high schools in 

Anderson County included Massey Lake High 

School at Tennessee Colony, Henry High School 

at Elkhart, G. W. Carver High School in 

Frankston, Clemons High School at Neches, 

and Flint Hill High School. 

Many students in these schools competed in 

University Interscholastic League contests in 

debate, essay writing, picture memory, vocal 

and piano solos, quartet singing, poetry 

recitation, and track and field events. They 

won awards on the state level at Prairie View A. 

& M. University, while the Green Bay High 

School boys basketball team won the 1955 State 

Championship. 

The teachers and principals of these schools 

were graduates of historically black colleges and 

held teaching certificates. They devoted their 

time, talents and resources to develop the 

“whole child” academically, socially, physically, 

and morally. 

During the years of “separate but equal” 

schools, teachers worked with hand-medown 

textbooks, limited curriculum and 

inadequate funding for supplies and teaching 

materials. For many years, Lincoln High 

School’s football team wore used uniforms that 

had been passed on to them from Palestine High 

School, while the first uniforms worn by 

Lincoln High School’s band were purchased 

through the generous support raised by mothers 

of the band students. 

Teachers often spent their own money to 

purchase teaching aids and were creative in 

improvising ways to train students and prepare 

them for college and the world of work. They 

were also active in the lives of the parents, 

❖ 

Lincoln School. 




❖ 

Left: The 1912 faculty of the first 

Lincoln High School, Palestine 

Normal, included (first row) Professor 

Clarence F. Carr, Principal, and 

Professor J. A. B. Strain; (second row) 

unknown, Lenora Robinson, 

unknown; (third row) Alma Z. 

Johnson Stein, unknown; (fourth 

row) unknown. 

COURTESY OF JUNE MCCOY. 

students, and communities in which they 

served. At Green Bay School, Laurelia Singletary 

served as the homemaking teacher and W. L. 

Singletary was the vocational agriculture 

teacher. They held adult workshops year-round 

that offered training in gardening, farming, food 

preservation, clothing construction, furniture 

refinishing, home renovation, cattle raising, 

butchering, barn building, carpentry, farm 

equipment repair, and other courses to 

implement wholesome family life and improve 

living conditions. 

In every school, teachers across the 

curriculum often combined their efforts to 

provide learning experiences for the common 

goal of shaping the lives of young people across 

Anderson County to become well-rounded 

individuals and contributing citizens. 

Lincoln High School opened in 1891 at the 

Mission Church on San Jacinto between 

Dorrance and South Jackson Streets and 

provided higher grades for elementary students 

being taught at St. Paul Church on Texas Avenue 

and at the Old Town School in the eastern 

section of Palestine. In 1895 the school was 

relocated on the corner of Swantz and McClellan 

Streets. The building was destroyed by fire in 

1922 and classes were held in several nearby 

churches until a new six-room brick building 

opened at the same site in January of 1923. 

Alonzo Marion (A. M.) Story followed Reverend 

H. T. Wise as the school’s principal in 1925. 

Story increased the school’s enrollment, secured 

a broad range of courses and encouraged 

students to seek a college education. 

By 1934, two more classrooms were needed, 

so land was purchased by The Grand United 

Order of Odd Fellows. The Civic Improvement 

League of Colored Citizens also offered $1,000 

for an auditorium-gymnasium and construction 

began in 1938. 

A. M. Story retired in 1949 and the school 

board approved construction of a new high 

Below: Professor A. M. Story served 

at Lincoln High School from 1925 to 

1949. A. M. Story High School, 

named in his honor in 1953, was 

destroyed by a tornado in 1987 and 

later rebuilt at a new location as an 

elementary school. 



❖ 

Right: Green Bay High School was 

founded in 1899 by a group of 

African-American men who formed a 

board of trustees and organized a 

school for local African-American 

children. The school met in Green 

Bay’s Methodist Church until a 

building was erected in the early 

1900s at this site. Children from 

across the area attended the school 

until desegregation came to Anderson 

County in 1966. The site became a 

Texas Historical Commission 

landmark in 1986. 


Below: The Regular Fellows Club, 

shown here prior to 1933 (front row, 

left to right) Eddie Frank Green, 

Leland Tillis, Fred Tillis, Radie 

Coleman, Edmond Anderson and 

“Buster Thompson.” (standing, left to 

right) J.W. Smith, Edward McCoy, 

David Moseley, Fred Daniels, Edward 

Hamilton, Lloyd Howard, Oliver 

Moseley, Francis McClellan and 

Lee Sapp. 


school that was named in his honor and opened 

in 1953. Lincoln High school became Lincoln 

Junior High School serving grades five through 

eight. When the school expanded to include 

grades two through eight, a four-room frame 

building was added. 

By 1965, grades seven and eight were moved 

to the A. M. Story High School campus in a section 

of the building known as Washington 

School. A new Washington school on Hamlett 

and Douglas Streets was ready for occupancy 

and W. L. Manning, who had followed A. M. 

Story as principal in 1949, transferred to the 

new school as its principal. 

With the coming of school integration in 

1970, Lincoln closed. The building was occupied 

by the Anderson County Community 

Council and was demolished after a fire partially 

destroyed the building in 1999. 

Palestine High Schools graduated many outstanding 

individuals who would earn Ph.D. 

degrees from around the country and include A. 

M. Story High School graduates Alene Hollie 

Hamilton, Darlene Ruffin Alexander, Rochelle 

Johnson Baty, Frank L. Joe, Anna M. Madison, 

and Sharon Gross Ray; Palestine High School 

graduates Harold L. Aubrey, Peaches Henry, 

Debra D. Murray, Carolyn Jamerson Nobles, 

Terrence Lee Reese, Isaac Williams, Jr.; Massey 

Lake High School graduate Annie Harrison 

Edwards; Lincoln High School graduates St. 

John Williamson, Jr., Kenneth E. Henry, and 

Charles E. Henry; Green Bay High School graduate 

Theodore Ingram; and Neches High School 

graduate Gwendolyn Caldwell Morrison. 

Their degrees were in education, mathematical/statistical 

computing, counseling, psychology, 

religion, industrial education, analytical 

chemistry, home economics, cellular and molecular 

biology, physics, child development, and 

health service management. 

The Palestine Independent School District 

has included board of education members Dr. J. 

Don Jackson, Sr., Dorothy R. Robinson, Dr. 

Inman White, Mae Frances White, Doris 

Garrett, Namon Latson, Freta Myers Parkes, and 

Dyna Tutt. 


❖ 

Top, left: This marker, 

commemorating the life and public 

service of Major General John F. 

Phillips, stands at the Palestine park 

dedicated in his honor in 1995. 


Top, right: Lieutenant Colonel Russell 

L. Hooper, Jr. 


Below: Mrs. Ella Mae Smith, one 

of several Palestine women in 

the military. 


C I V I C , S O C I A L A N D 

F R A T E R N A L O R G A N I Z A T I O N S 

Among the outstanding service organizations 

of the county, African Americans founded the 

Palestine Branch of the National Association for 

the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 

The Negro Business and Professional Women’s 

Club Inc. (NB&PW), Anderson County Civic 

League (later named the Anderson County 

Community Council Inc.), Henry-Smith 

Families Multi-Cultural Education Center 

“People Helping People,” Masonic Lodge–W. R. 

Roberts Consistory of 32 Degree Masons, Hearts 

of Love Court #16 of the Grand Court Order of 

Calanthe, and the Regular Fellows Club. 

air medals, the Purple Heart and induction into 

the Infantry Hall of Fame in 1984. Upon his 

retirement in 1975, he became an army chaplain 

and in 2005 published his autobiography, My 

Journey to Betterment. 

Major Paul L. Rutledge, Jr., the son of educators 

Johnnie C. and Paul L. Rutledge, Sr., was 

born in Palestine and became a star basketball 

player before graduating from Green Bay High 

School in 1955. Major Rutledge entered the 

M I L I T A R Y 

S E R V I C E 

The valedictorian of Lincoln High School’s 

graduating class in 1940, United States Army 

Brigadier General George M. Shuffer, Jr., was the 

first African-American general from Anderson 

County and the son of Johnny D’Ella and George 

M. Shuffer, Sr., owners of a dry goods store in 

McKnight Plaza. Throughout his 35 years of 

service to the country, Brigadier General Shuffer 

served in the office of the Secretary of Defense at 

the Pentagon and received 31 citations and decorations 

including the Distinguished Service 

Medal, three silver stars, four bronze stars, five 


❖ 

Left: Joyce W. Singletary Crocheron 


Right: Dollie L. Beard Washington. 


United States Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1960 

and served in the Korean War and was the first 

African-American Company Commander of 

Integrated Units. 

Major General John F. Phillips, the son of 

Sadie L. and O.L. Phillips, began his distinguished 

military career after graduating from 

Clemons High School in Neches. Serving as a 

pilot, navigator and instructor pilot, he retired 

from service to the United States Air Force after 

thirty years. The City of Palestine recognized 

his accomplishments and service to the country 

by establishing the Major General John H. 

Phillips Monument and Park on Mills Street at 

Spring Street. 

Lieutenant Colonel Russell L. Hooper Jr., the 

son of Helen and Russell L. Hooper, graduated 

from Palestine High School in 1982 and 

received the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service 

Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army 

Commendations Medal, and the National 

Defense Service Medal. 

Lieutenant Colonel Clark Lowe graduated 

from Lincoln High School and was awarded the 

Purple Heart and Bronze Star. 

The city’s Purple Heart veterans are Vernon 

Denmon, Theldon Lumpkin, and Jesse W. Hudson. 

Hudson originally left Lincoln High School to enlist 

in the United States Army and served from 1949 

until 1953. He later returned home to graduate 

from Lincoln and retired in 1989 as the Assistant 

Principal of Palestine High School. 

Sergeant Ella Mae Henry Smith joined the 

Women’s Army Corps (WAC) of the United 

States Army and trained as a dietetic specialist 

and was honorably discharged before attending 

Texas College and later retiring as a Home 

Economics teacher. She and her family founded 

Henry-Smith Families Multi-Cultural Center. 

Joyce W. Singletary Crocheron, the daughter 

of W. L. and Laurelia M. Singletary, graduated 

from Green Bay High School in 1957 and 

entered into active service in the Army Nurse 

Corps as Second Lieutenant in 1961 after graduating 

from Dillard University. She was promoted 

to First Lieutenant in 1963 and served at the 

43rd Surgical Hospital in Korea before returning 

to Washington D.C. to join the staff of Walter 

Reed Army Medical Center in 1964. 

Captain Lucille Lacy Tyler graduated from 

Lincoln High School and became a nurse before 

enlisting in the United States Army in 1943. 

Dollie L. Beard spent two years, four months, 

and four days in the Women’s Army Corps 


(WAC), where she received the American Theater 

Campaign Medal, the Wood Conduct Medal, and 

the WAAC Service Ribbon. She received her 

Honorable Discharge in December 1945. 

A R T I S T S , A U T H O R S 

I N V E N T O R S 

& 

The creative community of individuals who 

have called the city their home include renowned 

artists such as Alma Pennell Gunter, Rusty Davis, 

and Laretha Skinner. Authors include Lenice 

Watkins; Dorothy Redus Robinson; Sadie L. 

Phillips; Anita Smith; Rubye Browne Melton; 

Norris White; Theresa Smith-Browne; Reverend 

J. F. Wade; Deborah Smith Pegues; Bobbye 

Russell Myers; Verniece Scales; and Brigadier 

General George Mason Shuffer, Jr.; and historical 

narratives such as African American Roots: 

Traveling the Boundaries of Anderson County, 

Profiles of Faith: A History of Black Churches of 

Anderson County, and A History of the Education of 

Black People of Anderson County, Texas. 

Inventor Christopher L. Rutledge, the son of 

Jacqueline and Paul L. Rutledge, Jr., graduated 

from Westwood High School in 1984. He earned 

a bachelor’s degree from Prairie View A&M 

University in 1988 and received his master’s 

degree in electrical engineering from the 

University of Michigan in 1989. While employed 

by AT&T, Christopher has been awarded 

thirteen patents, all of which contribute to the 

technological success of the company. 

The Willie Myers Park was named in his honor 

and is located on Dorrance Street. 

Educator M. L. Cary, Sr., was the principal of 

Green Bay High School in the Tucker School 

District in Anderson County and was a 

community leader in Palestine, serving as 

President and Chairman of the Executive Board 

of the Anderson County Civic League. The M. L. 

Cary Railroad Overpass was named in his honor 

in February 1980. 

In 1952, Hugh Russell helped build a 

retaining wall near the Anderson County 

courthouse. In his youth, he helped construct a 

wall at the city cemetery as part of a 

government-funded work program and was the 

❖ 

Willie Myers and the park dedicated 

in his honor. 


M E D I C I N E 

African-American physicians have included 

Drs. F. F. McClellan; W. R. Roberts, J. H. Dodd; 

R. E. Holland; H. D. Patton; H. W. Voorhees; J. 

Don Jackson, Sr.; J. Don Jackson, Jr.; Michael 

Williams; Patrick Titus; Jessie Sloan Hicks; 

Tarsha Brown; André Thomas; and Davida 

Wardell. Dentists include Drs. H. V. Hurd, 

Matthew Williamson, Peyton E. Medlock, H. D. 

Patton, and Troy W. Simmons. 

C I T Y 

H O N O R E E S 

Willie Myers retired as a chef on the historic 

Missouri-Pacific Railroad before serving as a 

Palestine City councilman from 1977 to 1989. 


first person to introduce St. Augustine grass in 

the Palestine area. He voluntarily maintained 

the Memorial Cemetery and served on the City 

of Palestine Cemetery Board. In Memorial 

Cemetery, Russell Road is named in his honor. 

E L E C T E D 

O F F I C I A L S 

❖ 

Above: M. L. Cary, Sr. 


Below: Hugh Russell, the retaining 

wall he helped build at North Church 

and Poplar Streets, and Memorial 

Cemetery’s Russell Road. 


In 1973, Rodney Howard, Frank J. Robinson 

and Timothy S. Smith brought a class 

action suit against the Anderson County 

Commissioner’s Court to protest the 

gerrymandering of precinct lines, which diluted 

black voting strength. The case was won at the 

Fifth Circuit and in Federal Court in 1974. The 

three men filed a second lawsuit in 1976 and 

were successful in creating single-member 

districts for Palestine City Council elections. As 

a result, the first African Americans were elected 

to county and city office. 

City of Palestine councilmembers have 

included W. C. Lee; Roosevelt Linicomn, Sr., 

Willie Myers; Arthur Sherrod; Edward McCoy, 

Jr.; Jimmie L. Cummings, Sr.; James Simpson, 

Eddie Holland; Betty Nickerson; Patricia Davis; 

Vernon Denmon, Jr.; and Vickey Chivers. In 

October 1996, Sheyi Ipaye became the first 

African American appointed as the city manager 

of Palestine. 

Precinct 2 Constables have included 

Herman Bell, André Ingram, and Fannie 

Hutchison, the only black female constable and 

sheriff’s deputy, and the first black female jailer 

in Anderson County. 

Precinct 2 Commissioners have included 

Reginald O. Browne, Sr.; Rodney Howard; 

Arthur Sherrod; Darrell Emanuel; and Rashad 

Q. Mims, I. 

Precinct 2 Justices of the Peace have included 

O’Neal Hunt, Versalean Logans, and Carl Davis. 

The first elected African-American treasurer 

of Anderson County was Sharon Cook Peterson, 


while Daphne Session Castleberry became the 

first African-American assistant district attorney 

of Anderson County in 2000. 

C H U R C H 

L I F E 

The community of African-American 

believers is wide and historic in Palestine and 

throughout Anderson County. Churches have 

long “provided a critical vehicle for education 

and organized political action” throughout the 

county, and, in Palestine, the city’s two oldest 

churches, Mt. Vernon African Methodist 

Episcopal (A.M.E.) and Antioch Baptist Church, 

are no exception. 

Mount Vernon A.M.E. at 913 Calhoun is the 

third oldest A.M.E. in Texas, with its first 

congregation meeting in homes from 1856 to 

1873. After John H. Reagan donated land on 

Mulberry and Birch Streets to the congregations 

of both Mount Vernon and Antioch Baptist “in 

order to worship God and educate their 

children,” each group alternated their worship 

services on Sundays at “Union Church.” Mt. 

Vernon eventually purchased the land at 

Calhoun Street in 1878. The original building 

was replaced in 1921 and remains today as an 

official Texas Historic Landmark. 

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church at 907 

East Murchison was organized in 1856 and land 

was purchased through the campaign of the 

Ladies Aide Society. The church was remodeled 

in 1921 and burned in 1962. It was rebuilt and 

remains near the original site today. 

A T H L E T E S 

Ivory Lee Brown graduated from Palestine 

High School in 1987. He transferred to the 

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff from Tyler 

Junior College and, as a running back, was the 

number one rusher in the NAIA and voted Most 

Valuable Player in 1990. The Phoenix Cardinals 

drafted him in 1991. He played with that team 

and the San Antonio Riders of the World 

Football League and ended his career with the 

Minnesota Vikings in 1994. 

Bonita Brown Jackson, Ivory’s sister and the 

mother of football great Adrian Peterson, 

graduated from Westwood High School in 1988 

after dominating the Girls 3A Track and Field 

Finals in 1982 and 1983. She won four gold 

❖ 

On March 3, 1975, citizens presented 

a petition to the Anderson County 

Commissioner’s Court concerning the 

realignment of precinct boundaries 

and the placement of voting boxes. 

Pictured in the front row are (from left 

to right) Frank J. Robinson, Reverend 

T. L. Dilworth, Reverend J. F. Wade, 

Timothy S. Smith, and W. C. Lee. 

Second row (from left to right): 

Rodney A. Howard, Sr., Ester Clewis, 

Gloria Bass, and Willie Wallace. 

Third row (from left to right) Dorothy 

R. Robinson, Louise Jackson, Golden 

Overshown, Geneva Collier, Etra M. 

Simmons, Phyllis Diggs, Rose D. 

Jackson, and Willie Myers. E. E. 

Brown is standing in the very back on 

the righthand side. 



athletic scholarship to play for the Sooners at 

the University of Oklahoma in Norman, where 

he finished second in the vote for the Heisman 

Trophy. After his junior year at OU, Adrian 

joined the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. 

Keith L. Crawford graduated from Westwood 

High School in 1989 and signed with the New 

York Giants in 1993. From 1994 to 1995 he 

played for the Green Bay Packers and signed 

with the St. Louis Rams from 1996 to 1997. 

Keith participated in training camp with the 

Kansas City Chiefs in 1998 and returned to the 

Packers playing field in 1999. He joined the 

Memphis Maniacs of the Xtreme Football 

League in 2000 and was inducted into his alma 

mater’s Howard Payne University Hall of Fame 

in 2004. 

Mark Rutledge graduated from Westwood 

High School in 1980 and continued an 

outstanding basketball career at Prairie View A. 

& M. University. He graduated with a degree in 

mechanical engineering in 1985 and later 

played with the Jameson International 

Basketball Team in Dublin, Ireland. Today, he 

owns the largest African-American mechanical 

contracting company in Texas. 

Hernandez “Hunkie” Cooper was a 

quarterback and an All-American player at 

Westwood High School, where he graduated in 

1987. While playing quarterback at Navarro 

❖ 

Above: Bonita Brown Jackson in 

action at the girls track and field 

championships at the University of 

Texas’ Memorial Stadium, May 1983 

COURTESY OF JUNE MCCOY; PHOTO BY JIM 

TROTMAN, PALESTINE HERALD-PRESS. 

Right: A graduate of Palestine High 

School, Adrian “All Day” Peterson 

garnered fame as a player for the 

University of Oklahoma Sooners and 

later joined the Minnesota Vikings, 

where he was named NFL Rookie of 

the Year in 2007. 

COURTESY OF THE BOB BURKE COLLECTION. 

medals and set a new state record, winning the 

long jump, the triple jump, the 200-meter dash 

and shattering her own state record in the 100- 

meter dash. She ended her four-year track 

career at Westwood with a total of seven 

gold medals, one silver medal and 104 points 

in three state meets. She also represented 

the United States in the Junior Olympics in 

Seoul, Korea, in 1982, where she won the 

bronze medal as a member of the four-hundredmeter 

relay team. The city of Palestine and 

Mayor Jack Selden proclaimed a “Bonita Brown 

Day” in her honor on June 11, 1983. 

Adrian D. Peterson graduated from Palestine 

High School in 2004 after participating in football, 

basketball, track and field. He received an 


College in Corsicana, the team won the 1989 

NJCAA National Football Championship. He 

earned a degree in criminal justice from the 

University of Nevada at Las Vegas in 1991 and 

joined the Arizona Rattlers in 1993. During 

his rookie year with the Rattlers, he won the 

Arena Football League’s MVP award. In 1997 

he earned Ironman honors and set the record 

for touchdown returns in 2000. By 2002, he 

had scored 1,000 points in his career and 

was named the League’s All-Time Leader in 

kickoff returns in 2003. Cooper was also the 

fifth man in pro football history to hit a 20,000 

career all-purpose yard mark. In 2005 he 

celebrated a twelve-year career as a receiverlinebacker 

with the Arizona Rattlers and the 

Arena Football League and his #14 jersey was 

retired. Today, Cooper is a high school football 

coach in Las Vegas. 

Sandra Cummings Glover, the daughter of 

T. A. and Eunice Cummings, graduated from 

Palestine High School in 1987 where she 

lettered in basketball and track. She earned a 

degree in elementary education from the 

University of Houston in 1988 and was on the 

Women’s Track and Field All-American Team in 

1991. She won qualifying heats in 2000 and 

2003 for the United States Olympic Team 

competing in the 400-meter hurdles and won 

Olympic track and field trials in the Women’s 

400-meter hurdles at Sydney, Australia. She 

placed third in the finals at the USA Outdoor 

Track and Field Championships in California. In 

2002, the City of Houston honored her with 

“Sandra Glover Day.” 

Portia Hill Hatten graduated from Palestine 

High School in 1986 and played basketball for 

Trinity Valley Community College, where she 

received the John Naismith Award for Best 

Junior College Women’s Player in America. 

She later attended Stephen F. Austin University 

and won many awards before being named 

Kodak All-American Team, honoring the ten 

best players in America. After college, Portia 

played in the Italian and French leagues 

throughout Europe and was inducted in the 

SFA Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. The City of 

Palestine held a “Portia Hill Day” in honor of 

her achievements. 

Guy Brown graduated from Palestine High 

School, where he played running back, in 1973. 

At the University of Houston, he played 

defensive end and was a linebacker for the 

Dallas Cowboys. He retired from professional 

sports in 1983. 

M C K N I G H T 

P L A Z A 

In 1876, two businessmen, J. B. McKnight 

and J. H. Mead, erected a building on the corner 

❖ 

Left: Keith Crawford. 


Below: Hernandez “Hunkie” Cooper. 



❖ 

McKnight Plaza in 1900. 



of Avenue A and East Spring Street in Palestine. 

When McKnight died in 1907, the property was 

sold to the Farmers and Citizens Savings Bank 

and gave rise to a setting for entrepreneurial 

enterprise of African-American men and 

women, as well as a social center downtown for 

the African-American community. The bank, 

principally organized by farmer and community 

leader Henry L. Price, remained in existence 

from 1906 to 1926 and is the only African- 

American bank created in Palestine and one of 

only a few in Texas. 

McKnight Plaza, commonly known as “the 

Square,” housed over eighteen businesses including 

the barbershops of John Hunter, who opened his 

shop in 1912 and became the oldest tenant of the 

Plaza, Willard Barrett and Ben and Sam Carson; the 

cafes of Easter Barrett and John Tatum; Dr. and 

Mrs. Dodd’s Drug Store; J. B. Blake’s Cab Company; 

Updack Funeral Home; Missouri-Pacific Colored 

Booster Club; the notary office of Captain H. G. 

Neely; Shuffer’s Dry Goods Store; Mrs. W. R. 

Roberts’ Hat Shop; the medical offices of Dr. H. D. 

Patton and Dr. R. E. Holland; dentists Dr. H. D. 

Mitchell and Dr. Payton Madlock; Edward McCoy, 

Sr.’s, East Texas Burial Association; and Farmers 

and Citizens Savings Bank. 

Businessman Caesar Augustus Dial was born 

in 1861 and graduated from Prairie View State 

College in 1886 before becoming a teacher, 

farmer, and fraternal leader. He was an assistant 

cashier and sat on the Board of Directors of the 

Farmers and Citizens Savings Bank. Each of his 

ten children owned stock in the bank. 

Reverend E.M. Griggs worked at the Deaf, 

Dumb, Blind and Orphans School in Austin, 

Texas, and earned his Bachelor of Theology 

degree from Bishop College in Marshall in the 

late 1890s. During his tenure in Palestine, 

Griggs pastored West Union Baptist Church and 

was secretary of the National Baptist 

Convention, moderator of Zion Hill Missionary 

Baptist Association, and President of Farmers 

and Citizens Savings Bank. 

Anderson county native St. John Williamson, 

Sr., LLB, was a 1906 graduate of Howard 

University School of Law in Washington, D.C., 

and practiced in state, federal, and civil courts 

where he helped farmers who had deeds to land 

throughout the county. When oil was 

discovered in the Neches area, oil companies 

required further proof of ownership such as 

titles. Williamson worked in the fields with 

owners and surveyors and often typed the 

complete Abstract of Title for his clients. He was 

the attorney for Farmers and Citizens Savings 

Bank and owned 102 shares of its stock at the 

time of his death in 1923. 


Throughout its existence, McKnight Plaza 

served as a shopping mecca for blacks. On 

weekends, it was a gathering place for residents 

from the surrounding rural communities who 

came to town on horses and wagons. They 

shopped for dry goods, hats, fresh produce from 

local farms, or enjoyed a haircut and an ice 

cream cone. Meals were served at local cafes that 

were often open until midnight. 

The Missouri-Pacific Booster Club was 

the scene for dances and other major 

social events in the city and the streets 

surrounding the square were abuzz with people 

sharing news about their particular community 

and family. 

In November 1945, razing of the sixtynine-year-old 

McKnight Plaza was begun. 

The four-unit landmark was being vacated by 

its all-black tenants, many of whom planned 

to establish businesses elsewhere…and an era 

not experienced in other East Texas towns came 

to an end. 

❖ 

McKnight Plaza in 1930. 




TEXAS TIMELINE 

“History is a fabric – a shining damask in which is woven the lives of people.” – Carl Avera 

• Around 600 A.D.: Caddo Indians settle in 

the area of present-day Palestine and 

Anderson County. 

• May 22, 1690: Spain establishes its presence 

in a mission erected at an Indian village near 

present-day Palestine. The caravan includes 

several priests, over 100 soldiers, 20 mules, 

and gifts. 

• 1736: France and Spain claim their boundaries 

between the Louisiana territory and 

New Spain. 

• 1775-1783: The American Revolutionary War 

• 1803: The Louisiana Purchase is made by the 

United States; present-day Texas remains a 

part of New Spain. 

• 1804: U.S. President Thomas Jefferson 

decides that the boundary of the Louisiana 

Purchase extends to the Rio Grande. 

• 1810-1821: Mexican War of Independence 

from Spain. 

• 1821: Mexican government authorizes 

Stephen F. Austin to begin colonization of the 

Texas territory. 

• December 22, 1826: David Burnet authorized 

to establish a new colony in East Texas 

for three hundred families. 

• Around 1834: Martin Lacy buys land for salt 

works near Palestine. 

• 1835-1836: Texas Revolution to gain independence 

from Mexico. 

• 1835: Fort Houston, built mainly by settlers 

in the area, opens on the public square of the 

town of Houston. 

• 1836: The stockade at Fort Houston is built 

by Texas Rangers. 

• March 2, 1836: The Texas Declaration of 

Independence is signed. 

• April 21, 1836: Texas wins a decisive battle 

for its freedom from Mexico at the Battle of 

San Jacinto. 

• September 5, 1836: The Republic of Texas 

chooses its first elected officials. 

• September 1836: Texas votes in favor of annexation 

to the United States, but the request 

is denied. 

• 1837: The Republic of Texas is officially 

recognized by the United States and several 

other countries. 

• November 1839: The First Congress of Texas 

meets in Austin. 

• December 1841: The town of Houston (also 

known as Fort Houston) becomes the seat of 

justice in the area. 

• Around 1843: Citizens of northern Houston 

County are granted a “county for judicial 

purposes” and it is named Burnett. A 

short time later, its organization is deemed 

unconstitutional. 

• February 18, 1845: The United States 

Congress passes a resolution offering statehood 

to Texas. 

• July 4, 1845: Texas Congress and convention 

delegates meet to choose between annexation 

to the United States or independence recognized 

by Mexico. Annexation is approved. 

• December 29, 1845: Texas celebrates its legal 

entry into the Union. 

• 1846: George Anderson Wright, celebrated 

Confederate soldier and political leader, is 

the first child born in Anderson County. 

• March 24, 1846: The first legislature of 

the state of Texas passes an act creating 


• July 13, 1846: Anderson County holds its 

first election in Palestine. 

• August 1846: The first sale of lots in Palestine 

begins and range in price from $50 to $100 

around the public square. 

• October 15, 1846: Johnston Shelton completes 

his survey of the town of Palestine. 

• November 1846: The first session of Anderson 

County’s District Court is held in Palestine. 

• 1846-1848: Mexican War ensues over the 

boundaries of westward expansion. 

• 1847: The ferry at Magnolia Crossing 

receives the first license to operate in 


• February 2, 1848: Mexican War officially 

ends with the signing of the Treaty of 

Guadalupe Hidalgo. Texas is annexed to the 


United States and the boundary of the Rio 

Grande is established. 

• March 14, 1848: Palestine is officially incorporated 

by the state of Texas. 

• 1850: The first newspaper, The Trinity 

Advocate, is published in Palestine. The first 

census is taken in Palestine. 

• 1851: The Palestine Advocate begins publication. 

John Henninger Reagan comes to Palestine. 

• August 30, 1852: Congress authorizes the 

first survey of the Trinity River. 

• 1853: John Graham Gooch opens the city’s 

first lending library. 

• 1854: Anderson County Chief Judge A. G. 

Cantly ensures passage of an order providing 

the courthouse yard with “shade trees and 

grass plots.” 

• September 24, 1860: John Reagan purchases 

660 acres of land that includes Fort Houston. 

He will not occupy the home included on the 

land until after the Civil War. 

• 1861-1865: The American Civil War 

• 1866: Mary Kate Hunter, famous for her collection 

of firsthand accounts of life in Anderson 

County, is born near Brushy Creek. Her father 

had come to Fort Houston with his family in 

1839 when he was just six months old. 

• July 1872: Christopher Columbus Rogers 

(1850-1887), a favorite of the Texas Sherriff’s 

Association and the second cousin of U.S. 

President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), works 

for the Trinity Advocate before he is appointed as 

Palestine’s city marshall on this date. 

• 1874: Brushy Creek Arbor is built. 

• September 27, 1879: James Quisenberry is 

killed by City Marshall Chris Rogers in a 

gunfight on the courthouse square. 

• September 6, 1881: Palestine celebrates the 

opening of its public school system. 

• 1882: Palestine’s first telephone exchange, 

Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone 

Company, is established. 

• 1883: The Palestine Hebrew Association is 

founded. 

• 1884: The I. & G.N. Railroad builds a hospital 

for its employees on South Magnolia 

Street. Land is purchased for the creation of 

the Anderson County Poor Farm, which 

included a cotton gin and canning operations, 

housing for residents and a jail building on 

FM 322. A small cemetery and the jail are the 

only things that remain on the site today. 

• 1886: James Wisdom Ozment, introduced to 

incandescent light at the Dallas State Fair, 

opens Palestine Electric Light Company, 

Palestine’s first light plant. 

• November 1890: Famed evangelist Sam 

Jones brings the Temperance Movement to 

Palestine and a fistfight ensues between Jones 

and Palestine Mayor and opponent J. J. Word 

at the railroad depot. 

• 1891: The county’s first African-American 

school, Lincoln, opens as a mission school. 

• 1893: The homes along South Sycamore 

Street, Silk Stocking Row, are recognized as 

“the most fashionable avenue in Palestine.” 

• November 15, 1893: The Texas State 

Railroad begins construction on the line 

between Palestine and Rusk. 

• 1896: U.S. President Benjamin Harrison visits 


• 1897: The Palestine Daily Press begins 

publication. 

• 1898: The Palestine Daily Visitor begins 

publication. 

• August 22, 1899: The new Palestine City 

Hall celebrates its grand opening. 

• Around 1900: Palestine’s Salt and Coal 

Company is formed. 

• 1901: St. Mary’s Academy is established at 

❖ 

Top: John Graham Gooch. 



Above: Marshall Christopher 

Columbus Rogers. 



Bottom, left: Palestine in the 1880s. 



Bottom, right: The Jewish Synagogue, 

Temple Beth Israel, opened in January 

of 1901 and was located at the corner 

of South Magnolia and Dallas Streets. 

It was purchased by The Full 

Gospel Tabernacle in 1950 and 

razed in 1964. 



T i m e l i n e ✦ 5 1

❖ 

Above: Palestine Mayor J. J. Word. 



Top, right: Among Silk Stocking Row’s 

most exquisite Victorian homes was 

the George Wright home at 900 South 

Sycamore. It was built in 1883 at a 

cost of $64,000 and included an 

entire block enclosed by a wroughtiron 

fence, and a third floor ballroom. 

It was torn down in the 1940s and 

Memorial Hospital was built on 

the site. 



Bottom, left: In 1899, Palestine City 

Hall was built at the corner of Oak 

and Magnolia Streets and replaced the 

original city hall on Avenue A. Future 

Texas Governor Thomas Mitchell 

Campbell delivered the opening 

address. The building was razed 

in 1940. 

COURTESY OF STUART WHITAKER. 

Lacy and North Jackson Streets in Palestine. 

• 1902: The Palestine Daily Herald begins publication. 

Palestine’s first road is paved. 

• 1903: Palestine welcomes a great exposition 

and carnival that introduces the automobile 

to the area. George Stewart wins a raffle at the 

event to become the city’s first owner of a car. 

• 1904: The county’s last legal hanging occurs. 

• 1906: Members of Palestine’s African- 

American community found Farmers & 

Citizens Bank 

• 1907: Five cars are officially registered in 

Palestine. By 1910 there would be fifty-one. 

• November 2, 1909: Born in Palestine on this 

day, Fred Lowery (1909-1984) garnered fame 

on radio, on stage, and in film as “The Blind 

Whistler” and whistled the theme song in the 

1954 John Wayne film The High and the Mighty. 

• 1910: Palestine passes an ordinance stating, 

“Streets of Palestine cannot be used for driving 

through of loose stock.” 

• July 6, 1911: On this day in Palestine the 

John H. Reagan monument, created by famed 

Italian sculptor Pompeo Coppini and cast in 

Rome, Italy, is unveiled at Reagan Park at 

Park Avenue and Crockett Road and includes 

a figure at the foot of the statue to represent 

the “Lost Cause of the Confederacy.” Thirteen 

stars on the figure’s helmet honor the states of 

the Confederacy. 

• 1912: Palestine Electric Light Company is 

sold to the Texas Power and Light Company. 

The Post Office and Federal Building is constructed 

in Palestine. 

• 1913: Bonner Frizzell accepts a position as 

principal of Rusk Grade School in Palestine. 

He will remain a “tireless promoter” of public 

education until his death in 1968. 

• 1915: The railroad shops of the I. & G.N. are 

electrified, signifying the first time electricity 

is used for power in Palestine. 

• March 20, 1915: Owned by the Palestine 

Hotel Company, the five-story, fireproof, 

$100,000 Redlands Hotel opens to great fanfare 

in downtown Palestine. 

• 1916: The East Texas League’s Palestine 

Athletics team opens its first season. They 

will later join the Lone Star League as the 

Palestine Pals and continue until 1940. 

Bottom, right: St. Mary’s Academy on 

North Tennessee Avenue in Palestine 

is considered one of the oldest private 

schools in Texas. The Sisters of Mercy 

began teaching in a frame house on 

this site in 1882. The academy closed 

for a brief period in 1948, reopened in 

1954, and closed permanently in 

1966. It was demolished in 1993 to 

make way for new buildings for the 

Sacred Heart Parish. 




• 1925: William “Bill” Bridges (1925-2003) is 

born in Palestine and later becomes a famous 

photographer for Life Magazine, Saturday 

Evening Post, and others. Bridges authors The 

Great American Chili Book in 1981 and retires to 

the Turner family home in Palestine in 1990. 

• 1926: The Palestine Daily Press begins 

publication. 

• 1927: The Fort Houston chapter of the 

Daughters of the Republic of Texas is founded. 

• September 3, 1927: Texas Governor Dan 

Moody and other dignitaries including Col. 

George Anderson Wright join 15,000 onlookers 

as the first Trinity River Bridge opens. To 

commemorate the landmark event in 

Anderson County, M. P. and Leota Edmondson 

of Palestine are married on the bridge during 

the celebration. 

• 1929: Palestine resident and major league 

pitcher Jack “Iron Man” Coombs (1882-1957) 

is named the head baseball coach at Duke 

University. Known by fans as “Colby Jack,” 

Coombs first visited Palestine during spring 

training in 1907, where he met his wife. The 

couple married in 1910 and maintained a 

home in the city for the rest of their lives. 

• June 13, 1929: Anderson County Herald and 

Palestine Daily Herald merge. 

• 1931: Estelle Massey Riddle Osborne, a resident 

of Palestine, becomes the first African- 

American nurse to earn a master’s degree in 

nursing at Columbia University and later is 

the first African-American nurse elected to the 

board of the American Nurses Association. 

• 1932: One hundred people, including Bonner 

Frizzell and Jeff Davis Reagan, John’s son, 

attend a tree planting ceremony at the site of 

the Fort Houston home of John H. Reagan. 

• March 1934: Cayuga oilfield discovered. 

• 1935: The Palestine Times-News begins 

publication. 

• 1936: KNET, East Texas’ oldest radio station, 

debuts in Palestine. In 2011, the station will 

celebrate its 75th anniversary on the air. 

• 1937: Beloved coach Robert “Bob” Knight 

(1909-1989) begins his thirty-seven-year 

career in the Palestine School System. 

• 1938: The annual Texas Dogwood Trails 

Celebration begins. 

• 1939: The last class of the original Palestine 

High School building graduates. 

• 1942: The Palestine Herald Press begins 

publication. 

• 1943: Country singer Gene Watson is born in 

Palestine. By 2011, he will garner 23 top ten 

singles and six number one hits. 

• January 25, 1943: Tobe Hooper, acclaimed 

filmmaker of such works as Texas Chainsaw 

Massacre and Poltergeist, was born on this day 

❖ 

Top: A parade along Spring Street in 

downtown Palestine, 1909. 



Middle: In 1911, the original location 

for the monument to John H. Reagan, 

shown here a century later in 2011, 

was planned for either the 

intersection of Sycamore and Avenue 

A or at the site of the Temple Opera 

House at Avenue A and Houston 

Street. After the committee in charge 

of the project was unable to raise 

funds, the Royall family sold a tract 

of land to the city for a park and its 

proceeds were given to the committee 

with the stipulation that the statue be 

placed in the new park. 


Bottom: Palestine’s Post Office and 

Federal Building, shown here in 2011, 

was built at 101 East Oak in 1912. 

Originally purchased from St. Phillips’ 

Episcopal Church for a new post office 

in the city in 1907, construction was 

completed in 1913. The property was 

later transferred to Anderson County 

for historic preservation in 1990 and is 

listed in the National Register of 

Historic Places. 


T i m e l i n e ✦ 5 3

❖ 

Top, left: Palestine’s historic Redlands 

Hotel, now The Redlands Historic Inn, 

in 2011. Opened in 1915, the hotel 

later served as the home office of the 

I. & G.N. Railroad and then the 

Missouri Pacific Lines after 1919. The 

St. Louis Browns baseball team lived 

in the hotel during spring training in 

the city in 1916 and 1917. From 

1956 to 1975, the building remained 

empty and construction of shops, 

offices and a restaurant began its 

resurrection in 1976. In 1982, the 

building was registered on the 

National Register of Historic Places 

and today includes extended stay 

apartments, overnight suites, a 

restaurant, shops and offices, and 

apartments. 


Top, right: The Anderson County 

Courthouse towers over the Palestine 

High School Marching Band at a 

parade in Palestine in the 1930s. 



Below: The entrance to the city’s 

celebrated Davey Dogwood Park, 

which includes over five and a half 

miles of paved roads that wind 

through the lush vegetation and 

towering trees of the area. At the top 

of Manley Mountain, guests will enjoy 

the inspiring views and numerous 

picnic locations. 


in Austin. In the 1950s, he lived in Palestine 

with his family, who ran a local hotel. 

• February 1944: Palestine oilman M. A. Davey 

purchases and deeds a tract of land to 

Anderson County that will become Davey 

Dogwood Park. 

• 1946: Palestine’s centennial event is dedicated 

to the memory of Mary Kate Hunter. 

• January 24, 1947: Born on this day in 

Palestine, “Super Bill” Bradley joined the 

Philadelphia Eagles for nine seasons in 1969. 

A former Palestine Wildcat player and Texas 

Longhorn star, he was considered “the most 

colorful ball player in Eagleland.” 

• 1953: African-American school, A. M. Story, 

opens in Palestine. 

• 1954: The first female is selected to serve on 

an Anderson County jury. 

• August 23, 1955: Palestine’s historic YMCA 

building is destroyed by fire. A new building 

will be dedicated in 1957. 

• 1956: Carolyn Douglin becomes the first 

Miss Anderson County. Jerry Hall, a 1952 

graduate of Palestine High School, is drafted 

by the Detroit Lions. 

• 1957: Palestine converts to direct dialing for 

telephone service. 

• 1957: Jimmy Smith becomes the first recipient 

of the Palestine Herald Press Sports Award. 

• 1959: The city’s first drive-thru bank debuts 

at First National Bank. Don Stewart, a 1955 

graduate of Palestine High School, is drafted 

by the Baltimore Colts. 

• 1961: Tennessee Colony is named the 

Outstanding Community in Texas. 

• 1962: Richard Farris, a 1958 graduate of 

Palestine High School, is drafted by the Los 

Angeles Rams. 

• September 1962: The Temple Opera House 

is razed. 

• 1964: Palestine High School wins AAA State 

Championship in football. 

• 1965: Palestine’s first major discount store, 

Gibson’s, opens. 

• May 1966: St. Mary’s Academy closes in 


• 1967: The new Palestine High School is dedicated 

by Speaker of the House and later 

Lieutenant Governor of Texas Ben Barnes. 

• December 31, 1969: The Texas and New 

Orleans Railroad Company (T&NO) makes 

its last freight run along the Texas State 

Railroad line between Palestine and Rusk. 

• September 15, 1970: The Missouri Pacific 

Hospital, formerly I. & G.N. Hospital, closes 

in Palestine. 

• December 4, 1970: Accomplished aviator 

and aeronautical engineer Benjamin “Benny” 

Odell Howard, born in Palestine in 1904, 

dies on this day. 

• 1972: One of the city’s most popular clothing 

stores, Maffitt’s Man Shop, closes after fifty years. 

• 1972: Barbara McKinney becomes the first 

female to win a city election in Palestine. 

• October 1, 1974: Palestine is converted to 

direct long distance dialing. 

• July 4, 1975: The “Bicentennial Bandstand” is 

dedicated at Palestine’s Reagan Park. 

• 1976: The Alcoa Aluminum Plant opens. It is 

no longer operational today. 


• 1977: The Texas State Railroad makes its first 

regular tourist runs along the historic 25.5- 

mile line between Palestine and Rusk. 

• 1978: The traffic lights are removed in downtown 


• 1979: Guy Brown III, a 1973 graduate of 

Palestine High School, plays in Super Bowl 

XII for the Dallas Cowboys. 

• 1980: The new Westwood High School and 

Westwood Primary School open. 

• March 21, 1985: NFL star of the 

Minnesota Vikings Adrian Lewis Peterson is 

born in Palestine. 

• November 15, 1987: A tornado races across 

Palestine and destroys A. M. Story School. 

• 1989: Palestine High School graduate and 

future Texas Senator and Agriculture 

Commissioner Todd Staples, begins life in 

public office when he is elected to the 

Palestine City Council. In 1995 he will be 

elected state representative and serve three 

terms in the Texas House before being elected 

state senator in 2000. His public service continues 

today as Agriculture Commissioner 

when, following his first election in 2006, he 

was re-elected to a second term in 2010. 

• December 1999: Local artist Ancel E. Nunn 

(born in 1928), whose work is widely exhibited, 

dies in his Palestine home and studio. 

• February 2000: Stuntman Robbie Knievel 

successfully jumps his motorcycle over an 

oncoming train at the Texas State Railroad’s 

Palestine Park location. The event draws an 

estimated ten thousand onlookers and is 

broadcast nationwide on Fox. 

• April 2002: Osjetea Briggs (born in 1917), a 

well-renowned artist, writer, photographer, 

and author of Walk in My Moccasins, dies. 

• February 2003: Palestine is one of the East Texas 

towns over which much of the debris from the 

NASA Space Shuttle Columbia disaster falls. 

• 2005: A new courthouse annex opens on 

Mallard Street in Palestine. 

• May 2006: Singer-songwriter and music producer 

T. Bone Burnett releases his album, 

True False Identity, which includes the song 

“Palestine Texas.” He performs the song live 

on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. 

• June 3, 2006: During the Heritage Flight 

Festival, sponsored by the Museum for East 

Texas Culture, John Ninomiya flies his helium 

cluster balloon as part of the “States of 

Enlightenment” project. 

• August 2008: Palestine becomes the seventeenth 

community in Texas to be named a 

GO TEXAN Certified Retirement Community 

• March 2011: The tenth annual Palestine Old 

Time Music and Dulcimer Festival is held at the 

Museum for East Texas Culture. In the same 

month, The Palestine Public Library opens in 

the Palestine Mall. The library originally outgrew 

the historic Carnegie Library building and 

was moved to the old Alamo School in 1986. 

After the roof of the library collapsed at the site 

in 2009, it was moved to the mall. 

❖ 

Top, left: The city’s YMCA building 

was built in 1903. It burned in 1955. 

The building included a dormitory, 

gymnasium, indoor swimming pool, 

and bowling lanes. 



Top, right: A memorial to those lost in 

the Space Shuttle disasters of 1986 

and 2003 rests outside the Palestine 

Police Department at North John and 

West Debard Streets, 2011. 

PHOTO BY SHELLEY DABNEY) 

Below: Balloonist John Ninomiya flies 

his helium cluster balloon during the 

Heritage Flight Festival at the 

Palestine Municipal Airport in 2006. 

T i m e l i n e ✦ 5 5

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Anderson County History Forum, DVD Series. Palestine, Texas: Palestine Public Library, 2006, 2007, 2008. 

Anderson County Genealogical Society. The Tracings, journal of the society/various volumes. accessed at www.usgwarchives.net, 2011. 

Copyright by East Texas Genealogical Society. 

Avera, Carl L. Wind Swept Land. San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1964. 

Barton, Marjorie. Leaning on a Legacy: The WPA. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2008. 

Bowman, Bob. The East Texas Sunday Drive Book. Lufkin: Best of East Texas Publishers, 1991. 

Capps, Benjamin. The Great Chiefs. Chicago: Time-Life Books Inc., 1975. 

East Texas Genealogical Society, Anderson County History, accessed at www.etgs.org/txandeson/history and www.usgwarchives.net, 2011. 

Freeman, Douglas Southall. R. E. Lee: A Biography. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1946. 

From Steamboats to Space Craft: Between the Neches and the Trinity. Anderson County Historical Survey Committee, 1971. 

Frizzell, Bonner. Some Early History of Palestine, accessed at www.inetwork-plus.com/palestine/palestine_tx_history, 2011. 

Gerland, Jonathan. Steam in the Pines: A History of the Texas State Railroad. Nacogdoches: East Texas Historical Association, 2004. 

Handbook of Texas Online, accessed at www.tshaonline.org, 2011. 

Hohes, Pauline Buck. Centennial History of Anderson County. San Antonio: The Naylor Company, 1936. 

Hunter, Mary Kate. Unpublished Notes. Special Collections: Palestine Public Library. Palestine, Texas. 

Jones, Earnest. The Old Roman Watches Over Town, accessed at www.inetwork-plus.com/palestine 

Mears, Jim, et al. A History of Palestine, 1877. East Texas Genealogical Society, accessed at www.usgwarchives.net, 2011. 

Moore, Stephen L. Taming Texas: Captain William T. Sadler’s Lone Star Service. Austin: State House Press, 2000. 

Neyland, James. The Anderson County Courthouse: A History. Palestine, Texas: Empress Books, 1992. 

Odom, Beverly, & Goff, Louise, et al. Images of America: Anderson County. Arcadia Publishing, 2010. 

Palestine Firsts. Palestine High School, accessed at www.palestinehigh.com/pal-firsts, 2011. 

Palestine Herald-Press, 1971 – 2011. 

Palestine Historical Preservation Commission. Northside Historical Driving Tour. 

Palestine Historical Preservation Commission. South Side Historical Driving Tour, 1992. 

Pictorial History of Palestine and Anderson County, Texas. Fort Worth: Landmark Publishing, Inc., 1999. 

Proctor, Ben. Not Without Honor: The Life of John H. Reagan. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1962. 

Reagan, John H. Memoirs, with Special Reference to Secession and the Civil War. Reprinted from the original 1906 edition by Aurora, 

Colorado: Bibliographical Center for Research, 2010. 

Selden, Jack K. Return: The Parker Story. Palestine, Texas: Clacton Press, 2006 

Welch, June Rayfield. People and Places in the Texas Past. Dallas: Yellow Rose Press, 1974. 

Women in Texas History. A Project of The Ruthe Winegarten Memorial Foundation for Texas Women’s History, accessed at 

www.womenintexashistory.org, 2011. 


❖ 

An aerial view of Palestine in 

the 1950s. 



SHARING THE HERITAGE 

H i s t o r i c p r o f i l e s o f b u s i n e s s e s , o r g a n i z a t i o n s , a n d 

f a m i l i e s t h a t h a v e c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a n d 

e c o n o m i c b a s e o f P a l e s t i n e 

Bailey & Foster Funeral Home, Inc. ...................................................5 8 

East Texas National Bank.................................................................6 2 

Law Offices of Charles W. Nichols, PC ...............................................6 6 

Magnum Drilling Services, Inc. .........................................................6 8 

Eilenberger’s Premium Baked Gifts ....................................................7 0 

Holiday Inn Express-Palestine ..........................................................7 2 

City of Palestine, Texas ...................................................................7 4 

A. Hugh Summers, Attorney at Law ...................................................7 6 

Law Offices of Dick Swift .................................................................7 8 

The Redlands Historic Inn ................................................................8 0 

The Museum for East Texas Culture ...................................................8 1 

McCoy Funeral Home ......................................................................8 2 

New Dimensions Salon .....................................................................8 3 

Sweet Dreams Winery, LLC ...............................................................8 4 

Palestine Independent School District .................................................8 5 

Trinity Valley Community College–Palestine ........................................8 6 

L&P Paint & Body Shop, Inc. ...........................................................8 7 

Cars of Palestine ............................................................................8 7 

SPECIAL 

THANKS TO 

Roberts Custom Painting 

S h a r i n g t h e H e r i t a g e ✦ 5 7

BAILEY & 

FOSTER 

FUNERAL 

HOME, INC. 

❖ 

Above: The stately Frank Hufsmith 

family home at 207 South Magnolia, 

where the Hassell & Foster Funeral 

Home was located in 1947. 

Right: G. G. “Gus” Hassell. 

Since the beginning of civilization, the 

custom of caring for the deceased, honoring a 

life passed, and supporting those who 

mourn has been important to humanity. 

Burial rituals were truly for the living, 

allowing those left behind an opportunity 

to grieve, accept the loss, and find 

closure. Michael D. Foster, owner of Bailey & 

Foster Funeral Home in Palestine, continues the 

family tradition. 

In fact, Bailey & Foster Funeral Home traces 

its four generation family history back to 1932, 

when G. G. “Gus” Hassell came to Palestine to 

enter into the partnership of South-Hassell 

Funeral Home. It remained South-Hassell until 

1938, when Hassell’s son-in-law, L. E. Foster 

became a partner in the firm and the name was 

changed to Hassell & Foster Funeral Home. 

(Hassell & Foster opened a funeral home in 

Athens in 1943. L. E.’s brother, Joe, managed 

the business until it was closed due to his 

declining health.) 

“Those were amazing days I understand,” 

Michael says, “when funeral homes, ours 

included, sold life insurance and ran a twentyfour 

hour ambulance service free of charge.” 

In February 1948 the Fosters opened the 

Grapeland facility at West Chestnut Street; 


later moving to a new location in 2009 on 

Highway 287 bypass. The newest location 

features full chapel seating with all-modern 

electronic video playing capabilities. This 

feature allows Bailey & Foster to display family 

photographs and other memorabilia, and to 

make a video about the loved one’s life. Those 

paying their respects can view the video at the 

service; and the family has the cherished DVD 

to take home with them. 

L. E. Foster’s son, David, joined the firm 

in 1966, working alongside his father. In 1985, 

Thomas W. Bailey, who was the third generation 

owner of Bailey Funeral Home, merged 

with Hassell & Foster to become Bailey & 

Foster Funeral Home. Michael came on board 

❖ 

Above: (From left to right) H. G. 

“Cotton” Jeffus, Rose Nemer, David E. 

Foster, L. E. Foster, G. G. “Gus” 

Hassell, Riley G. Wilkerson, Harry E. 

Clark, and James T. Petty. 

Left: Wade Streetman and 

L. E. Foster. 


❖ 

Left: Thomas W. Bailey. 

Right: David E. Foster. 

with the firm in 1994, becoming actively 

involved in the business. Six years later, he 

became the sole owner of Bailey & Foster 

Funeral Home and nearby Roselawn Park 

Cemetery. Bailey & Foster has been at its 

present location for sixty-three years. During 

this time, a chapel was added at Grapeland 

and Roselawn Park perpetual care cemetery 

was developed. 

It is important to Michael that the 

personalized service begun earlier by his 

ancestors continues. He has expanded 

the business to keep up-to-date with 

modern day traditions, still honoring the 

wishes of the deceased and respecting the 

desires of families. 

Bailey & Foster has always taken pride 

in providing families with many options to 

honor their loved ones. With so many 

choices available, its staff can customize a 

fitting tribute to reflect the life and passions 

of each individual. Today, funeral and 

memorial services can be as varied as the 

individual they represent. 

A full service funeral home, Bailey & Foster 

today features a chapel, selection room of 

caskets and garments, three state rooms for 

visitation, and perpetual care cemetery. If 

cremation is desired, the funeral home will 

provide that service. The staff takes the time 

necessary with each family it serves to “get to 

know” their loved one in order to better plan a 

fitting tribute, and design or pick out a flat 

bronze grave marker. 

No matter how a family chooses to remember 

their loved one, there are many things to 

consider in planning a service. Michael says that 

it is important to explain the choices such as 


visitation—whether there is visitation or not? 

Will there be a viewing? Or memorial service? 

Maybe the family, for whatever reason, only 

wants a graveside service. Whatever the 

family’s wishes, Bailey & Foster will work 

with the family to lend the right touch in a 

caring manner. 

Other options may include a chapel service. 

It may be that the family requests the service be 

held in the deceased’s member church. The 

family may decide on a public committal or a 

private one. There may be special gatherings, 

such as a wake followed by a reception. 

Residents of Palestine may select a cemetery or 

memorial garden of their choice as a final resting 

place. Or, they may take advantage of Bailey & 

Foster’s Roselawn Park perpetual care cemetery, 

which provides yearround maintenance of 

grounds, markers and burial sites. 

If cremation is desired (as opposed to burial), 

Bailey & Foster will see that the procedure is 

carried out with dignity. Families, then, may 

select an urn for storing the cremains or another 

means of distribution, such as scattering or 

burial. In any case, the funeral home provides 

one-on-one detail to make the tribute and final 

decisions as dignified as possible. 

Bailey & Foster’s compassionate nature during 

difficult times speaks volumes about the quality of 

services the funeral home has provided families in 

the Palestine area for over four generations. “That 

caring, personalized touch has contributed greatly 

to our reputation as a trusted neighbor and friend. 

It is also responsible for our longevity in the 

funeral home industry,” concludes Michael. 

❖ 

Above: Michael Foster. 

Below: Bailey & Foster Funeral 

Home’s current location, 2010. 


EAST TEXAS 

NATIONAL 

BANK 

East Texas National Bank, like many other 

full service financial institutions of today, traces 

its development to community investors and 

enthusiastic area supporters who realized the 

need for such a facility in the early 1900s. 

The Campbell State Bank was founded 

February 11, 1911, with the help of former 

Texas Governor T. M. Campbell, J. E. Angly, 

T. M. Campbell, Jr., and forty-three other 

investors. They invested their money, 

(a combined $100,000) along with their 

business expertise, to launch the bank. Not 

only was the bank their idea, but they had 

the support of the entire community to 

expand as need dictated. 

P. W. Ezell was the first president of 

Campbell State Bank, although he was not 

active in the day-to-day operations. He 

died in 1914, and Governor Campbell 

was elected to replace him. By the 

time Campbell assumed leadership, the 

nation was already in the throes of an 

economic depression. 

It was easily understood why Anderson 

County was hard hit with economic woes. 

It was primarily dependent on corn and 

cotton as cash crops. In fact, the area was 

so depressed that cotton sold for ten cents 

per pound, and two year-old yearlings 

were only bringing eight dollars a head. 

Within ten years after opening, the 

bank’s capital totaled $150,000; and it 

merged with Guaranty State Bank. In 1924, 

it was chartered as a national bank under 

the name it bears today—East Texas 

National Bank (ETNB). 

When T. M. Campbell, Jr., joined the 

army as a commissioned officer in 1917, 

Governor Campbell sold his shares of stock 

to Angly and his associates. 

Immediately Angly was selected to 

succeed him, eventually seeing the bank 

through The Great Depression, until his 

retirement in 1946. He continued as 

chairman of the board, however, until 

his death in 1953. During his tenure, 

he displayed exemplary leadership, 

expanding the bank into one of areawide 

services. According to company 

archives, he “did more to promote the 

bank’s growth and development than 

anyone had previously…” Upon his retirement 

and subsequent death, N. C. Woolverton, Sr., 

succeeded him. 

With the merger and increasing population 

(due largely to job growth and influx of people 

in Palestine because of the International Great 

Northern Railroad) capital increased to more 

than $900,000 with assets totaling $11 million 

by the mid-1960s. 

Because of financial growth, the first bank 

was replaced by a new building in 1966 at 


207 West Spring Street in downtown Palestine. 

A building committee comprised of the board 

of directors, included John D. Saunders, 

Henry S. Davenport, Jr., W. Lamar Hamilton, 

R. L. Kenderdine, Jr., M. M. Rogers, and 

Howard T. Winkler. 

ETNB has had the following presidents 

since 1911: P.W. Ezell (1911-1914), Governor 

T. M. Campbell (1914-1917), J. E. Angly 

(1924-1946), Woolverton (1946-1967), John 

Saunders (1967-1975), Cad E. Williams 

(1975-1983), Joe Crutcher (1983-2007), Jerry 

L. Nowlin (2007-2011), and Cliff Bomer 

(2011-present). 

Through their leadership and dedication 

to the community, ETNB continued to grow 

in Anderson County through the years. To add 

to that growth, branches were purchased in 

Mexia (1992) and Huntsville (1996). Today, 

ETNB boasts over $130 million in assets with 

an additional $65 million managed by its 

trust department. 


Paralleling the early days, ETNB is a 

conservative institution that continues to 

provide quality banking service to its 

customers. Those services have expanded 

over the years to include commercial and 

consumer loans, real estate loans, business 

and personal deposit services, trust services 

and online banking. 

Bomer says, “The East Texas National Bank 

and its employees continue to assist businesses 

and individuals with their financial needs—just 

as it did in 1911. 

“Our mission is, ‘To be the premier bank in 

the communities we serve by building longterm 

customer relationships and providing 

superior customer service.’” 



LAW OFFICES OF CHARLES W. NICHOLS, PC 

Charles W. Nichols grew up with a family 

tradition of hard work and the pursuit of 

excellence. As a young man, that tradition 

served him well. He graduated among the top 

ten of his class at Palestine High School and 

lettered as a four-year varsity football team 

captain. Subsequently, he graduated Magna 

Cum Laude from Texas A&M University and 

decided to pursue a career in law. 

Nichols worked with the Harris County 

Sheriff’s Department as a bailiff in the civil 

courts division while attending night classes at 

the University of Houston Law School. There, 

he developed his passion for trial work. 

Working with the best trial lawyers in the 

state, Nichols learned the true meaning of 

Proverbs 31:18; “Speak up for those who cannot 

speak for themselves, speak for the rights of all 

who are destitute.” When he graduated law 

school in 1979, he knew his calling was where 

he grew up. 

Opening his practice in 1980, Nichols 

became associated with some of the great trial 

lawyers with whom he had become acquainted, 

and tried many injured railroad workers’ 

cases. Two years later, with his mother, Helen, 

he bought the building at 617 East Lacy Street 

directly across from the historic Anderson 

County Courthouse. 

During a career of more than thirty years, 

Nichols, individually, and in association with 

co-counsel, secured jury verdicts and 

settlements for clients for substantial amounts. 

He expanded his practice into every aspect of 

personal injury and civil trial law including 

automobile and eighteen-wheeler accidents, 

product liability cases, professional negligence, 

aviation accidents, serious personal injury, 

wrongful death, and class actions, all with the 

same exceptional results for his clients. 

Nichols became board certified in Personal 

Injury Trial Law in 1992 and in Civil Trial 

Law in 1993 by the Texas Board of Legal 

Specialization. Throughout his career, he 

has drawn upon his father, Dr. Charles E. 

Nichols’ credo: “What matters most to people 

are results.” 

Nichols is licensed to practice before the 

United States Supreme Court and the United 

States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and 

has an active practice in many of the Texas State 

and Federal district courts. His practice extends 

throughout the United States, utilizing local 

counsel and pro hac vice admissions. The Law 

Offices of Charles W. Nichols, PC, is a friendly 

and accessible local law firm that obtains big 

city results for its clients. 

Nichols continues to serve the community as 

a lay minister, lay reader, and vestry member 

of his church, and as past president and 

board member of the Palestine YMCA, where he 

coached his sons’ baseball and basketball 

programs for twelve years. 


Nichols Professional Building, with its 

distinctive blue awnings, is located on the north 

side of the Square. The building sits on lots 

six and seven of the eight original blocks as 

recorded in the town plat on September 28, 

1848. Originally, the site was occupied by the 

Osceola Hotel at Perry and Poplar Streets, where 

General Sam Houston enjoyed whittling and 

holding forth about the glories of the Republic 

of Texas. 

Successive structures at the site housed law 

offices, a dry goods store, and in the 1870s, 

the International Saloon, site of an infamous 

shootout. After 1885, with the exception of 

the decade from 1910–1920, the lots lay vacant 

until the late 1940s, when the current structure 

was erected as a grocery store. The building 

served a variety of retail businesses until 1982, 

when it was remodeled into the current office 

suites. Nichols also maintains his “trial ready” 

room at his residence in the landmark red brick 

Nichols family home place. The Nichols law 

offices are fully computerized; utilizing online 

libraries, e-filing of court documents, digital 

document production and searching, and e-mail 

communications, making it possible to operate 

paperless. Nevertheless, personal attention and 

client results are Nichols’ uncompromising 

standard. Nichols can be found on the Internet 

at www.texas-trial-lawyer-nichols.net. 

❖ 

Above: The red brick landmark 

Nichols family home. 

Below: Nichols Professional Building. 


MAGNUM 

DRILLING 

SERVICES, INC. 

Barry Bryant knows firsthand, the meaning of 

Plato’s famous quotation: “Necessity is the mother 

of invention.” 

In 1995, Bryant had an epiphany for a 

process that would speed the drilling process, 

and changed careers to form a business to do 

just that. 

Holding a management position with Baker 

Hughes, he decided to leave corporate America 

behind and take his idea to market. He founded 

Magnum Drilling Services, Inc., in the Rocky 

Mountain area, doing directional drilling 

from the back of his pick-up truck. It was 

not long until he opened an office in Minden, 

Louisiana, and began providing downhole 

mud motors to increase the speed and bit 

power of the gas and oil drilling applications. 

Not long after that, Magnum became the first 

company to introduce mud motors to the East 

Texas oilpatch. 

On September 11, 2001, Bryant was meeting 

with his brother-in-law and sister, Ben and Jo 

Ellan Walley in Minden, Louisiana, to offer Ben a 

position with Magnum as the growth had made it 

necessary to bring in some management in East 

Texas. After careful thought Ben accepted the job 

of operations manager for Magnum and Ben and 

Jo Ellan moved to Lake Palestine from the coast 

of Alabama. Ben had an engineering background 

as well as management but the oil industry was 

completely new to him. Several months later after 

getting settled in their new home Jo Ellan began 

working for Magnum also, as its comptroller, 

coming from a long background in accounting 

and comptroller positions. 

In 2003, Magnum manufactured its first mud 

motor in its shop on Route 645, just outside of 

Palestine. It now has its motor manufacturing 

facility in Conroe, Texas, and maintains an 

entire fleet of motors. 

❖ 

Where it began. 

Bryant’s expertise and innovative techniques 

have continued to grow the company for the 

past fifteen years, making it a single source 

solution for cost-effective drilling. Today, 

Magnum offers oilpatch rentals, including 

downhill motors and Magnadrift, as well as 

consulting services in the United States and 

Central America. 

In July 2001, when there was opportunity for 

the Teledrift service in East Texas, Magnum 

purchased the East Texas and North Louisiana 

distributorship. Magnum became well-known 

for its twenty-four hour service and the Teledrift 

distributorship in the coming years. 

In early 2009 when the oil industry took 

a downturn, Magnum was at the forefront 

of developing its own survey tool, the 

“Magnadrift,” which currently has a patent 

pending. Magnadrift is designed to speed 

drilling by providing almost instantaneous 

surface recording of hole deviations without 

making round trips or running wire lines. The 

unit, operated by rig personnel, is a user 

friendly device measuring well-bore angle in 

one-half degree or one-degree increments and 

relaying the information to an electronic 

recording device on the drill floor via telemetry. 

Magnadrift can be used for a survey at many 


times during the drilling process, even between 

pipe connections. 

Magnum’s drilling consultants have years 

of experience and knowledge of downhole 

drilling, providing competitive pricing in 

Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 

Texas, Wyoming, and Mississippi. Magnum 

consultants are currently teaching Belize Natural 

Energy of Belize in Central America how to 

drill and produce its own gas and oil wells. 

Magnum boasts a long list of long-time 

customers. Among them are oilpatch operators 

like EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., Chevron 

USA, Inc, Exxon Mobil, Goodrich Petroleum 

Corporation of Louisiana, and Chesapeake 

Operating, Inc. 

Jo Ellan proudly says 

that her brother, Barry, “Was 

key in getting eighteen 

month old Baby Jessica out 

of a well in Midland in 

October 1987.” Jessica had 

fallen into an abandoned 

well and was there for fiftynine 

hours before her 

rescue as the world watched 

on television. 

As time permits, Ben 

and Jo Ellan remain 

involved in community 

activities. Magnum is also 

very supportive with 

monetary contributions 

for good causes within the 

community and world. 

St Jude Hospital has 

a wing partially built 

by Magnum and Barry. 

Jo Ellan is active 

in Harvey Woman’s 

Club and is currently 

serving as treasurer. 

Ben and Jo Ellan 

are members of 

First United Methodist 

Church of Palestine. 

The rolling hills and 

the beauty of East 

Texas have enticed Ben 

and Jo Ellan to make 

this their final home 

on earth and they plan to support and be 

involved in community projects in Palestine 

whenever they can. 

Magnum is located at 5423 West Oak 

Street in Palestine, and maintains offices in 

Conroe and Midland, Texas; Minden, 

Louisiana; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and 

Sheridan, Wyoming. The company continues 

its dedication to drilling operations and 

providing cost-effective service to the oil and 

gas industry. The Palestine office is the 

accounting headquarters for all of Barry’s 

companies, which include a fishing lodge in 

British Columbia, a sporting goods store, 

and others. 


EILENBERGER’S 

PREMIUM 

BAKED GIFTS 

❖ 

Top, left: F. H. Eilenberger. 

Top, right: This early 1900s 

photograph shows one of F. H. 

Eilenberger’s employees ready to 

deliver bread by horse-drawn wagon. 

By the 1930s, the business had a fleet 

of fifteen to twenty delivery trucks. 

Opposite, top: The Eilenberger bake 

shop/plant. 

Opposite, bottom: Eilenberger 

Bakery’s world famous fruit cake 

with tin. 

The contributions of German immigrant, 

Frederick Herman (F. H.) Eilenberger (1878- 

1959) made the rich history of Palestine, Texas, 

even sweeter in the East Texas Community. 

The Eilenbergers left their native homeland 

in Leipzig, Germany in 1881, bringing with 

them, two things: Family memories and 

treasured recipes for fruitcake. 

The family, including four-year-old F. H. 

Eilenberger, set sail to pursue a dream of life 

in the United States, settling in Palestine. 

Seventeen years later, after working in bakeries 

in Fort Worth and Galveston, he founded the 

world-famous bakery bearing the family name. 

American Home Bakery, the original 

establishment, burned in 1915; however, F. H. 

continued to operate at a temporary site until he 

rebuilt at 512 North John Street three years later. 

He delivered bread by horse drawn wagons until 

1920; and the business eventually evolved into 

a wholesale operation with a fleet of fifteen to 

twenty trucks during the 1930s and 1940s. 

Palestine proved to be an excellent location 

because it was the county seat of Anderson 

County and a major stopping point for the 

International and Great Northern Railroad. 

In 1949, F. H. sold the business to his sons, 

Fred and Herman, and his son-in-law, Claude 

Westerman. Realizing that man could not live on 

bread alone, the bakery began producing a 

variety of other baked goods, including fruitcake, 

using the family recipe brought from Germany, 

which proved to be a successful venture. 

Eilenberger’s switched its primary product 

from bread to fruitcakes in 1968 because of 

increasing pressure from automated competitors. 

In 1978, Tom Broyles, a fifth-generation 

Texan and the great-grandson of Texas Governor 

Thomas Mitchell Campbell, saved the bakery 

from closure. Tom owned it until 1993; and 

from 1993-1995, he managed it for Silverado 

Foods of Tulsa, Oklahoma. During Tom’s tenure 

in 1980, the Texas Pecan Cake and the World 

Famous Fruitcake earned Monde International 

Gold Medal Awards at the World Food Selection 

in Brussels. 

Centennial Foods of Atlanta, Georgia bought 

the bakery in 1997, but closed the doors five 

years later. That’s when local residents Terresa 

and Stephen Smith became the owners and 

operators of the bakery in 2000. Terresa was 

dedicated to continuing the bakery’s resilient 

history and breathed new life into it. She was 

well on her way to making the bakery a success 

when she became ill and passed away in 

2008. Upon her passing, Southern Fulfillment 

Services (SFS), LLC, acquired the 111-year-old 

Eilenberger Bakery in October 2009. 


SFS, headquartered out of Vero Beach, 

Florida, already owns national catalogers Hale 

Groves and Pittman & Davis, two established 

brands offering citrus, specialty fruit and 

gourmet food gift selections. 

The bakery produces thousands of fruit and 

nut cakes during the holiday season; and, 

during the weeks prior to Christmas, ships up to 

5,000-7,000 cakes a day. 

To support Eilenberger’s strategic marketing 

efforts, it maintains a continuously updated website 

at www.eilenbergerbakey.com, distributes as 

many as 300,000 catalogs, and advertises in 

magazines and newspapers around the country. 

Sarah Pryor, current general manager and 

spokesperson, states that much of the business 

comes from word-of-mouth. Local residents purchase 

an assortment of baked goods from the 

display cases, or pre-order for special occasions 

throughout the year. In addition, patrons may 

savor a variety of made-to-order sandwiches 

served on Eilenberger’s gourmet breads. 

Eilenberger’s Bakery is the oldest bakery 

in Texas, still operating at the same location, 

and continually is named “Best Bakery” by 

local residents. 

Because of its reputation for baked goods, 

travelers have been known to make side trips to 

the historic Palestine landmark for tours of the 

bakery during the springtime while enjoying the 

annual Dogwood Trail Festivities. 

Pryor says that she is proud of the 

Eilenberger heritage and knows that it is the 

customer today that ensures the success of 

Eilenberger’s Bakery tomorrow. 


HOLIDAY INN 

EXPRESS- 

PALESTINE 

While the Holiday Inn brand has long been 

the benchmark by which other hotels are 

measured, it is Holiday Inn Express–Palestine 

that continually wins kudos for its facility. 

Patel, a longtime hotelier, guides the direction 

of the ultramodern and tastefully decorated 

establishment. He believes that Holiday Inn 

Express-Palestine’s success can be attributed 

to the personal attention to every guest whether 

they are vacationers, business travelers, or local 

townspeople attending a meeting. He takes 

pride in hotel and guest satisfaction, making it 

the number one priority. To do that, he relies on 

continuous in-service training for all employees 

to ascertain that all guests are treated 

courteously and efficiently from the time they 

enter the parking lot to the time they walk out 

the front door. 

In fact, the sixty-two guest room hotel, nestled 

in the Pineywoods of East Texas, has been 

named by the Palestine Herald-Press as the 

Best Hotel in the area. Voting on that honor 

were guests and residents alike. If that was not 

enough, Holiday Inn Express-Palestine received 

the “Six Continents Hotels 2000 Newcomer 

of the Year” award—just a year after opening 

its doors. As a 2009 re-launch hotel, the 

hotel achieved the number one status for 

quality excellence and guest satisfaction. The 

Intercontinental Hotels Group (parent company) 

also tapped it with its highest rating— 

“Excellent Quality Performer—for two consecutive 

years and the 2010 Best Renovation Award!” 

The list of accolades is endless: The East Texas 

Tourism Association selected it as its Fam 

Tour award for first place, “Best Property on 

the East Texas Motorcoach Fam Tour.” These 

honors, according to General Manager Jim Patel, 

“reflects the hotel’s continuing efforts to provide 

local, regional, and national business and leisure 

clients with the finest mid-scale luxury hotel in 

Palestine, Texas.” 

The hotel’s impressive guest rooms feature a 

thirty-two-inch flat screen television, microwave, 

refrigerator, iron, ironing board, coffee maker, 

two dual-line speakerphones with voice mail and 

data ports, and a comfortable work desk with 

ergonomic leather chair. In fact, the business 

guest will welcome the special business center 

featuring with everything one needs to continue 

“business as usual” when away from home. The 

hotel is committed to extraordinary guest service, 

assuring safety and satisfaction. 


Rooms have premium quality mattresses to 

assure a peaceful night’s sleep. Double queen 

rooms are spacious for vacationing families and 

family reunions. These double queen rooms are 

attractive and comfortable and feature all the 

standard amenities for which the Holiday Inn 

Express-Palestine is noted. Handicap rooms are 

available upon request. 

After a long drive or a tiring airport layover, 

guests may pamper themselves in one of the 

hotel’s luxury Jacuzzi suites or the five-person 

infrared sauna. A luxurious king suite is 

complete with pillow-top mattress, contributing 

to the welcome slumber of weary travelers. 

Exercise enthusiasts may enjoy a workout in 

the hotel’s fitness center featuring state-of-theart 

exercise equipment, a luxurious soak in a hot 

tub, or an invigorating swim in the outdoor 

pool. Guests are invited to make the shift 

from day to night with “Unwind”—a Holiday 

Inn Express-Palestine evening ritual. It is the 

time to relax after an active day or gear up for an 

energized evening. 

Visitors to Palestine will find the historical 

Texas town inviting. The hotel is located at 1030 

East Palestine Avenue (Highway 79 East), just 

minutes away from a vast array of attractions. 

The city is the birthplace of over twenty famous 

Texans who molded the state through education, 

religion and industry. It is dotted with Victorian 

homes, historic landmarks, nature, recreation, 

and entertainment attractions, including the 

Texas State Railroad, Davey Dogwood Park, and 

Museum for East Texas Culture, Howard House 

Museum, and the National Scientific Balloon 

Facility. Shopping venues include antique shops 

and restaurants of all ethnicities. Seasonal events 

are the Hot Pepper Festival, Rough Rider 

Reenactment Camps, river canoe races, and the 

nationally acclaimed Dogwood Trails Festival. 

There is a lot to do and see in Palestine. 

In 2010, the world’s best-known hotel chain 

celebrated its fifty-eighth anniversary. 


❖ 

CITY OF 

PALESTINE, 

TEXAS 

Top: The dedication of the 

Rotary Clock. 

Bottom: The entrance to Willow Creek 

Business Park. 

Continuing the city’s long-held tradition of 

forward thinking and entrepreneurship, the city 

of Palestine, today, is experiencing a surge of 

economic energy and growth. 

The city of Palestine has a municipal form of 

government dedicated to equality, justice, and 

the well-being of its people. Its focus is on 

public safety, code enforcement, and maintenance 

of its infrastructure and master plan. 

It goes to great lengths to make the city a 

great place to grow—both businesses and residents. 

Palestine is a Main Street City, Certified 

Retirement Community, Preserve America 

Community, and Certified Local Government. 

Along with Mayor Bob Herrington, the sixmember 

council includes Adam Harding, 

Vernon Denman, Jr., Vickey L. Chives, James H. 

Yelverton, Andrea Baird, and Steve Presley. 

A portion of sales tax revenue is earmarked 

for the Palestine Economic Development 

Corporation (EDC) to fund growth and 

expansion of existing businesses. In addition, 

the city provides incentives for large residential 

and commercial development, as well as new 

industry. Maintaining updated infrastructure is 

one way the city is ready to welcome new 

growth. EDC’s vision is to help Palestine be a 

growing, healthy community with a diversified 

economic base to enhance the quality of life. 

Its mission is to provide the leadership and 

resources to successfully compete for jobs and 

enhance community wealth. 

Within the six-county, 50-mile radius of 

Palestine, the total labor force exceeds 100,000; 

and the unemployment rate in Anderson 

County alone, is a low 5.7 percent. The median 

household income within a thirty-mile radius 

is $37,410; and combined property tax rate in 

the areas of city of Palestine, Anderson County, 

Palestine ISD, Westwood ISD, and Trinity Valley 

Community College are $2.47.438/$100. 

Not relying on its rich history, but to draw 

upon that history to further today’s growth, 

Palestine, as a Main Street City, is seeing many 

properties in its extensive historic districts 

renovated and restored to their Victorian glory. 

Many of those structures are now occupied by 

boutiques and other unique businesses that 

attract tourists. 

When a State of Texas budget shortfall 

threatened to close the 120-plus-year-old Texas 

State Railroad in 2006, innovative, critical 

thinkers in Palestine suggested the development 

of the Texas State Railroad Authority, headed 

by representatives of the city of Palestine and 

the city of Rusk (both terminal cities for the 

railroad), to manage the railroad and place it 

under private operation, to increase riders, and 

expand tourist traffic. 

Rail was one of the earliest forms of 

transport, but today, I-45 and I-20 are within 

fifty-five miles of Palestine, making it an ideal 

location for business and industry that must 

engage in transporting goods to and from the 

area. It is also served by commercial air service 

at Pounds Field in nearby Tyler. Connections 

from Pounds Field to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) 

International Airport, 120 miles away, make it 

ideal for travel anywhere. 


❖ 

Before and after: The rehabilitation of 

Main Street in Palestine. 

Palestine pride is evident in many 

areas of the city. Within the past 

year, three additional hotel chains 

have opened properties. Wal-Mart has 

invested in two distribution centers 

and a superstore, attracting customers 

from a multi-county market area. 

Lowe’s, Applebee’s, Office Depot, and 

other national retailers have seen growth 

opportunities in Palestine. 

Serving more than 100,000 people in 

Anderson and surrounding counties, 

Palestine Regional Medical Center 

and Palestine Regional Rehabilitation 

Hospital provide facilities with 150 

beds, and highly skilled staffs of 

healthcare professionals. Additionally, 

two more modern medical centers 

opened in 2009-2010. 

Along with Trinity Valley Community 

College, the opening of a new campus 

for University of Texas at Tyler, Palestine 

Campus; a branch of Texas State 

Technical College, and the beginning 

of an early college-high school program at 

Palestine Regional Educational Partnership 

(PREP) Center, Palestine is established as a 

regional education center that sees students 

from pre-K through baccalaureate and some 

master’s programs. 

The City of Palestine, Palestine Economic 

Development Corporation, and Palestine Area 

Chamber of Commerce work together to 

increase awareness of the natural beauty, 

high quality of life, and vibrant, economic 

opportunities that are Palestine, Texas. 


A. HUGH SUMMERS, ATTORNEY AT LAW 

As a youth, Alfred Hughes “Hugh” Summers 

admired his uncle, Alfred Holt Summers, so 

much that he modeled his own career after him. 

His uncle was involved in an airplane 

accident in the Marines and became a 

quadriplegic. Being confined to a wheelchair 

prompted him to study law at the University of 

Texas School of Law. He opened a law practice 

at 115 West Spring Street in 1953, and Hugh 

joined him twenty years later. Hugh frequently 

accompanied his uncle to the courthouse, 

helping carry him up the steps when he was 

doing research or had a court date. 

“Law, then, was nothing like it is today,” 

says Hugh. “When I was in high school, I did 

research helping Uncle Alfred. It was during 

that time that he bought his first Xerox copy 

machine, only the second one in Palestine. Prior 

to that, we used carbon paper. Divorce decrees 

were two legal-size pages long, not the twenty 

plus letter-size today.” 

Alfred bought his first Mag Card word 

processor whereby one magnetic card stored 

one page of typing. Later, that was replaced by 

an IBM System Six word processor costing 

about $22,000. “Even then,” he adds, “it could 

not process statistical information.” 

Eventually, Alfred bought a red, batterypowered 

cart enabling him to drive his wheel 

chair from home to office. 

The Clifford Huffsmiths, Hugh’s maternal 

great grandparents, came to Palestine with the 

railroad in the 1800s, and lived in the house 

where Bailey and Foster Funeral Home is 

located today. His paternal great grandparents 

moved from Tennessee to the house Hugh 

and his wife, Ahnise, live in, built in 1896 by 

F. C. Bailey. Hugh’s father, F. Bailey Summers; 

mother, Christine Hughes Summers; grandparents, 

Elbert Joseph Summers and Bessie Bailey 

Summers, also lived in the house. 

Hugh earned a Bachelor’s degree in physics 

from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, started 

law school and served as a radar maintenance 

and communications officer in the Air Force. 

He completed his Juris Doctor degree at the 

University of Houston Bates College of Law. 

Hugh joined his uncle’s practice in 1973. 

A year later, they moved to 111 West Spring 

Street, the office where Hugh continues to 

practice. Alfred passed away in 1991 after a law 

career spanning thirty-eight years. His wife was 

Estill Gilliam Summers. 

Hugh and Ahnise, met while attending 

Austin College. They married while he was in 

law school, and had two sons, Alan, who resides 

in Houston, and Ric, who passed away of cancer 

while living in Beaumont with his wife Kim 

Hudgins Summers, now of Richmond, Texas. 

Like many young attorneys in Palestine, 

Hugh took on clients with all types of legal 

issues including real estate, criminal, family law, 

estates, probate, and commercial matters. 

The Summers family has always been community-oriented. 

In addition to managing his 

rental properties, Hugh has served on many 

city boards, most recently as chairman of the 

Palestine Landmarks Commission. He works 

with the Boy Scouts having served as cubmaster, 

scoutmaster, district chairman, district 


commissioner, roundtable commissioner, council 

activities chairman, and chair of merit badge 

subjects at the Boy Scout National jamborees 

since 1985. He was chairman of the cinematography 

merit badge group at the 2010 100th 

Anniversary National Boy Scout Jamboree at 

Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia. 

He is active in Rotary International, where 

he served as president of the Palestine Rotary 

Club in 1999-2000, district governor in 2003-04, 

as well as on various committees, zone and 

district positions. Ahnise is also involved in 

many civic activities. 

Hugh helps Scouts and Rotary youth make 

cardboard boats and cars for riding, pumping 

the hand gang car on abandoned railroad 

tracks; shoots photographs and videos around 

town and from his plane; works with youth at 

his observatory; and enlightens them about the 

solar panels on his office building. 


LAW OFFICES OF 

DICK SWIFT 

❖ 

Clockwise, starting from top: 

Trial lawyers, Ernest Swift and Dick 

Swift (right). 

Dick with Speaker of the House 

“Gib” Lewis. 

State Representative Swift 

debating legislation. 

Judge E. V. Swift (1885-1949). 

Over a century ago, E. V. Swift graduated 

from the University of Tennessee School of Law 

and became a practicing attorney in Palestine, 

setting a precedent for his heirs. E. V. was 

county judge when the County Courthouse was 

dedicated in 1914. He was only twenty-nine. 

Following in his footsteps, his son Richard 

“Ernest” Swift and grandson Richard “Dick” 

Swift made law their vocations. 

Dick completed 

his education 

(The University 

of Texas at Austin 

and South Texas 

College of Law), 

in 1978, was 

admitted to the 

Bar, and began 

practicing law 

with his father. 

He practices before all state 

Courts, the U. S. Court of 

Appeals, Fifth Circuit; and 

several Federal District 

Courts. In 1990, he became 

board certified in personal 

injury trial law by the Texas 

Board of Legal Specialization. 

In 1980, the practice 

became Swift, Swift & 

Lawrence, and they renovated 

and moved into the former 

Kelly Grocery Store 

located at 105 East Main 

Street. Eventually, the firm 

was comprised strictly of father and son, and 

was known again as Swift & Swift for more 

than twenty years. The two men shared an 

unrelenting commitment to excellence in every 

aspect of the practice of law and together laid 

the foundation for a legacy of excellence that 

persists to this day. 

Swift & Swift quickly became known in East 

Texas as a formidable opponent, with many 

record setting verdicts and 

settlements. Then, as today, 

the firm takes on large 

corporations including the 

railroads, General Motors, 

Walmart, Chrysler, and big 

insurance companies on 

behalf of local residents 

and businesses. 

The partnership was dissolved 

as Ernest contemplated 

retirement and The Law 

Offices of Dick Swift was 

born. Dick remodeled and 


elocated his offices to part of the old Coca Cola 

Bottling Plant at 1222 North Link Street in 

Palestine where he remains today. 

In 2001 former District Attorney Jeff 

Herrington became a partner in the firm and 

it was renamed Swift & Herrington. Although 

their partnership was dissolved in 2007, they 

still continue to work together on complicated 

civil litigation. 

Today, Dick specializes in civil litigation 

with special emphasis on personal injury trial 

law. For the past thirty-one years, he has 

been involved in hundreds of jury trials, 

appeared before many Texas Appellate Courts, 

Federal Appellate Courts, and the Texas 

Supreme Court. 

Dick has been active in civic and community 

service and professional associations and 

held many prestigious positions in the community. 

He is a member of the Anderson County 

Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, Texas Trial 

Lawyers Association (serving as Director in 

1987); Southern Trial Lawyers Association; 

American Association for Justice; and the 

Million Dollar Advocates Forum. 

Swift’s family tradition of community leadership 

and involvement began early, He was 

elected County Attorney and later elected to 

represent District 11 in the Texas State House 

of Representatives from 1988-1991. He and 

wife, Susan, were both National Delegates to 

the Democratic Convention in 1996, where 

they served as McNeil-Lehrer Hour Internet 

reporters. They have both been elected Chair of 

the County Democratic Party. 

A former deacon at First Christian Church, 

Dick and his father, Ernest, taught the 

“Judge E. V. Swift Men’s Bible Study” class. This 

class was founded by and presided over by 

Judge Swift. 

During his tenure as a board member for the 

Memorial Hospital Foundation, a new state-ofthe-art 

hospital was built in 1996. 

Dick was the founding president of the 

Trinity Basin Conservation Foundation (TBCF), 

whose mission is to improve the quality of life, 

economic sustainability and ecological integrity 

of the Trinity River Basin. 

An avid outdoorsman, Dick serves as a duck 

guide at The Big Woods on the Trinity, and 

enjoys working with his Labrador retrievers. 

Excellence, honesty, value, hard work and 

personal service were the cornerstones of the 

Swift legacy that began in 1914, and they 

continue to be the principles that guide the 

Law Offices of Dick Swift today. 

❖ 

Above: Swift at work in his library. 

Below: Dick with one of his 

Labrador retrievers. 


THE REDLANDS 

HISTORIC INN 

In the early twentieth 

century, Palestine’s citizens 

realized the importance of 

providing lodging for people 

passing or visiting the city 

on the International & Great 

Northern (I&GN). 

It was 1914 when original 

stockholders rushed to build 

the brown brick building. Its 

unique design featured a 

metal cornice at the roof line, 

while stone trimmed the windows. 

Considered one of the 

most modern constructions of 

its era, and built to withstand the challenges of 

time, its walls are made of concrete, masonry 

blocks, sheetrock, and metal studs—evident in 

the structure today. 

Oxen delivered sand for the concrete from 

the Trinity River thirty miles away. Built at the 

same time as the County Court House, it shared 

Italian artisans who installed hexagon tile to 

both buildings. 

The hotel remained profitable until 

WWI. From 1919-1955, it was leased as the 

General Offices for I&GN, (later the Missouri 

Pacific Railroad). 

The once-thriving hotel and restaurant 

complete its three-thousand-square-foot 

ballroom and handsome hardwood floors sat 

vacant until 1976. It was no longer sufficient for 

a booming railroad with thousands of miles of 

tracks. That is when Norman Mollard, Jr., his 

wife Jean, and Robert Laughlin, had a vision. 

Their dream was to remodel it, and 

eventually, transform it into a revenuegenerating, 

multi-use structure. They were up 

to the challenge, but knew it would be a longterm 

project. 

They breathed new life into the brick landmark, 

developing both, residential 

and commercial spaces while maintaining 

the façade and many of the 

interior appointments. The stained 

glass atrium window was constructed 

from fragments, which 

were intact in 1977 when they 

bought the building. The original 

interior “U” design was maintained 

to allow residents to have windows. 

It was listed on the National 

Register of Historic Places in 

the 1980s, and today, features 

residential apartments, extended 

stay suites, offices, restaurants 

and shops. 

It remains a tribute to the way 

of life in Palestine and shows 

what can be done, once again, by 

innovative residents. 

The Redlands is located at 400 

North Queen Street in Palestine and 

at www.redlandshistoricinn.com. 


In the early 1900s, voters in Palestine 

passed a school bond issue for a new high 

school and the site in the newly formed 

Reagan Park fronting Micheaux Avenue 

was chosen for the school. Architects Sanguinet 

and Staats designed the building. It is 

Tudor-Gothic Style with elaborate brick 

work. The building is two storied with a 

raised basement. There were originally eight 

lecture rooms, a library, a gymnasium, 

laboratories, and an auditorium. A principal and 

ten teachers were the first faculty. The school 

opened in 1916 and the first graduation class 

was 1917. The high school became the 

junior high in 1939. In 1955 the school was 

named for John H. Reagan and served as an 

elementary school from 1966 until 1976 when 

it was closed. 

The building was to be demolished because 

of its condition but was saved by a group 

of dedicated citizens who did not want to 

lose such a historical part of the city. 

Generations had gone to school there. There 

was much nostalgia associated with it. There 

was also something impressive about it—even 

in its decaying state. It was truly a landmark, 

sitting proudly up on the hill in the park. 

Palestine would not be the same without it. 

The building was renovated and turned into 

the Museum, which opened its doors in 1982 

for the first weekend of the 

Dogwood Trails. 

The marvelous old Palestine 

High School is now the 

depository for the historical 

treasures of Palestine and 

Anderson County. It is indeed 

“The Keeper of our History.” 

The historical auditorium 

is available for weddings, 

wedding receptions, class 

reunions and other functions. 

It is complete with a stage, 

balcony and original hardwood 

flooring. Annual events in 

the auditorium include the 

Old Time Music & Dulcimer 

Festival held the last weekend 

of March during the Dogwood 

Trails, Anderson County 

Historical Commission’s annual 

THE MUSEUM FOR EAST TEXAS CULTURE 

History Forum in May and the Dulcimer 

Christmas Concert in December. 

For additional information at the Museum 

for East Texas Culture, please visit 

www.museumpalestine.com. 

❖ 

Left: The Museum for East Texas 

Culture is listed on the National 

Register of Historic Places. 

Below: Tour of the Museum by local 

school children. 


MCCOY 

FUNERAL HOME 

McCoy Funeral Home began in 1936 when 

Edward McCoy, Sr., and his brother, Hansel, 

established the business in a converted threebedroom 

house at 315 Grove Street. 

Edward worked at the Davis Funeral Home, 

whetting his appetite for what would become 

his career and the development of a familyowned 

business. 

He attended Landig Mortuary School in 

Houston, and was licensed as a funeral director. 

Hansel left the business and Georgia McCoy 

became her husband’s business partner. She 

also studied at Landig, and was licensed as a 

funeral director. 

Funerals have changed since the 1930s. 

Wakes were held at the deceased’s home where 

mourners sat all night. Services were held on 

the front porch or the chapel inside, with 

chairs, a velvet background, and wooden casket 

racks. Georgia often made burial dresses. 

Graves were dug with picks and shovels. 

Later, a tent, mechanical lowering device, 

grass carpet and chairs were purchased. Death 

calls came to the home of Andrew and 

Mattie McCoy who delivered the messages 

because the funeral home had no telephone. 

Advertising was hand stenciled and nailed on 

trees in rural areas. 

Today, a professional grave service is engaged; 

and, advertising includes a billboard, brochures, 

and calendars featuring African-American history 

and art. 

In 1982, Edward, Jr., assumed management. 

He holds a B. S. degree from Prairie View 

A&M University and graduated from 

Commonwealth School of Mortuary Science. As 

an embalmer–funeral director, he initiated a 

prepaid funeral program approved by the Texas 

Banking Commission. 

Upon the death of his father in 1991, 

Edward, Jr., launched his dream to provide a 

more modern, well-equipped facility. Renovations 

of a building were completed in 1997. Edward’s 

wife, June, became office manager after retiring 

from teaching. 

Georgia retired in 2006; and, grandson 

David McCoy, a Prairie View graduate who 

studied at Commonwealth, is a funeral director, 

representing the third generation. 

The McCoy philosophy is to provide professional 

service at affordable prices with dignity, 

compassion, and personal attention to detail. 


While the sign on the bright, red-striped 

awning reads, New Dimensions Salon, there is 

much to see upon entering. 

Barbara McKinney, husband, Bill, and sons 

Carey, John and Howard, operate the familyowned 

business. Even her sister, Shirley, and 

brother-in-law Randy Reeves, helped design 

and construct the full-service beauty salon that 

opened Valentine’s Day, 2006. 

New Dimensions features nine styling stations, 

manicure-pedicure room, and a boutique and 

permanent cosmetics studio operated by 

cosmetics technician Stephanie Sheridan. The 

stations are manned by Barbara’s granddaughter, 

Amanda Hollingsworth, Mary Ann Bentley, 

Jennifer Mangham, Denise Brewster, Martha 

Guitz, Sandi Calloway, Catherine Camplain, 

Pearl Ferrari and Jennifer Wilson. 

Barbara has dedicated more than thirty years 

to cosmetology, serving as an instructor at 

Trinity Valley Community College, and owning 

two previous salons. She retired from the college 

after thirteen years, but has remained active in 

professional cosmetology organizations, serving 

as president of Local Affiliate Number 71, Texas 

Hairdressers and Cosmetologist Association for 

sixteen years. 

While teaching, she was a member of Texas 

Junior College Teacher’s Association and 

chairman of the cosmetology section for two 

years. She was also a member of Texas Post 

Secondary Cosmetology Educators. 

She remains active in her profession, and 

continues to find time to be involved in local 

civic affairs and her church, Memory Lane 

Missionary Baptist. When her children were 

in school, she was a strong supporter of 

Westwood School activities, including Parent 

Teachers Association (PTA), Athletic and Band 

Booster Clubs. 

Perhaps her greatest achievements, though, in 

addition to advancing the field of cosmetology, 

is her election as the first woman to Palestine 

City Council, and being named Mayor Pro Tem 

part of her term. 

Barbara’s enthusiasm continues to impact the 

careers of others, and she is committed to 

cleanliness, especially around the stylists’ work 

stations. Her sister, Thelma Mosely, maintains a 

sanitary environment essential to good business, 

growth, and satisfied clients. New Dimensions is 

located at 1299 South Loop 256 in Palestine. 

NEW 

DIMENSIONS 

SALON 

❖ 

Above: Instructor/Operator, Barbara 

McKinney, owner of New 

Dimensions Salon. 

Below: Beauty is about the 

satisfied client. 


SWEET DREAMS 

WINERY, LLC 

There is nothing quite like entertaining 

guests or toasting a special occasion with a 

glass of fine wine! No one knows that better 

than the Pells—Mike and Sandra. 

They launched Sweet Dreams Winery, LLC, 

in 2006 using local, East Texas grapes and fruits 

to produce drinking wines. Prior to starting 

the winery, they made wine at home to share 

with friends, and found it difficult to keep their 

wine cellar stocked. “It disappeared almost as 

quickly as we could produce it,” says Mike. 

In 2005, they realized there was only one 

thing to do: Abandon their Christmas tree 

farm, plant grape arbors, and build the first 

winery in Anderson County. A year later, 

they were enjoying the sweet taste of success. 

While Mike is busy making wine, Sandra 

is busy preserving fruit—some 12,000 pounds 

each year—from which the wine is made. 

Harvesting the fruit and freezing it for later, 

when the fruit is pressed into wine, begins 

with local farmers in the spring and lasts 

well into fall. Blackberries are harvested in 

May and June, peaches and blueberries are 

picked through July, followed by mustang 

and muscadine grapes in July and August. 

East Texas hard pears are harvested last—in 

September. “People even gather the wild 

mustang grapes for us from alongside the 

roads,” says Mike. 

Mike and Sandra work the front end of the 

winery along with daughters, Mandy and 

Alyson. As need dictated, they expanded to 

three employees, and use 

other workers as needed, 

for Saturday concerts and 

wine tastings. 

Located about twelve 

miles north of Palestine, 

the winery is already 

reaping rewards for their 

efforts. The measure of 

success is a number of 

awards, including sixteen 

bronze, silver and gold 

medals, among them from 

the Finger Lakes Region 

Wine Competition where 

their Bumble Bee Kiss 

beat out a 100-year-old 

French wine. In fact, one 

gold medal was awarded in The Winemaker 

magazine competition. 

Currently, their wines have been placed 

in one grocery store and two liquor stores. 

They are also available in Tyler at KE 

Cellars, and in Montgomery, Texas at the 

Rancher’s Daughter. People from as far away as 

Europe visit the winery on Saturdays from 

11 am to 8 pm, except in January and February, 

when the winery is open 11 am to 6 pm. 

Plans are on the drawing board to build a 

warehouse with built-in cooler and additional 

stainless tanks. 

The Pells agree: There is nothing quite like 

sitting on the porch with a glass of wine or 

a nice, cold winearita, relaxing with special 

people. “You can listen to story-telling, hear the 

coyotes howling, bobwhites calling, and owls 

hooting,” adds Mike. “Our customers say they 

love the comfortable atmosphere we’ve created 

as much as we do.” 

Sweet Dreams offers two types of sandwiches 

to accompany guests’ wine, peach bellinis, 

and a delectable cranberry-based drink, the 

cosmorita, which is less sweet than a regular 

winearita. Sweet Dreams also provides space 

for birthday parties, showers and wedding 

rehearsals, as well as tours of the grounds, 

vineyard and fermenting room. It also holds a 

summer concert series, which is open to the 

public and wine connoisseurs alike. Check its 

web page, www.sweetdreamswinery.com, for 

times and dates. 


The lamp of education in Palestine has shone 

brightly for nearly one-and-a-quarter centuries. 

Not only has it brightened the careers of 

thousands of students, but it is positioned to 

prepare future generations for their vocations. 

On September 7, 1887, a group of citizens 

met to organize a school for their children 

and grandchildren. Known as the Public Free 

Schools of the City of Palestine, it later became 

Palestine Public Schools and, today, is known as 

Palestine Independent School District (PISD). 

number of students varying each year, 

enrollment (Pre-K through grade twelve) is 

approximately 3,300. 

During the summer of 2010, the school 

board’s administrative offices were relocated 

from 1600 South Loop 256 to the remodeled 

Sam Houston School at 1000 East Lamar. Schools 

within that district include Washington Early 

Childhood Center, Northside Primary, Southside 

Elementary, Story Intermediate, Palestine Middle 

School, and Palestine High School. 

PALESTINE 

INDEPENDENT 

SCHOOL 

DISTRICT 

Eighteen school superintendents were 

founders or played major roles in the 

advancement of education in the Anderson 

County community. Serving on the first school 

board were N. R. Royall, C. A. Sterne, A. W. 

Gregg, G. M. Dilley, N. J. Link, F. J. Pells, and 

W. M. Lacy. The first superintendent earned $35 

per month, and many of the superintendents 

also taught classes for a half-day. The board of 

trustees recommended that schools be closed 

from January 12, 1891-January 26, 1891 for 

inspecting and repairing the furnace system. 

Two years after its founding, enrollment 

had grown to 586 students. Today, with the 

Also in 2010, a $64,000,000 bond 

referendum was passed to assure that schools 

are updated, and turf is laid on the high school 

football field. 

A budget of $24,984,085 was passed for 

the FY 2009-2010, and includes salaries for 

251 teachers and 510 staff personnel. 

Palestine ISD is led by superintendent Dr. 

Thomas Wallis, a former Mabank High School 

principal. Chosen by the board of trustees, 

he began serving as superintendent in 2008. 

Additional information is available on 

Palestine area schools on the Internet at 

www.palestineschools.org. 


TRINITY VALLEY 

COMMUNITY 

COLLEGE– 

PALESTINE 

❖ 

Above: The campus of Trinity Valley 

Community College–Palestine is 

located three miles south of the city on 

State Highway 19. More than fifteen 

hundred students from the area attend 

classes at the campus each semester. 

Below: After a campus remodel in 

summer 2010, students can now 

study in one of TVCC–Palestine’s new 

science labs. 

Palestine leaders realize the positive impact 

that Trinity Valley Community College–Palestine 

(TVCC) has on residents and businesses. The 

college helps provide a skilled workforce for the 

area and aids industry promotion. 

The institution, founded as Henderson 

County Junior College in 1945, provides quality 

academic, workforce, and community service 

programs designed to meet the needs of both 

traditional-age students and working adults. 

Class began in Athens during the fall of 1946. 

In the 1960s the college expanded to meet 

demands in the areas 

around Athens, including 

Palestine. Courses were 

first offered in Palestine 

in the Episcopal Church 

and at public schools. 

In 1972, college 

benefactor K. A. Anderson 

donated a building (now 

demolished) on Gooch 

Street as a permanent 

home for TVCC–Palestine. 

In 1986, as the 

college continued to 

expand, the institution’s name was changed 

from County Junior College to Trinity 

Valley Community College. During that 

decade, campuses were established in Terrell 

and Kaufman. 

The current location of TVCC–Palestine was 

established in 1975. A $1-million legislative 

grant paved the way for a new facility three 

miles north on State Highway 19. In 1975 the 

first classes were held in the newly named 

K. A. Anderson Building. The structure was 

constructed on ninety acres, donated by Vernon 

Calhoun, where the campus remains today. 

The first director of the TVCC–Palestine 

campus was James Horton. Nell Hassel 

succeeded him, followed by Ike Williams. Since 

1987 the campus has been overseen by Provost 

Charlie Akin. 

The Palestine campus is comprised of the 

K. A. Anderson Educational Building (1975), 

the Vernon Calhoun Technical Building (1983), 

the Electronic Commerce Resource Center 

(1993), and a maintenance building (2009). The 

Anderson building was remodeled in 2010. The 

facility now boasts updated classrooms and new 

science lab space. Enrollment is approximately 

twelve hundred students per semester, with more 

growth expected in the future. 

TVCC offers associate’s degrees and certificate 

programs in more than seventy disciplines. The 

college offers vocational training in the fields of 

nursing, cosmetology, computer science, 

criminal justice, business and office technology, 

fire science, legal assistant, and paramedic. 

Additional information is available at 

www.tvcc.edu. 


There is nothing quite as exhilarating as 

driving a new car out of the showroom. 

That feeling can be quickly diminished, 

though, when the car is the victim of a 

hailstorm, fender-bender—or worse. 

Palestine’s L&P Paint & Body Shop, strives to 

return damaged vehicles to their original beauty 

using the latest technology in the collision 

repair industry. 

The company, located at 1203 West Oak 

Street, was co-founded in 1986 by Benjamin O. 

Pinson, Sr., and his uncle, Theldon Lumpkin, 

Sr., to provide professional auto body collision, 

painting, and restorative services. The business 

was incorporated in October 2004. 

Although Lumpkin retired in 2002, the 

business remains family owned, with Benjamin 

as president/CEO; brother Bruce Pinson, Sr., 

an I-CAR certified collision repair analyst; 

and Theldon Lumpkin, Jr., an I-CAR certified 

paint technician. 

All L&P Paint & Body Shop specialists are 

dedicated to providing quality services to the 

community and surrounding areas. 

L&P PAINT & 

BODY SHOP, 

INC. 

The eyes of Texas are upon them! 

“They” are special interest automobiles 

owned by Palestine’s classic car enthusiasts. The 

owners are members of Cars of Palestine, a nonprofit, 

family-oriented organization dedicated 

to the preservation, restoration and showing of 

vintage vehicles. 

Now, in its twenty-fifth year, the organization 

was started May 8, 1986, with twentyseven 

people attending. Members’ mission is 

to operate and maintain an organization to 

encourage and promote the admiration and 

ownership, care and maintenance, 

with safe and courteous 

operation of members’ 

special interest autos. 

Cars of Palestine participates 

in local parades, travels to other 

communities for parades and 

shows, hosts other car clubs 

in the state, and lends 

assistance to member and nonmembers 

in finding parts and, 

often, that “special auto” from 

someone’s memory. 

Members are community-oriented and give 

back to their community through scholarships 

to local high school seniors, collecting food and 

toys during the holidays, and assisting with 

Relay for Life activities as well as the Crisis 

Center of Anderson/Cherokee Counties and 

other local agencies 

The group holds a Peoples’ Choice Car show 

annually, which has grown into a display of 

nearly 300 cars. It is held the opening weekend 

of the Dogwood Trails Festival. For additional 

information, visit www.carsofpalestine.com. 

CARS OF 

PALESTINE 


For more information about the following publications or about publishing your own book, please call 

Historical Publishing Network at 800-749-9790 or visit www.hpnbooks.com. 

Albemarle & Charlottesville: 

An Illustrated History of the First 150 Years 

Black Gold: The Story of Texas Oil & Gas 

Ector County, Texas: 125 Years of History 

Garland: A Contemporary History 

Historic Abilene: An Illustrated History 

Historic Alamance County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Albuquerque: An Illustrated History 

Historic Amarillo: An Illustrated History 

Historic Anchorage: An Illustrated History 

Historic Austin: An Illustrated History 

Historic Baldwin County: A Bicentennial History 

Historic Baton Rouge: An Illustrated History 

Historic Beaufort County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Beaumont: An Illustrated History 

Historic Bexar County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Birmingham: An Illustrated History 

Historic Brazoria County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Brownsville: An Illustrated History 

Historic Charlotte: 

An Illustrated History of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County 

Historic Chautauqua County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Cheyenne: A History of the Magic City 

Historic Clayton County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Columbus: A Bicentennial History 

Historic Comal County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Corpus Christi: An Illustrated History 

Historic DeKalb County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Denton County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Edmond: An Illustrated History 

Historic El Paso: An Illustrated History 

Historic Erie County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Fayette County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Fairbanks: An Illustrated History 

Historic Gainesville & Hall County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Gregg County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hampton Roads: Where America Began 

Historic Hancock County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Henry County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hood County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Houston: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hunt County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Illinois: An Illustrated History 

Historic Kern County: 

An Illustrated History of Bakersfield and Kern County 

Historic Lafayette: 

An Illustrated History of Lafayette & Lafayette Parish 

Historic Laredo: 

An Illustrated History of Laredo & Webb County 

Historic Lee County: The Story of Fort Myers & Lee County 

Historic Louisiana: An Illustrated History 

Historic Mansfield: A Bicentennial History 

Historic Midland: An Illustrated History 

Historic Mobile: 

An Illustrated History of the Mobile Bay Region 

Historic Montgomery County: 

An Illustrated History of Montgomery County, Texas 

Historic Ocala: The Story of Ocala & Marion County 

Historic Oklahoma: An Illustrated History 

Historic Oklahoma County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Omaha: 

An Illustrated History of Omaha and Douglas County 

Historic Orange County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Osceola County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Ouachita Parish: An Illustrated History 

Historic Paris and Lamar County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Pasadena: An Illustrated History 

Historic Passaic County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Pennsylvania An Illustrated History 

Historic Philadelphia: An Illustrated History 

Historic Prescott: 

An Illustrated History of Prescott & Yavapai County 

Historic Richardson: An Illustrated History 

Historic Rio Grande Valley: An Illustrated History 

Historic Rogers County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Santa Barbara: An Illustrated History 

Historic Scottsdale: A Life from the Land 

Historic Shelby County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Shreveport-Bossier: 

An Illustrated History of Shreveport & Bossier City 

Historic South Carolina: An Illustrated History 

Historic Smith County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Temple: An Illustrated History 

Historic Texarkana: An Illustrated History 

Historic Texas: An Illustrated History 

Historic Victoria: An Illustrated History 

Historic Tulsa: An Illustrated History 

Historic Wake County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Warren County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Williamson County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Wilmington & The Lower Cape Fear: 

An Illustrated History 

Historic York County: An Illustrated History 

Iron, Wood & Water: An Illustrated History of Lake Oswego 

Jefferson Parish: Rich Heritage, Promising Future 

Miami’s Historic Neighborhoods: A History of Community 

Midland: Window to the West 

The New Frontier: 

A Contemporary History of Fort Worth & Tarrant County 

Old Orange County Courthouse: A Centennial History 

Plano: An Illustrated Chronicle 

Rich With Opportunity: 

Images of Beaumont and Jefferson County 

San Antonio, City Exceptional 

The San Gabriel Valley: A 21st Century Portrait 

Southwest Louisiana: A Treasure Revealed 

The Spirit of Collin County 

Valley Places, Valley Faces 

Water, Rails & Oil: Historic Mid & South Jefferson County 


$29.95 

LEADERSHIP SPONSORS 

Bailey and Foster 

Funeral Home, Inc. 

About the Author 

E R I C 

D A B N E Y 

Eric was born and raised in Kremlin, 

Oklahoma, and received his undergraduate 

and graduate degrees from the University 

of Central Oklahoma, where he now serves 

as an adjunct professor in the College of 

Education. He is the series editor for Bob 

Burke’s Commonwealth Publishing, is a 

contributing writer of over thirty 

publications of Lammert Inc.’s Historic 

Publishing Network, and is the co-author 

of Fearless Flight: The Adventures of Wiley Post, Historic South Carolina, Historic Rogers 

County, and The Life of Bill Paul. Eric and his wife have three daughters and live near 

Guthrie, Oklahoma. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALICIA MOORE PHOTOGRAPHY. 

ISBN: 9781935377672

Historic Palestine

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