Houston County Turns 187

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

Above picture: Houston County Commissioners present the 2023 state Distinguished Service Award to members of the all-volunteer Houston County Historical Commission (HCHC(. From left to right, Gary Lovell, Willie Kitchen, Judge Jim Lovell, HCHC Chairperson Wand Jordan, HCHC Secretary Al Kreger, Gene Stokes, Jimmy Henderson and Terri Meadows. (Jan Pigford)

HOUSTON COUNTY –  It was a hot June 12, 1837 when President Sam Houston signed the paperwork to create the young Republic of Texas’ first county – Houston County, named after himself. The 187 which have passed since then have seen the county go through its share of good times and bad, with the current times just another step in our long history. 

The county is bordered by rivers, such as the Neches and Trinity, with sandy soils and a thick mixture of pines and hardwoods across the county. Ranching is a latecomer to this area, as it took several generations to clear enough land to make that possible on a large scale. Timber remains one of the county’s biggest exports, even as several crucial events throughout our history shaped the course of this county and its people. 

The Camino Real, or royal road had been a path through the Piney Woods for a hundred years before the county was named and proclaimed. The route, long used by Native Americans, would see the Spanish travel from east Texas all the way west to San Antonio and south to the Rio Grande. The 1820’s saw the first flux in migration to the area, with some of the land grants awarded to men like Stephen F. Austin bring the earliest American and European settlers into the county. 

If you got in a time machine and came back to Houston County in 1837, you would be forgiven for not noticing much at all. Other than a few scattered homesteads, you would have mostly seen trees, with a few stumps here and there being worked on by farmers trying to clear enough land to grow their crops. 

By this time, the leading families in the county had already arrived, such as the Aldrich’s and Gossett’s. It was only thanks to Andrew E. Gossett and his commitment to donate the land for the county seat of Crockett that the county was formed at all. He named the city after his friend from Tennessee and hero of the Alamo. David Crockett. 

The Republic of Texas had its struggles and it was only in the late 1840’s, after Texas was annexed to the United States that the population saw a boom in Houston County, standing at a little under 3,000 by 1850. 

By 1860, the population had boomed to over 8,000, while the Civil War loomed. Speaking with Houston County Historical Commission Chairperson Wanda Jordan and Secretary Al Kreger, they pointed out the toll that conflict and its aftermath had on the county. 

20% of the white, adult male population went off to war. The first company of volunteers, recruited at the beginning of the war to fight with Texas’ General Hood left Crockett with 118 men. When they surrendered at the end of the war, only nine survived. 

With the war concluded and reconstruction underway, the county grew slowly. Many of the male population had been killed or wounded, affecting the timber and agriculture industries. While the slaves had been freed, they suffered in the post-war south in general, unable to find their place in a hostile world they were unaccustomed to working in. The value of total farms in the county dropped from over $1,000,000 in 1860 to $57,000 in 1870. 

It wasn’t until the railroad began to snake its way into the county in the 1870’s that the county’s fortunes would recover. Farmers could now get their products into the bigger cities and to international markets through the Gulf of Mexico. Several stops along the tracks became settlements you may have heard of: Lovelady, Latexo, Grapeland. By 1880, the population had shot up to over 16,000 – almost where we stand today at about 22,000. 

Corn, cotton and cattle continued to be the king crops, with a new rail line from Lufkin opening after the turn of the century, solidifying Kennard’s place in the county. By the 1920’s, more than 120,000 acres of timber had been cut. 

The Great Depression took its toll, too. Whereas the county had a larger population in 1920 than today, the number of people who lost their farms increased dramatically. Banks were unwilling to give credit and for the first time, a majority of farmers during that decade worked someone else’s farm. Some of that population were the men living in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), who set up camps in placing like Lake Ratcliff. 

The county has sent its share of young men to the great wars of the twentieth century, with over 4,400 veterans buried in the county. The Messenger has noted many of the veterans who served and there is a special room dedicated to their memory at the Houston County Museum which The Messenger encourages readers to attend. 

Wars, railroads, depressions – they all changed the county in drastic ways, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. With the county lacking heavy industrial and manufacturing opportunities compared to other areas, the county will continue to age, as young people finish school and move away. A strong county hospital is essential for these older residents to stay. (See related article in today’s edition.) While many of these people have family ties to the area, they come here in their later years, many with pensions or government benefits, so they do not depend on the health of the local economy. 

What will be the next change to impact the county? What will be the next innovation, war, depression or otherwise and how will it affect this first Texas county? Read The Messenger in the year 2211 to found out…

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]