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FORT
HOUSTON
ALMOST A HOUSTON Page
2 by
Bob Bowman |
Page
1 .....
A
second aborted effort to establish Houston in East
Texas came in 1836 when the Republic of Texas established a stockade and blockhouse
two miles west of Palestine,
in Anderson County, and named the site Houston for Sam Houston, the hero of San
Jacinto. The fort covered an acre of the townsite. After the fort was abandoned
in the early 1840s, Houston became Fort Houston, presumably to avoid confusion
with the town established by the Allen brothers on Buffalo Bayou. The settlement
declined when nearby Palestine
became the seat of Anderson County.
Old Fort Houston has another claim
to fame in Texas.
In
1836, the fort became a refuge for members of the Parker
family when they were attacked by Comanche, Kiowa and Kichai Indians at Fort
Parker in Limestone County. In the raid, the Comanche seized four captives,
including Cynthia
Ann Parker, who remained with the tribe almost 24 years and gave birth to
Quanah
Parker, the powerful Comanche chief.
The morning after the raid,
the 21 survivors, led by James Parker, started for Fort Houston. It took six days
to travel the 60 miles.
Fort Houston's lands were acquired in 1857 by John
H. Reagan, who achieved fame as a U.S. congressman and Confederate postmaster
general. Today, Fort Houston and a cemetery where many its residents were buried
are marked by Texas historical markers in the Palestine
area.
All
Things Historical Jan. 27-Feb. 2, 2002 Column
(Bob Bowman of
Lufkin is the author of 40 books about East Texas. He can be reached at bob-bowman.com)
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1936
photo of the John H. Reagan Home
From "Monuments Commemorating the Centenary
of Texas Independence", State of Texas, 1938 |
Forum:
The
Reagan home (shown above) was in the Centennial
book. Somebody just told me the Reagan home was razed in 1946.
According
to the Fort Houston marker shown in the book, Fort Houston was a fort and stockade
built about 1836, abandoned in 1841. The site of Fort Houston is "now a part of
the historic home of John H. Reagan which is called Fort Houston." Mr. Bowman
says Fort Houston's lands were acquired in 1857 by John H. Reagan. TexasOnline
says In 1857 John H. Reagan bought 600 acres, which included the old site of the
fort and town, and his home became known as Fort Houston. Nobody says anything
about it being gone. - Sarah
Reveley, February 25, 2009
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