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HUNTSVILLE,
TEXASWalker County
Seat, East Texas
Interstate 45 and 75
Highways 190, 19 and 30
68 miles N of Houston
165 miles S of Dallas
Population 35,078 (2000) 27,925 (1990)
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History
in a Pecan shell
A timeline of
significant events in Huntsville's history:
1836: founded by Pleasant and Ephraim Gray as an Indian trading post. The Grays
were from Huntsville, Alabama.
1837: Montgomery County organized - Huntsville
was within its boundaries. First post office granted.
1844: The Huntsville
Male and Female Academy opened.
1845: Stovall's Male and Female Academy opened.
1846: Walker County organized - Huntsville designated county seat.
1847: Huntsville
becomes home of the Texas State Penitentiary. The prison received its first inmate
in 1849. During the 1840s and 1850s prosperous families from the southern states
arrive.
1850: Huntsville loses its chance to become state capital when it
is defeated by Austin in an election.
1861 - 1865: During the Civil War, uniforms for Confederate soldiers were made
at the pentitentiary. During reconstruction - Huntsville was placed under martial
law for a brief period.
1867: a yellow fever epidemic reportedly killed 10
percent of the town's population.
1872: The Houston and Great Northern Railroad
bypasses Huntsville to the east.
1875: Huntsville was a stop on four stage
lines - including one running from Nacogdoches
to Brenham, and one from Huntsville
to Waxahachie.
1879: Sam
Houston Normal Institute opens - later becomes Sam Houston State University.
1933: Emancipation Park is established
1936: Marker is erected for Steamboat
House - where Sam Houston died. Also authorized were the construction of the
James Gillespie Monument and the Sam
Houston Memorial Museum. |
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| An
inexpensive idea for scores of Texas towns with gaps in their downtown area. Even
the air conditioners look real. TE Photo, 2002 |
Today
downtown Huntsville has been decorated with a brilliant use of paint (paint in
talented hands). The courthouse
has recently undergone a restoration down to the sidewalks. The city has left
a vintage brick façade in place on the SW corner of the NW corner of the square.
Either that, or else they've constructed an instant stabilized ruin. Either way
it works. It draws attention away from a parking lot and calls attention to the
bricklayer's art. Huntsville
LandmarksWalker
County CourthouseGibbs-Powell
House Museum: 1228 11th StreetOakwood
Cemetery: 9th
St. and Ave "I" Includes Sam Houston's graveSam
Houston's Statue:
I-45 S, (exit 112) I-45 N (exit 109)
The lifesize model of the 67-foot statue
can be seen at the library at Sam Houston State UniversitySam
Houston Memorial Museum Complex:
"The
Sam Houston Memorial Park and Museum, just off U.S. 75 (Sam Houston Avenue). Here
in a 15-acre setting are Sam Houston's home, "Woodland,"
the steamboat house where he
died in 1863, his law office, a pioneer kitchen, a blacksmith shop and other buildings.
The museum itself houses one of the most extensive collection of Sam
Houston memorabilia in Texas." -
From "East
Texas Sunday Drives: Huntsville" by Bob Bowman
Sam
Houston State University - "If
you are visiting Huntsville, especially if you will be stopping at the Sam Houston
Museum complex, do yourself a favor; walk across Sam Houston Avenue and visit
the campus of Sam Houston State University. Not only gets my vote as one of the
prettiest college campuses in the state of Texas, if not in the entire country,
but also the site of several interesting things to see. (As a graduate of SHSU
I will readily admit that I am somewhat biased!) Nevertheless, in very close proximity
to the museum, and to each other, on the north end of the SHSU quadrangle are;
Austin Hall (1851)
– If I remember correctly, it is the oldest educational building in continuous
use west of the Mississippi River, Old Main Memorial – preserved footprint and
basement area of this 1890 beauty, which was lost to fire in 1982, the Peabody
Memorial Library – Built in 1902 to recognize the philanthropic contributions
of the Peabody Foundation to Sam Houston (Normal Institute) and to public education
in the state of Texas, and the bronze statue of General Sam Houston. This statue,
110% of life size, was dedicated in 1979 to commemorate the 100th anniversary
of the founding of SHSU. It was said to be the most accurate representation of
Sam Houston in existence at that time. I hope you enjoy your visit to Huntsville
and Sam Houston State University." - Stephen Rogers, Bellville, Texas,
November 11, 2004The
Texas Prison Museum: On the southside of the square
Book
Hotel Here > Huntsville
Hotels |
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Masonic
Lodge and Signs
TE photos |
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The Town
Theatre
TE photo |
Huntsville
Nearby Destinations East
Texas Sunday Drives: Huntsville by Bob Bowman
Old Sam, prisons
and pine trees, Oakhurst, Point Blank, Coldspring, Sam Houston National Forest,
and Huntsville State ParkHuntsville
State ParkSam
Houston National Forest
- including Sam Houston State ParkLake
LivingstonRaven
Hill
The location of the site of Raven Hill is south of Oakhurst about
2.5 miles off the main road. Take Raven Hill Rd. S.W. until it ends. Take a left
(dirt road) go another 100 yds. or so. The marker is in a cow pasture on the right.
- Robert Surguy, June 08, 2004
Book
Hotel Here > Huntsville
Hotels
Huntsville
Tourist Information
Huntsville
Chamber of Commerce: 1327 11th Street 1-800-289-0389
Website: http://www.chamber.huntsville.tx.us/
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| The
Huntsville park bridge. TE photo |
Huntsville
Chronicles
Bullet
Riddled Buddies by Clay Coppedge
The escape from the infamous “Death House”
at Huntsville... Old
Rangers and Sam Houston's Grave by Mike Cox
The old Texas Rangers who gathered
in Austin for a reunion in the early fall of 1897 surely figured they had fought
their last fight. After all, they had battled and survived Mexican soldiers, Comanches
and outlaws. But that’s before they heard what some folks in Tennessee were up
to...The
Huntsville Humdinger and the Texas Prison Rodeo by Mike Cox
When the Huntsville
Humdinger hit the streets that Monday, the feisty four-column competitor of the
long-established Huntsville Item carried on page one a humdinger of a local scoop:
The prison system would be starting a rodeo that fall. On Sept. 4, 1931...
Huntsville Ghost Stories
“Demons
Rd” in Huntsville by Dana Goolsby
Bowden Rd, perhaps better known as "
Demons Rd,” has a steady flow of reports regarding the experiences travelers claim
to have had while driving down the old road. People that wander off down “Demons
Rd” tell tales of disturbing encounters, and an eerie feeling that sweeps over
anyone who dares disrupt the spirits said to be lingering down “Demons Rd.” The
old road leads to an old cemetery known as Martha’s Chapel Cemetery....
Haunted
Huntsville by Dana Goolsby
Oakwood Cemetery, and the oldest prison in Texas
- the Walls Unit... |
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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photos, please contact
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