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History
in a Pecan Shell
Another once-prosperous town that depended
on river commerce, Sabinetown was located where Gaucho Creek joined the Sabine
River. The townsite, which had been surveyed in 1839 was built on land donated
by Shadrach Morris.
It soon became a shipping point for cotton
and in addition to primary businesses, Sabinetown had a customs house, warehouses,
a hotel, a clock factory (!) and a trading post for commerce with the Cherokee
Indians.
During the Civil War, Sabinetown was fortified for the inevitable
invasion by the Union Navy, an action that was thwarted by Dick
Dowling and his handful of volunteers at Sabine
Pass.
The town declined with the fall of the Confederacy and the advances
of the railroads into East
Texas slowed barge traffic considerably. It is said the last paddle-wheeled
steamship to leave Sabinetown was in the year 1897. Sabinetown’s post office opened
and closed periodically, closing its doors for good during the Great Depression.
When Toledo Bend
Reservoir was built in the 1960s, nearly all of old Sabinetown was submerged.
Newer communities are found around the older site, but only the 1936
Centennial marker stands to serve as a memorial for the historic community.
Sabine
Town CemeteryHistorical
Marker:
"S. H. Morris sold 200 acres of his land grant in the 1830s
for the establishment of the town of Sabine. Businesses included a post office,
customs house, wagon factory, brick kiln and a tanning yard. The Sabine Town Cemetery
contains 18 known graves; Mary Jane Scott's is the earliest recorded burial in
1842. The graveyard was in use until 1907; Harry C. Maunds is the last recorded
burial. In 1970 the James Frederick Gomer Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic
of Texas in Hemphill took over maintenance of the site.
1997" |
 |
1940s
Sabine County Map showing Sabinetown
(E of Hemphill.
Above "E" in "S-A-B-I-N-E")
Courtesy Texas General Land
Office | |
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