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SAN
AUGUSTINE, TEXAS"The
Cradle of Texas"
San Augustine County Seat, East
Texas
US Hwy 96 & Hwys 21, 147
19 miles S of Center
27 miles NE of Hemphill
32 miles E of Nacogdoches
Population:
2,475 (2000) 2,337 (1990) |
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History
in a Pecan Shell
San Augustine's history predates the revolution.
As early as the 1540s, European visitors were getting lost in the pines around
San Augustine. In 1691 the Old San Antonio Road (as it was later called) was cut
by Domingo Teran de los Rios. The Mission
Nuestra Senora de los Dolores de los Ais was established in 1717, has
been restored and is one of San Augustine's major attractions today. You might
find "Mission Dolores" easier to remember.
As Anglo migration to Texas
increased in the early 1800s, San Augustine was the site of the customhouse and
a stopover for everyone entering Texas. It soon became the most civilized place
around, and its early history shows it to be the birthplace of several colleges
and the first churches (in Texas) of several denominations were opened here. Sam
Houston was a frequent visitor and Texas' first governor now sits (as a statue)
on the courthouse lawn of his former residence. His name was J. Pinckney Henderson,
but you already knew that. |
| | Here's
the place that saw it all, the San Augustine County Jail.
TE photo
More
Texas Jails |
A
20th Century History
The Feud
San Augustine was also the scene of one of the more interesting
feuds in Texas history. It's roots were in the 1890s, but things didn't really
get going until the Spring of 1900 when Lycurgus (Curg) Border stirred things
up in the Wall-Broocks-Border feud. Curg, who was a handsome man and a
good dancer until he was partially crippled in a shooting, shot Sheriff George
W. Wall, who died a few days later. Curg Border was elected sheriff in 1902 and
served until he was suspended in 1904 by the district judge. W.S. (Sneed) Noble
took over the sheriff's duties and found himself caught up in the feud. Sheriff
Noble shot and killed Curg Border in May of 1904. (This information is from Texas
County Sheriffs by Sammy Tise). |
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A detailed account of this feud can be found in C.F. Eckhardt's Tales of Badmen,
Bad Women and Bad Places: Four centuries of Texas Outlawry 1999
Texas Tech University Press |
Order
Here
Tales of Badmen, Bad Women and Bad Places | |
| Excitement
flared up again in San Augustine just before Christmas in 1934. Four men were
shot in a hardware store and not too much was done about it. Texas Ranger Leo
Bishop was sent in and he found the town to be under the control of a lawless
element. After few months, Leo and partner Dan Hines had banished the main villain
and made the rest behave. The people of San Augustine presented both Rangers with
fancy pistols as token of their appreciation in 1935. |
| This
incident is covered in detail and fine story-telling form under the chapter Leo
Bishop and the San Augustine Crime Wave in Just one riot: Texas Rangers in
the 20th Century by Ben Proctor, Eakin Press 1991 |
Order
Here
Just one riot: Texas Rangers in the 20th Century |
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Nearby
Attractions
Angelina
National Forest - 11 miles south on Texas 147 to entrance.
Sabine
National Forest - 5 miles east on FM 353 to entrance.
Sam
Rayburn Lake
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/lakes/rayburn/lake_id.htm
Toledo Bend
lake
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/lakes/tolbend/lake_id.htm
San Augustine Tourist InformationSan
Augustine County Chamber of Commerce 611 West Columbia St. San Augustine, Texas
75972 Phone: 936-275-3610 Website: www.sanaugustinetx.com
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Your Hotel Here & Save:
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Augustine Hotels |
| | The
only vertical sundial in East Texas.
TE photo |
San
Augustine HistorySan
Augustine Chronicles ("All
Things Historical" Columns)
Man
with a Method
by Archie P. McDonald
"Long before winning fame and martyrdom
at the Alamo, William Barret Travis wrote to tell Methodist leaders in the United
States how badly Texas needed their attention. Samuel Doak McMahon held the first
meeting of Methodists in Texas in his home, located ten or so miles east of San
Augustine, in 1832, but the arrival of Littleton Fowler in 1837 was the first
authorized Methodist activity there..."Ben
Ramsey by
Bob BowmanScrolling
Through History
by Bob Bowman
The search system -- which has brought unbridled joy
to genealogists and historians -- is believed to be the most comprehensive county
archive system in Texas. A
Soldier's Story
by Bob Bowman
Milton Irish's letter, printed in the Lincoln Patriot
at Waldoboro, Maine, on February 10,1837, has become a classic story of a simple
soldier involved in the momentous events that gave birth to Texas the year before.
In a few months, Milton -- an ancestor of Jack Irish of Lufkin -- found himself
involved in the Siege of Bexar, the battle that preceded the fall of the Alamo,
and barely escaped with his life during the massacre of Texas prisoners at Goliad.Outlaw
with two faces
by Bob Bowman
In July of 1888, Rupert P. Wright, dressed in rags and
one eye blinded by his own hand, pleaded for mercy on a charge of bigamy before
an Arkansas judge. To those who knew Wright, his appearance and demeanor were
far removed from the days when he was a prominent newspaper editor, attorney,
and aspiring legislator in Little Rock. But they would soon learn that he was
also an escaped murderer, forger, arsonist and jail breaker named Pete Loggins
from East Texas.Webster's
Buck by by
Bob Bowman
The San Augustine Tribune, publisher Webster Hays and hist
buck.Drug
Store Centennial by
Bob Bowman
A fountain drink known as "The Grapefruit Highball."
The San Augustine Drug Store will in May (2004) celebrate a hundred years of doing
business at the same location in downtown San Augustine.The
Church Lights by Bob Bowman
Each time I visit Christ Church
Episcopal in San Augustine, I am reminded of Murphey's story and the electric
light chandeliers former U.S. ambassador Ed Clark bought and installed
in the church in 1991 to honor his wife Anne Metcalfe Clark.San
Augustine by
Archie P. McDonaldThe
First Governor of Texas
by Archie P. McDonaldMcMahan's
Chapel by
Archie P. McDonald
Nuestra
Senora de los Dolores de los Ais Mission
by Archie P. McDonald |
Three-term
San Augustine
Sheriff Nathan Tindall is
a frequently mentioned
sheriff in
THE TEXAS SHERIFF:
LORD OF THE COUNTY LINE
by Thad Sitton
University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 2000
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San Augustine Texas
ForumShooting
of Rangers in San Augustine County
In July 1918, a squad of Texas Rangers was sent to San Augustine county to round
up deserters from the army. Two Rangers went to the farm house of Samuel Williams
to recover his son Sam Williams and Daniel Evans. In a gun fight early in the
morning, Ranger White was killed and the other Ranger wounded. A massive manhunt
pursued... more - John D Carrell,
Mesquite, Texas, October 25, 2006
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Augustine Hotels
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