Bowie County Places

Prior to the Civil War, an extensive farming population and economy developed in Red River and Bowie Counties as recent Anglo-American immigrants from states to the east acquired land, particularly after the Texas Republic began its land grant program in 1837. Corn and cotton production from large plantations, often in bottom lands and worked by enslaved African-Americans, was an important market economy contribution. Starting from old trails in many cases, wagon roads developed between plantations and community centers, some with cotton gins, to support this economy. At the same time, smaller-scale Anglo-American immigrant farmers formed a geographically more dispersed subsistence economy, mostly with little dependence, if any, on slave labor. These farms were mostly spread out over the prairies and uplands away from the Red and Sulphur Rivers.

The Civil War and the end of slavery upended the plantation economy and the owner-slave society of the plantations. Not much is known about movements and re-settlement of people, particularly those formerly enslaved, during this period, but existing and new predominantly white communities continued to grow while a few small black communities developed and survived for decades. The coming of both long-distance and local railroads in the 1870s and development of a timber industry, particularly in the southern part of the two counties, also led to the formation of new communities. The development of roads during the late 19th-Century must have been a vigorous undertaking, as the earliest detailed maps from the early 20th-Century show an extensive network of wagon roads. This changed beginning in the 1915-1920 period with what must have been a proliferation of motor vehicles across the area, beginning in Texarkana (established in 1873) and larger communities while extending to a much lesser extent into rural areas, where horses, buggies and wagons were a major source of local transportation for decades.

Our Northeast Texas Google map shows most of the “Century Roads”, i.e., those known to have existed a century ago and likely earlier, of the two counties (Bowie is more complete than Red River at this point) and also all the named places (primarily communities) and cemeteries of Red River and Bowie Counties that we have found as of this point.

To see these places on our Google map, go here. When this map opens, one or more layers may be open but may not be the ones desired. You can navigate to desired layers including Bowie County cemeteries, “Century Roads”, old trails and roads, Red River County places, etc. To see these other layers, just check the boxes for the layers you wish to see on the legend to the left. Please keep in mind that if too many layers are checked the map will get very busy!

Note that the link above may not always work, particularly on phones or pads. If that happens, you can copy and paste directly in a browser search box the following URL:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?hl=en&mid=126byhCBu8eEWjXt4lzUbIMyDgDk&ll=33.67118044266739%2C-94.71650362490232&z=12

Below is a list and description of all the places (not including cemeteries–you can see this list at the Bowie County Cemeteries page) on the Google map. It’s a long list. Most of the information given here is available online. We have also provided a Bowie County Cemeteries page. This page contains a list and description of the cemeteries shown on the Google map.

THE BOWIE COUNTY PLACES LIST

Aiken School is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map

Almont is a late 19th century community named for Almont Hill, where the first houses were built, in northern Bowie County. Almont is shown on the 1958 Bowie County Highway Map although not on the earlier 1918 Soil Map. It is located where FM 992 makes a sharp turn to the left. From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “A post office was opened there in 1893 with Edwin Thompson as postmaster. In 1896 the settlement had a population of twenty-five. The post office was closed in 1904. In 1984 Almont consisted of a church, a business, and a few scattered houses.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “ALMONT, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hra28.

Antioch School is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Arkadelphia Church is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Arkadelphia School is shown on the 1958 Bowie County Highway Map but not on earlier maps.

Austin Chapel appears on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map in this location.

Barkman’s Store is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map at about this location.

Barrets Store is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Bassett: According to an article by Cecil Harper, Jr. in the Handbook of Texas Online, Bassett was named for John Bassett, on whose land grant the site was located. The grant was for 640 acres surveyed in 1839 for Bassett and patented in 1844. Bassett’s patent application records indicate he was living in “this country” in September 1837.  Bassett was on the Bowie County Tax Rolls in 1846 and 1847, but died in 1848 as his will was in probate that year, with his wife Martha listed as Administrator.  In the 1850 Federal Census,  Martha Bassett is listed as 43 years old with 5 younger household members, with the oldest what may have been a son, Thomas J. Bassett, age 26.  Martha was born in Pennsylvania and Thomas in Arkansas, suggesting the family may have resided there before relocating to Texas.  Also, the next oldest child, John, at 14 was born in Louisiana while the three youngest were born in Texas.  Martha was listed in the 1850 Federal Agriculture Census as having 65 acres of improved farm land and 430 acres unimproved, with 15 head of livestock including 7 milk cows.  The Bassett farm produced 60 bushels of corn and 600 of wheat that year.  The Bassetts are not listed as slaveowners in the 1850 census.  No record of Martha after 1850 has been found, but Thomas is listed on the Bowie County Tax Rolls in 1858 and there is an M. A. Bassett listed on the Tax Rolls for a number of years after that; however, it is not clear this is Martha as she is not found in census records.  In the 1860 Federal Census, Thomas is listed as a laborer on the farm of P. A. Dalby (presumably Phillip Dalby), but no record of him has been found after that time.  It seems likely that, for whatever reasons, the Bassett family farm fell into disuse and did not survive Civil War times.  The community of Bassett may not have existed as such until the arrival of the predecessors of the St. Louis Southwestern railroad in the 1870s. According to Cong. Wright Patman’s booklet on Bowie County Post Offices, a post office was opened in Bassett in 1882 with Gordantia B. Dalby as postmaster. The town developed as a lumber and railroad town in the 1880s and grew to a population of 100 by 1890. It declined in the next century, but recovered somewhat by 2000 to a population nearing 400.  However, by 2017 the population had dropped to 100 and there were no businesses as listed in the 2020-2021 Texas Almanac.  See also the Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “BASSETT, TX,” accessed September 29, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnb12.

Beaver Dam is an old community likely dating from the latter half of the 19th Century.  The Beaver Dam School is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Beaver Dam is a small, predominantly black community fourteen miles northwest of DeKalb in northeastern Bowie County. The town, named for a large beaver dam on a nearby creek, has never had a post office. In 1933 it reported one rated business and a population of ten. In the 1940s and 1950s the reported population was twenty-five. In 1984 Beaver Dam comprised a church, a cemetery, and a few scattered houses. In 2000 the population was fifty-five.” Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “BEAVER DAM, TX,” accessed August 25, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrb16.

Bethlehem is thought to be originally a largely African-American community, but its background is obscure.  Bethlehem School received “Rosenwald School” funds in 1924-25 for a three-teacher school including a 2-room shop, radio, and teachers’ home.  (see National Register documentation at https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/preserve/national_register/final/Rosenwald%20MPS%20-%20TX.pdf).

Berlin was a townsite that grew up near an 1830s Red River landing near the Mill Creek (Burkham) settlement.  The location is shown in Figure 6 in Captain Withenbury’s Reminiscences and named as “Berlin (Mill Creek)”.

Bielohs Mill is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Big Woods School is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  The Big Woods Cemetery has the earliest burial recorded as 1898.

Blockers Church is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  The Gravel Hill Cemetery is nearby.

Boston, still the official county seat of Bowie County, is now almost indisguishable from its neighbor New Boston, where the county courthouse is now located. The old county jail building is still standing in an otherwise vacant town square dating back to the designation of Boston as the county seat, rather than the original Boston a few miles to the south, now called Old Boston..  Unfortunately, the county courthouse at Boston, built about 1890, burned in 1987.  The Bowie County seat has been a tangled story.  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  Bowie County was demarked in December of 1840 and named for James Bowie. As originally delineated, the county included all or part of the territories of present Cass, Titus, and Morris counties. In 1846 the county was reduced to its present size and boundaries with the establishment of Cass and Titus counties. DeKalb, in the western part of the county, was designated temporary county seat, while a commission was appointed to choose a more appropriate permanent site. The commission chose the town then named Boston (see OLD BOSTON, TEXAS), which became the county seat in 1841. In the mid-1880s the citizens of Texarkana conducted a successful campaign to make Texarkana the county seat. About five years later residents of the western and central parts of the county campaigned successfully for yet another county seat, this one to be at the geographic center of the county. The new courthouse was constructed in 1890, and the town that grew up around it was named Boston. The county seat has remained at this location. Shortly before Texarkana ceased being the county seat, the courthouse burned and almost all the county records were destroyed.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “BOWIE COUNTY,” accessed October 28, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcb11

Boston Chalybeate Springs is one of two “Chalybeate Springs” in Bowie County, the other being located on what is now the Red River Army Depot.  Chalybeate Springs, located just west of Old Boston, was likely a stopping point for many travelers coming through the area from time immemorial.

Brooks Creek School is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  .

Buchanan School No. 3 is a location shown on the  1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Buchanan School No. 4 is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map

Burkham Settlement:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Burkham Settlement was somewhere near where Mill Creek entered into the Red River, although the exact location is not known.  Burkham Settlement is considered the oldest Anglo-American settlement in today’s Bowie County and one of the oldest in Texas. The area became occupied at least by 1820  when Charles Burkham brought his family over from the nearby Pecan Point settlement, where they  had been since as early as 1816.  Other early settlers included Hudson Posey Benningfield, Henry B. Stout, Isaac Bateman and Francis Hopkins.  David Crockett stopped by here on his way to the Alamo.  (Handbook of Texas Online, Christopher Long, “Burkham Settlement, TX,” accessed January 15, 2017, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvbbe.).  There was supposedly a Shawnee village in this area before Burkham Settlement began. There was a P.O. at Mill Creek from 1851-1857 and then from 1871 to 1877. (see http://sites.rootsweb.com/~txpost/redriver.html).  The river landing town of Berlin was also very near this location in the 1830s (see entry on Berlin).

Burns School is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Carbondale is a community that originally developed around the St. Louis Southwestern Railway.   From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Carbondale is on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway ten miles south of Boston in southern Bowie County. It was named for the coal deposits in the area. A post office was established there in 1907 and remained open into the 1950s. In 1925 the reported population was thirty-five. In 1982 the town had thirty residents and no rated businesses. Through 2000 the population was still thirty.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “CARBONDALE, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnc10.

Cedar Springs is on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  Although the location of the springs, now dry,  in this vicinity is uncertain, Gunnar Brune’s “Springs of Texas,” p. 82 notes that “Cedar Springs” was apparently the site of an Upper Nasoni Caddo village when the Frenchman Joutel came through in 1687.

Clear Lake Ferry is shown as a toll ferry in the 1958 Bowie County Highway Map.  On that map, the ferry is at the end of county road 26 going straight south to De Kalb.

Chalybeate Springs Church is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  The location shown in the map here is approximate, as are the roads.  Note that this is not the same location as “Boston Chalybeate Springs”, west of Old Boston.

Clear Lake School is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Clem is  located at the crossroad of U. S. Highway 67 and Bowie County Road 2149.  It is shown on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway in the 1906 USGS New Boston Quadrangle Map.

College Hill:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “College Hill, seven miles south of DeKalb in southwestern Bowie County, was established in the early 1890s by W. H. Patty, who operated a gin and sawmill. A post office was granted in 1902 but discontinued in 1907. The population of College Hill reached 100 in 1915. In 1938 the school was consolidated with those in eight other communities to form the James Bowie Consolidated District. The building was located in Simms. College Hill had a store and a population of thirty in 1945. In 1984 it had a church, a cemetery, a business, and a few scattered houses. In 1990 the population was 116. No population estimates were available in 2000.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Claudia Hazlewood, “COLLEGE HILL, TX,” accessed September 15, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrc78.

Concord School  is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Corley:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Corley is on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway three miles west of Maud in southern Bowie County. The community was named for John C. Corley, an early settler. A post office was established there in 1882 with J. Carr Turner as postmaster, and by 1884 the town had a sawmill, a gristmill, a gin, a store, a hotel, and a population of seventy-five. By 1890 the community’s population had reached 100, but in 1896 it was reported as only fifty. The Corley post office was discontinued in the 1950s. In 1982 the town had a reported population of thirty-five and no rated businesses. The population was still reported at thirty-five in 2000.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “CORLEY, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnc96.

County Bridge:  The 1918 Bowie Soil Map shows a “County Bridge” at this location and a road going north from this point to Corley.

County Line School  is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Cowley School is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map, spelled as “Cooley School”.  According to Vicki Richardson’s timeline (see   http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/bowie/newspapers/tracks2.txt  ), land for the school was donated by a Jesse Cowley in 1832, and the original school was replaced by a two room building in 1919.  It is reasonable to believe there was a school somewhere in the vicinity before the Civil War, even though no other documentation of this is known at present.  The original school was replaced by a two room building in 1919, which is presumably the building that is still visible at this site.

Dalby Homestead:  The Phillip A. Dalby Homestead is a Texas Historic Landmark.  According to the Texas Historical Commission Atlas website, the Homestead is located 3.3 miles west of U.S. Highway 259. The location shown in our map measures about 3 miles west of 259 and is on the Dalby head right land.  The text for the marker reads “In Dalby family since 1841. On land given Dalby by Republic of Texas. Original room (northeast part of house) is of oak logs pegged together. Logs and floor boards were hand-hewn. By 1856 Dalby had 8 children. House, then enlarged, was scene of singings, socials, quiltings, logrollings. Teachers boarded here. Freighters camped in yard. Passed to Phillip Dalby’s son, A. J., 1872; his grandson, Clyde N., 1927. Remodeled in 1948. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1966.”

Dalby Springs community is named for the nearby Dalby Springs, which is the collective name for what were originally four springs . Archeological evidence indicates that the springs were used by prehistoric peoples for thousands of years. In 1687 the French explorer Henri Joutel found the Upper Natchitoches tribe of Caddo Indians living at the springs. Many later travelers would stop at the springs, and it is very likely that the western branch of Trammel’s Trace, also sometimes called the Spanish Trace,” passed through here. From the Handbook of Texas Online: (Anglo) “settlement in the area began in 1839 with the arrival of Warren Dalby and his family. In the 1850s the springs were discovered to have medicinal properties, and as word spread, people began to visit the area to drink from the springs. By the time of the Civil War a community, known as Dalby Springs, had grown up around them. Buildings were erected to accommodate travelers, and in 1860 a post office was established there, with Joseph G. Dalby as postmaster.” Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “DALBY SPRINGS, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019.

Daniels Chapel School is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map. The Daniels Chapel Cemetery is nearby, with an earliest recorded death date of 1922, although this cemetery is likely much older.

Darden is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Darden Station is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  On the 1958 Bowie County Highway map this location is indicated as “Darden” whereas the earlier Darden does not appear.

DeKalb is the oldest “town” surviving in Bowie County.  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “DeKalb is on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and U.S. Highway 82 twelve miles northwest of New Boston in western Bowie County. It was one of the earliest settlements in the county. According to some county histories a community had begun to take shape in the winter of 1835, when David Crockett visited the site on his way to the Alamo. These sources claim that when Crockett enquired about the name of the town, residents told him it had none and then asked him to name it. He suggested the name of the Prussian Baron de Kalb, a general of the American revolutionary army.One purpose for founding the community was to establish a school. In fact, several of the early settlers were involved in the successful effort to get the Texas Congress to grant land for the establishment of DeKalb College in 1839. The school, however, seems to have been located several miles south of the community. Because DeKalb was supposed to serve as an educational focal point for surrounding farmers, the owners of the land attempted to restrict settlement to those they considered acceptable. As David Chisholm put it in 1837, “This town or village is situated on Browning’s and my land, about one half mile from my house. This land is not to be sold to any Tom, Dick, or Harry to put up dram shops on, but for those who wish to have the river for health or the benefit of the school.”Despite the facts that DeKalb served as the first seat of Bowie County in 1841 and that it was on prime agricultural land, the town grew very slowly. One important cause was the lack of efficient, reliable transportation. When the Texas and Pacific Railway was built through the county in 1876, DeKalb became a station on the rail line and began to grow. By 1884 it had two churches, a school, a gin, a sawmill-gristmill, and a population of 200. By 1890 the town had a population of 500, a bank, and a weekly newspaper, the Flag, edited by L. A. Petit. Afterward, DeKalb grew slowly to a population of 1,023 by the 1930s.In 1980 it had a population of 2,217. Agriculture remained of vital importance to the local economy, but, whereas cotton had been the dominant area crop during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it had been replaced by vegetables, fruit, livestock, and hay. The town’s businesses reflected that change. By the 1970s DeKalb was known for its cannery and its large shipments of tomatoes. Many of its residents were also employed at Red River Army Depot in eastern Bowie County. In 1990 the population was 1,976, and in 2000 it was 1,769.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “DEKALB, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hgd04.

Dolby is a location shown on the 1958 Bowie County Highway Map, but not the 1918 Soil Map.

El Dorado is a community with about 11 buildings as shown on the 1958 Bowie County highway map.

Ellis Ferry is at this approximate location as shown on a US Army 1865 map of the southern half of Arkansas (available at the Southwest Arkansas Research Archives, Washington, AR).  The ferry would have been on the old “Richmond Road” coming up from Texas and a similar road coming down from Richmond, Arkansas.

Epperson’s Ferry is the oldest known Sulphur River ferry crossing in what is now Bowie County, having been established on Trammel’s Trace by 1837.  The crossing at this location was used from time immemorial by many travelers before this time. The USGS 1955 Corley Texas quadrangle map shows a “historical marker” at this location.  This is presumably the marker commemorating Epperson’s Ferry, which was at the Sulphur River crossing of Trammel’s Trace which went north to Fulton on the Red River in Arkansas. This marker was moved and is now located about 1 mile northeast of Maud.  The marker reads “At this crossing, constructed by nature and used by Caddo Indians, early French and Spanish explorers, and travelers over Trammel’s Trace. Mark Epperson before 1837 established a ferry used until the construction of a wooden bridge antedating the modern structure erected in 1924.”  Presumably the bridge noted here is the Pettis Bridge some distance downstream.  No record has been found that indicates a bridge was ever built at this location.  From The Handbook of Texas Online::  “During its first session the First Congress of the Republic of Texas offered half a league of land to anyone who would operate a ferry across the Sulphur River. By April 1837 Mark Epperson had built a ferry on Trammel’s Trace in Bowie County, almost due south of the location of present-day New Boston. Congress granted Epperson the half league, and the ferry was soon widely known as Epperson’s Ferry. In December 1837 the legislature instructed the postmaster general to institute mail service from Nacogdoches to Epperson’s Ferry, and from there to the county seat of Red River County. Although little is known about it, a small settlement apparently developed around the ferry in the early 1840s, which served as a gathering place for area settlers. The ferry was eventually replaced by a wooden bridge, and then by a bridge of more modern construction in 1924. In 1936 the Texas Centennial Commission erected a marker at the site of the old ferry.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “EPPERSON’S FERRY,” accessed November 17, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rte01.

Eylau is an old community dating from Texas Republic times. From the Handbook of Texas Online: “Eylau, five miles southwest of Texarkana in the lumbering section of southeastern Bowie County, was established soon after the battle of San Jacinto by Collin M. Akin, who bought land along the river. A school on his land was consolidated with the Sylar school on the M. H. Jones survey in 1886. The community had a post office from 1885 to 1895. In 1890 the population of Eylau was estimated at thirty. By 1940 Eylau was no longer an organized settlement.” Handbook of Texas Online, Claudia Hazlewood, “EYLAU, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hre37.

Friendship is a location shown on the 1958 Bowie County Highway Map but not the 1918 Soil Map.

Friendship Church is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map but is not the same location as “Friendship” east of Old Boston.

Garland is a location west of DeKalb shown on the 1958 Bowie County Highway Map but not the 1918 Soil Map.

Givens Grove Church appears on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map at about this location.

Godley’s Prairie Church appears on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map at about this location, just west of Boston. The Godley Prairie Cemetery is nearby, with the earliest death date recorded as 1899.

Glover’s Landing is a location as shown in Figure 6, p. 105, “Reminiscences.”  Also, n. 2, p. 211, notes that “Martin Glover’s head right was across the river from Lanesport (Laynesport) but extended to the south where Glover’s landing was located.”

Green Hill School is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Half Bank Bridge over the the Sulphur River is shown at this approximate location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Hanalson’s Store is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Hartman:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Hartman was on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway. In the 1930s the community had a school, church, and sawmill. By 1984 Hartman was no longer shown on the county highway map.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “HARTMAN, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvh28.

Harts Store is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  Although some current maps show that this location can be reached on county roads, this is no longer true as the roads are on private land and are blocked (as of October 2019).

Hawkin’s Bluff Bridge is shown at this approximate location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  This is also the location of the earlier Holcomb’s Bluff Crossing as shown on a “Block 4 T&P RY” map from before when the railroad was built, so sometime in the 1870s or earlier.  This map also shows a road going from the crossing to the northwest. See.  http://www.glo.texas.gov/ncu/SCANDOCS/archives_webfiles/arcmaps/webfiles/arcmaps/pdfs/1/0/10941.pdf

Hodgson:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Hodgson was named forJohn J. Hodgson, its first postmaster. Settlement of the farming and lumbering area started around 1836, and a community began to emerge shortly after the Civil War, when Lee E. Harkey built a cotton gin and a sawmill at the site. A post office was opened there in 1893, and by 1896 the town’s population was estimated at 180. Later the community declined. Its post office was closed in 1904, and by 1910 its population had fallen to twenty-five. The last available population estimates, made in the 1940s, set the population at thirty- five. In 1984 the community had a church and one business.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Claudia Hazlewood, “HODGSON, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hth12.

Hoffman is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map as a location southwest of Bassett on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway.  It is not shown on the 1958 Highway Map.

Hooks:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Hooks is on U.S. Highway 82 and the Texas Northeastern Railroad thirteen miles west of Texarkana in eastern Bowie County. The town grew up around Warren Hooks’s plantation in the late 1830s. Rail service began in 1876. A post office opened in 1884 with James Smith as postmaster. By 1890 the town had three churches, a school, two sawmills, a hotel, and 250 residents. By 1914 it had a bank and a weekly newspaper, the Hooks Herald, published by M. W. West; the population had reached 400. The population declined to 100 by 1925, but a boom in the late 1920s raised it to 350 by 1929. By 1936 it was again reported as 100. Shortly before the United States entered World War II, two large military installations, the Red River Army Depot and the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, were constructed just south of the town, spurring growth dramatically. By 1940 the population was reported as 800, and by 1950 it had risen to 2,319, where it remained stable. In 1980 Hooks had a population of 2,507. Most of the labor force was employed at the two military installations. In 1990 the population was 2,684. In 2000 the town had 111 businesses and 2,973 inhabitants.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “Hooks, TX,” accessed December 29, 2016, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hgh10.

Hubbard is in a pre-Civil War farming area, and Hubbard Chapel is a location shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map. From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Hubbard is an old farming community located on U. S. Highway 259, thirty-four miles west of Texarkana and three miles southwest of De Kalb in western Bowie County. The town was probably named after early settler Richard B. Hubbard. Graves in the Hubbard Chapel Cemetery reportedly date as far back as 1835. Bowie County highway maps in 1936 showed a school, church, cemetery, and numerous dwellings in the area. No population figures were available until 1990, when Hubbard had 269 residents. That figure remained constant in 2000, and Hubbard had its own independent school district.” Handbook of Texas Online, Laurie E. Jasinski, “HUBBARD, TX (BOWIE COUNTY),” accessed November 02, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlh67. The cemetery census given at https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2163004 lists 465 names.  The earliest death date given in this census is 1842.

Johnson’s Store is a location shown in this general vicinity in the1918 Bowie County Soil Map, although exact location and roads are difficult to identify.

Joyce:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Joyce, near Maud off present-day U.S. Highway 67 fourteen miles southwest of Texarkana in south central Bowie County, was probably first settled after the Civil War. At its height around 1900 it had a store, a church, and a few houses. When Wright Patman Lake was constructed in the mid- 1950s, much of the area was inundated, and the site was abandoned.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Christopher Long, “JOYCE, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvj21.

Knight’s Bluff Bridge is shown at this approximate location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Leary:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Leary is on Interstate Highway 30 and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas, ten miles west of Texarkana in eastern Bowie County. It was named for an early settler, Daniel T. Leary. A post office was established there in 1894 with James T. Wiggins as postmaster and remained in operation until the 1960s. By 1914 the town reported a population of seventy-five. After that, population began to decline, reaching a low of twenty-five by 1925. During World War II two military installations, the Red River Army Depot and the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, were built just south of the town, and Leary began to grow again. By 1945 the town had a population of 100 and two rated businesses. By 1954 it had grown to 350. The town was incorporated in 1964. In 1982 Leary had a population of 253 and no rated businesses. Most of its residents were employed at the two military installations. In 1990 the population was 395.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “LEARY, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hll28.

Lewis Ferry, owned by Tom Smith for many years, was for decades the only way to cross the Red River between the bridge north of Clarksville and the Ogden bridge north of Texarkana.  A new bridge opened on Oklahoma Highway 41 (linking to Texas Highway 8) in the early 1960s.  Lewis Ferry is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Liberty Hill is a community shown on the 1958 Bowie County highway map.

Macedonia (Almont) is the location of a school shown on the 1918 Soil Map and a church shown on the 1958 Highway Map.

Macedonia Church is a location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map, near the community of Eylau.

Macedonia School is a location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map, near the community of Eylau.

Malta:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Malta is on the Missouri Pacific line and U.S. Highway 82, six miles west of New Boston in northwestern Bowie County. Early settler Lynn Tucker named it for Malta, Illinois. A post office was established there in 1896 with Jeff D. Norman as postmaster. By 1900 the town had a population of 243, which remained at roughly that level until the 1940s, when it began to decline. The post office was discontinued in the 1950s. In 1985 Malta reported an estimated population of eighty-five and no rated businesses. In 1990 its population was 297.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “MALTA, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnm06.

Maud:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Maud is on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway near U.S. Highway 67 ten miles south of Boston in southern Bowie County. The territory around Maud, known before the Republic of Texas era as the Red River Country, was among the earliest settled areas, but Spanish claims to the land, outlaws from the Neutral Ground, and general lawlessness discouraged extensive development. After the railroad reached the site in 1870, a community gradually began to emerge. The town was named for Maud Knapp, daughter of Samuel D. Knapp, the first postmaster and the donor of land for the townsite. A post office opened in 1881, closed the next year, then reopened in 1893. By 1910 the population of the town had reached 300, and by 1940 it had grown to 750. During World War II the Red River Army Depot and the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plantqqv were built six miles north of the community. These two facilities provided jobs for many Maud citizens. In 1982 Maud had eleven rated businesses and an estimated population of 1,059. The two military installations remained the largest employers of Maud residents. In 1990 the community population was 1,049. The population was 1,028 in 2000.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Claudia Hazlewood, “MAUD, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hjm08.

McKinney’s Landing was an early landing operated by Collin McKinney on the bank of the Red River from about 1824 to 1844 (Rosborough Lake was cut off from the Red River later).  McKinney, one of the most notable figures in the history of early Anglo Texas, located here on what was known as Hickman’s Prairie in 1824.  The landing was one of the most important trading stops for steamboats until it was washed away in 1844.  By 1846 McKinney had relocated to what became the town of McKinney in Collin County.  See http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmc73 for more information on McKinney.  Also see Captain W. W. Withenbury’s 1838-1842 “Red River Reminiscences”, including the location of McKinney’s Landing.  McKinney’s home was also very near the landing according to information in “Reminiscences.”

Mooresville:  The Eli Moores family established a church and the Harrison Family Cemetery in the early 1840s, close to their plantation residence near Trammel’s Trace; however, the exact location of the Moores’ residence is not known.  Various sources say it was 2 miles NW of Redwater (Texas History Online), 1 mile north of the Harrison Family Cemetery, at Moore’s landing on the Sulphur River, and on the Old Redwater Road.  None of these are consistent with any other, so our map places the location slightly north of the cemetery and close to both Trammel’s Trace and Old Redwater Road as a best guess. Both “Charles Moores” and the nearby “David Lanes” were stops on the 1840s Texas Republic post route to Boston, and Mooresville appears on several early maps of the area.

Moores’ Landing is shown near this location in the 1906 USGS Texarkana quadrangle map and also the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Moores’ Landing was on the William Crutcher and James B. Floyd surveys on the banks of the Sulphur Fork of the Red River in Bowie County two miles west of the Texas-Arkansas state line. It was named for the Moores family, early settlers in Bowie and Cass counties. During Moores’ Landing’s existence, the Sulphur Fork carried twenty feet of water and was navigable for at least fifty miles upstream. Moores’ Landing lost its importance when the Texas and Pacific railway was completed between Jefferson and Texarkana in 1873. A post office operated from March to September 1874.”  (Handbook of Texas Online, Virginia H. Taylor, “MOORES’ LANDING,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rnm10.)  Whether this is the same location as the later Loop Landing, shown on the 1906 USGS Texarkana quadrangle map is very uncertain, as this point is south of the Crutcher and Floyd surveys (which were not on the Sulphur River) and is a bit more than two miles (as the crow flies) from the state line to the east.

Moore’s Sawmill was at this approximate location as shown on the 1906 USGS Texarkana quadrangle map.  Moore’s Sawmill is not shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Morris Church is shown at this location on 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  The 1906 USGS Texarkana quadrant map shows this as the location of “White Chapel.”.

Morris School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Moss Springs School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  It is also shown as a community on  the 1958 Bowie County Highway Map.

Mt. Pleasant School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Mt. Zion Church is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Myrtle Springs:  According to Gunnar Brune’s “Springs of Texas,” p, 83, the “Myrtle Springs” were named for “the crepe myrtle which formerly grew wild here.”   A community grew up around the springs from the 1830s on.  Myrtle Springs was listed (SWHQ, Vol 20, p 119) as a Texas Republic Post Office in 1839 and later. The post route ran east from Myrtle Springs to Fulton and likely followed on or close to the route of today’s Myrtle Springs Road.   The “Watlington Manuscript” from the 1920s notes that Myrtle Springs was  “within a stones throw of the splendid public highway leading from the latter place (Hooks) to Red River”.  This “public highway” is likely today’s County Road 560, which goes north to Burns.  For the complete description see: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/bowie/history/myrtle.txt.

Nash:  From the Handbook of Texas Online: ” Nash is on U.S. Highway 82 and the Missouri Pacific line, five miles from Texarkana in eastern Bowie County. It emerged in the 1870s around the junction of a branch line of the Texas and Pacific that ran from Marshall, Texas, and the main line, which crossed the county from east to west. Originally the area was referred to as Transcontinental Junction or sometimes as Texarkana Junction. A post office was established in 1884 and named Park for John N. Parker, the first postmaster, but the settlement was still referred to at times by its earlier names. In 1906 the name was changed to Nash, in honor of Manny Nash, the railroad division superintendent. In 1890 the town had a store, a pharmacy, two mills, a cotton gin, and 100 inhabitants. By 1900 its population had reached 487, and for the next fifty years the population level remained fairly stable. In 1914 the population of Nash was 400, and from 1925 through 1950 it was 484. During the 1950s the town was incorporated and began to grow again. It reported a population of 1,124 in the 1960 census. In 1980 Nash had 2,022 residents, many employed either in Texarkana or at one of the two military installations, Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, located a few miles west of the town. In 1990 the population was 2,162. (Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “Nash, TX (Bowie County),” accessed January 27, 2017, http://www.tshaonline.org)

Needmore is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Neil Chapel is shown in this vicinity on 1958 Bowie County highway map.

New Bethel School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

New Boston:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “New Boston is on U.S. Highway 82 and the Missouri Pacific Railroad twenty-one miles west of Texarkana in the central part of Bowie County. When the railroad was being constructed four miles north of Boston in the summer of 1876, it was clear to many businessmen in Boston (now Old Boston) that their town would suffer a serious decline as a consequence of its distance from the line. At a mass meeting J. H. Smelser, a local resident and surveyor for the railroad, was selected to meet with railroad officials to secure the location of a depot at a point on the line nearest to Boston. The negotiations were successful, and in September 1876 lots were laid out and put up for sale on 100 acres that the railroad had purchased. Because most of those engaged in the project were from Boston, the new town was named New Boston. A post office was established in 1877 with L. C. DeMorse as postmaster. The town grew rapidly. By 1884 it had 400 residents, two churches, a school, several mills and gins, and a newspaper, the New Boston Herald, edited by W. W. West. A furniture factory and another newspaper, the Bowie County Populist, were added in the 1890s.By 1900 the town had a population of 762. It grew slowly until the late 1920s, when a short-lived boom raised the population from 869 in 1925 to 1,300 in 1929. The population fell to 949 by 1931. During World War II the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant and the Red River Army Depotqqv were constructed just southeast of New Boston. The two massive military installations were probably responsible for the town’s rapid growth in the 1940s. The population grew from 1,111 in 1940 to 2,688 in 1950. In 1980 it reached 4,628. Although a large paper mill and a few smaller factories provided some industrial base for the town, in 1987 New Boston depended heavily on the two military installations for its continued prosperity. The town had 5,057 residents in 1990. On March 4, 1986, a new county courthouse was dedicated in New Boston, but Boston remained the official county seat. The old Bowie County Courthouse, constructed in Boston in 1889 and one of the handsomest in Northeast Texas, was abandoned after construction of the new building. On the night of August 13, 1987, the old courthouse was burned by an arsonist. In 2000 the population was 4,808.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “New Boston, TX,” accessed December 29, 2016

Oak Grove:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Oak Grove is on the Missouri Pacific line and U.S. Highway 82 some 4½ miles west of DeKalb in northwestern Bowie County. When the post office was first opened in 1893, the community was called Rolyat, but in 1906 the name was changed because of the beautiful grove of oak trees nearby. In 1914 the town had an estimated population of 200, but by 1925 it had declined to eighty. The post office was discontinued in the 1950s. In 1982 Oak Grove had an estimated population of sixty and no rated businesses. By 2000 the population reached 294.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “OAK GROVE, TX (BOWIE COUNTY),” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hno04.

Oak Grove School:  The 1918 Bowie County Soil Map shows both Oak Grove School and a church at this crossroads location.

Oak Hill Church is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Oak Ridge is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Oak Ridge Church is shown on the 1958 Bowie County Highway Map at this location.  The 1918 Bowie County Soil Map shows this church, another church across the road, and “Minter School” at this location.

Old Boston:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Old Boston is four miles south of New Boston in south central Bowie County. The town was settled in the early 1830s and named for W. J. Boston, who operated the first store there. When the county was organized in 1841 the community was selected as the county seat. A post office was established there in 1846 with L. D. Vandike as postmaster. The town served farmers throughout the central part of the county, and by the time of the Civil War it was also the residence of a number of wealthy planters who owned plantations along the Red River. It has been estimated that during the 1860s the community’s population reached 300 to 400. When the Texas and Pacific Railway was built through the county in 1876, it bypassed Boston to the north by four miles. Area businessmen met with railroad officials and had a station built directly north of Boston. The town of New Boston was laid out on the railroad, and a number of merchants from Boston moved to the new town. By the early 1880s the population of the original Boston had declined to seventy-five. Then, in the mid-1880s, citizens of Texarkana successfully campaigned to have Texarkana made county seat, and by the end of the decade the population of old Boston had fallen to fifty. Another relocation campaign, this time by residents from the central part of the county, proposed a county seat in the county’s geographic center. In 1890, when the new courthouse was constructed 2½ miles north of Boston, its post office-still named Boston-was moved. Residents who remained at the original townsite began to call their community Old Boston. In 1984 Old Boston had three churches, two businesses, and a cemetery. By 2000 the population was 100.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “OLD BOSTON, TX,” accessed September 15, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hro14.

Old Union:   Although current maps indicate this community is called Old Union, it apparently was also known as Poer in the 19th century and had a post office until the early 1900s. The Handbook of Texas Online has an entry for Poer in addition to one for Old Union.  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Old Union is located on U.S. 67 about nine miles southwest of New Boston and twenty-five miles southwest of Texarkana in southern Bowie County. Settlement may have begun as early as 1830, when school was conducted out of a log-hewn house in the area. The schoolhouse also held church services for various denominations, and the name Union was derived from the Union Church. Martin A. Poer was the original grantee of the land where Old Union was established, and he received his patent on May 15, 1848. Social activities in the farming settlement probably centered on school and church functions. Old Union Cemetery was established by the 1860s, and the earliest marked graves date to the mid-1860s. In the early part of the twentieth century through the 1930s Old Union had a school, two Baptist churches, several businesses, and many farms and homes. The cemetery was still in use in the latter 1900s, and in 1990 the town had a population of 238. That figure remained constant through 2000.” Handbook of Texas Online, Laurie E. Jasinski, “OLD UNION, TX (BOWIE COUNTY),” accessed September 30, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlo26.

Pettis Bridge (“Old”):  The 1918 Bowie County Soil Map shows a “Pettis Bridge” across the Sulphur River at this approximate location, west of the current bridge.  The 1936 Bowie County Highway Map shows the Pettis Bridge to the east of the current bridge, in line with the still apparent old bridge.

Pettis Bridge (“New”): In 1921 a “new” Pettis Bridge was authorized by Congress  to be built across the Sulphur “at or near the location of Pettis Bridge.”  This was apparently built to the east of the current modern bridge and identified as the “Pettis Bridge” on the 1935 Bowie County Highway map.  The Congressional Act is copied below.CHAP. 104.-An Act Granting the consent of Congress to the counties of Bowie and Cass, State of Texas, for construction of a bridge across Sulphur River, at or near Pettis Bridge on State Highway Numbered Eight, in said counties and State. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United State of America in Congress assembled,That the consent of Congress is hereby granted to the counties of Bowie and Cass, State of Texas, toconstruct, maintain, and operate a bridge and approaches thereto across the Sulphur River at a point suitable to the interests of naviga- tion, at or near the location of Pettis Bridge on Texas State High- way Numbered Eight, as located between Douglassville, in CassCounty, and the town of Maud, in Bowie County, State of Texas, in accordance with the provisions of the Act entitled “An Act toregulate the construction of bridges over navigable waters,” approved March 23, 1906.SEC. 2. That the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby expressly reserved.Approved, October 13, 1921.

Pine Springs:  According to Gunnar Brune’s “Springs of Texas”, p. 81, “Pine springs are on the Red River County line at latitude 33 degrees 37 minutes, 17 kilometers northwest of DeKalb and 1/2 kilometer southwest of the Pine Springs cemetery.”  Brunes says “here in 1814 the first Anglo-Saxon settlement in Texas was begun by the Burkhams.”  However, other sources, including the Handbook of Texas Online, indicate the Burkhams settled farther down on Mill Creek.  Brunes also notes that the stage-coach stopped here “on the route from Rocky Ford to Clarksville.”   “Rocky Ford” was on the Red River near the mouth of Mill Creek and the 1820 or earlier settlement of the Burkhams.  A Pine Springs School is shown near this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  The location is also shown as a community on a 1958 Bowie County highway map.

Pleasant Grove Church is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Pleasant Grove School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Pleasant Hill Church is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Pope:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Pope was located in northwestern Bowie County near the James Pope land grant twelve miles northwest of DeKalb. The town was settled in the late 1880s; it received a post office in 1894 with Ida B. Hale as postmistress. By 1896 the town had four churches, numerous businesses, and a population of 500. The post office closed in 1904, and by 1984 Pope had ceased to exist as a named community.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “POPE, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvp73.

Post Oak Bluff is a feature shown on 1918 Bowie County Soil Map. No structures are indicated on this map at this location.

Providence Church is on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map at this location.

Pulaski School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Red Bank:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Red Bank, ten miles northeast of New Boston in northeastern Bowie County, was settled between 1830 and 1845 and named for the color of the soil in the hilly region. A post office operated there in 1901 and 1902 with James Hubbard as postmaster. In 1984 Red Bank had two businesses, a church, two cemeteries, and scattered houses. It was still listed as a community in 1990. By 2000 the population had reached 125.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Claudia Hazlewood, “RED BANK, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrr09.  The Red Bank Baptist Church was established as an African American Church in 1866 on land donated by the plantation and former slave-owners Warren Hooks and Henry Fort.  The first pastor was Hooks’ son Forrest Hook.  Two cemeteries are nearby, with a number of African-American interments, at least in the one to the south of the other. It seems likely that one of these was a white cemetery and the other a black cemetery.   See “Black Churches in Texas,” by Clyde McQueen, Texas A&M University Press, 2000, for more information.

Red Bayou Church is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Red Bayou School No. 2 is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Red Lake is shown as a community on 1958 Bowie County Highway Map.

Red Lick:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Red Lick is a small town located off Farm Road 2148 about seven miles west of Texarkana in northeastern Bowie County. The community began in the 1860s and was named by residents who observed that a nearby red clay hill served as a salt lick for area deer. By the late 1800s social life centered around the Red Lick Methodist Episcopal Church, South, founded in 1885. The Bob Bonner family donated land for the wooden structure that also functioned as a lodge hall and school. Eventually a cemetery was located on an adjacent tract to the north. Church records in the early 1890s listed seventy names, and in 1906 church trustees included members of the Hargis, Earnest, Edwards, Medley, and White families. In 1909 a fire destroyed the church, but the congregation constructed another two-story building on that site. That structure suffered heavy damage in June 1935 when a tornado hit the community. Red Lick maintained its country school throughout the decades just prior to and after World War II. Farm Road 2148 was built through the area in the 1950s. In 1968 the church name was changed to Red Lick United Methodist Church. No population figures were available for Red Lick throughout most of the twentieth century until 1990, when the village had an estimated 448 residents. The Methodist church received a historical marker in 1992. Residents, concerned over the encroachment of nearby Texarkana, voted to incorporate Red Lick in 1997, and in 2000 the town had a mayor and council and a volunteer fire department. The population was 853.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Laurie E. Jasinski, “RED LICK, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlr53.

Redwater:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Redwater is twelve miles southwest of Texarkana in southeastern Bowie County. It grew up in the mid-1870s around a sawmill operated by two men named Daniels and Spence, who named the community Ingersoll, in honor of the agnostic Robert Ingersoll. A post office was established in 1881, and by 1884 the town had an estimated population of fifty. In 1886 a big revival meeting was held in the town, which resulted in about 110 conversions. Shortly after the meeting residents of the town, no longer wishing to honor the agnostic, decided that the name of the town should be changed. They had just completed a new well that yielded red water, and the town was renamed for this feature. The name of the post office was not officially changed until 1894. Although the population of the town swelled to an estimated 300 by 1892, by 1900 it had fallen to 128. It reached 250 in the 1920s. During World War II the Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant were built just north of Redwater, providing thousands of jobs for county residents. The population of Redwater jumped from 250 in the early 1940s to 457 by 1950. In 1982 Redwater had a population of 460 and five rated businesses. In 1990 the population was 894.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “REDWATER, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlr08.

Rock Creek School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Rosborough School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Runnels Ferry is shown at this approximate location  as shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Sand Hill is an old farming community dating back to pre-Civil War times. According to the sign, the Church was established in 1859 and is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map. Although no other information on the community is known at this time, it is very likely that Anglo-American farmers settled in the area well before the Civil War.

St. James Church is shown on the 1958 Highway Map at this location, but is not shown on the 1918 Soil Map.

Shaw’s Ferry, operated by Hugh B. Shaw on his head right grant, started up well before 1840, as it was the point designated by the Republic of Texas 1840 law establishing Bowie County.  The line separating Bowie County from Red River County went due south from Shaw’s Ferry.

Shaws Store is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map at this crossroads.

Shiloh Church is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Siloam Church is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.   According to the Texas Handbook of History Online, the community of Siloam was established before the Civil War, so the church likely existed from that time.  Whether this location indicates a different church from the one on this map under “Siloam” is not known at this point.

Siloam:  From Handbook of Texas Online:  “Siloam is four miles northwest of Simms in southwestern Bowie County. It was settled before the Civil War. A post office granted in 1895 was discontinued in 1907. The farming and lumbering community had a population of thirty-eight in 1910. From 1933 through 1964 the population of the town was reported as seventy-five. In 1982 Siloam had a population of fifty and no rated businesses. Through 2000 the population was still reported as fifty.” (Handbook of Texas Online, Claudia Hazlewood, “Siloam, TX (Bowie County),” accessed January 23, 2017, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hns45.)

Simms:  From “The Handbook of Texas Online”:  Simms is nine miles southwest of Boston in southwestern Bowie County. It was named for G. W. Simms, who played a major role in securing a post office for the town in 1890. In 1892 the town had a gristmill, a gin, a store, and a population of fifty. By 1914 the population had grown to 150. It declined to a low of fifty in the 1930s. The town began to grow again in the 1940s, and in 1982 Simms had a population of 240 and four rated businesses. The population through 2000 was still reported at 240.  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “SIMMS, TX (BOWIE COUNTY),” accessed November 13, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hls49.

Sledge is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  Sledge was on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway.

Smith’s Landing was at this approximate location in the 1830s and 40s as shown on Fig. 6, p. 105, “Reminiscences.”  From that source, p. 106, “There was nothing to mark that spot save a little cotton shed…but a half a mile back, on the high table land, was the ever-to-be-remembered hospitable and comfortable mansion of Judge James N. Smith.”  According to n. 12, p. 212, Smith came to Texas in 1834 and received his head right in what was then Red River County in March 1838.  Smith was the Chief Justice of Bowie County from 1842 to 1849 and died in 1853 or 1854.

South Texarkana is a somewhat ephemeral “town.” The location of South Texarkana shown on this map is taken from “Texas Land Survey Maps for Bowie County,” by Gregory A. Boyd, Arphax Publishing. According to an article in the May 19, 2013 Texarkana Gazette, South Texarkana was incorporated in 1951 but the town council was dissolved in 1959.   “South Texarkana” shows up by that name as a community on several USGS topo maps from 1960 through 2011, although it is not on a 1942 map .  The U.S. Census for 1950 lists it as a town with a population of 317.  The Texas Almanac lists it as a town in the 1952-53 edition and the 2000-01 edition, but does not list it as a town in 2018-19.  A recent drive-through of the area shows no apparent evidence that it still exists as a recognizable entity.  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “South Texarkana is off Farm Road 558 just south of Texarkana in eastern Bowie County. It grew up after 1900 and was incorporated before 1950. The reported population in 1952 was 316; in 1992 the number of residents had grown to 370. The population remained the same in 2000.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Christopher Long, “SOUTH TEXARKANA, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlshy.

Spanish Bluff is historically important for several reasons, including as a site of a Caddo village, the location of the 1806 confrontation between a Spanish military force under Francisco Viana and the American Freeman-Custis expeditionary group, a later Shawnee village location, and the head right and home place of Richard Ellis, the president of the Texas Republic convention.  Its relationship to the Pleasant Hill community a short distance to the south is uncertain, but many Ellis’s are buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, where the earliest burial year is 1840.                   From the Handbook of Texas Online–“Spanish Bluff is a landmark about six miles northeast of New Boston on the Texas side of the Red River in Bowie County (at 33°31′ N, 94°24′ W). The name originated with traders or early settlers. Here in 1806 President Thomas Jefferson’s Red River expedition was blocked by a Spanish army commanded by Francisco Viana and forced to abort its exploration of the Southwest. Spanish Bluff, an imposing bluff 100 feet high, vegetated with large oaks and pines, stretches nearly half a mile along the south bank before the river swings away from it; it was a well-known landmark on the Red River long before the coming of Europeans. J. R. Swanton believed it was the location of one of the Nanatsoho Caddo divisions during the late precontact and early contact periods. The Nanatsohos were among the most westerly of the Red River Caddos. When the French officer Jean Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe raised the French flag over these villages in 1719, he considered locating his post on the bluff before deciding on a location downriver, within the Kadohadacho-Nasonnite nucleus of villages. Viana’s selection of the bluff as a defensive position was based upon military considerations and upon the premise that it marked the Caddo perimeter and therefore the French one. Spanish Bluff became a landmark of importance to the settlers of Northeast Texas. The name was used in boundary descriptions for Clay Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, in 1819. In 1827 Edmund Pendleton Gaines suggested it as the northern point of a temporary eastern boundary of Texas. It became a place for the rendezvous of parties in search of renegade Indians, and Peter Ellis Bean reported Shawnees living near the bluff in 1830. Spanish Bluff was proposed as a postal station on the route from Washington, Texas, to Jonesboro, Arkansas, in 1835. The bluff became incorporated in the headright land of Texas patriot Richard Ellis in 1838. Today it is associated with Ellis butrarely remembered for the role it played in the early imperial struggle for Texas.” Handbook of Texas Online, Dan L. Flores, “SPANISH BLUFF,” accessed October 21, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rjs75.

Spring Hill is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map approximately this location.  This is not the same as the Spring Hill Community to the west.

Spring Hill:  According to Gunnar Brune’s in “The Springs of Texas,” p.82, the Gay Springs in this area were “much used by early settlers around 1845.  In the 1870s a stage-coach stop and inn were located here, on the road between the rocky Ford of the Reed River, near the mouth of Mill Creek, and Clarksville.” The 1918 Bowie County Soil Map shows a Spring Hill School at approximately this location.  The location is also shown on a 1958 Bowie County Highway Map.

State Line Ferry is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Stephenson’s Ferry was, along with Epperson’s Ferry to the east the first Sulphur River crossing points for Trammel’s Trace.  Approximate location of  Stephenson’s Ferry.  Some researchers show this as the crossing of the “Spanish Trace,” the western path of Trammel’s Trace which went north to Pecan Point on the Red River in Red River County and from there to Jonesborough in Red River County. The location shown is from a 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  On this map the location is indicated as the “Stephenson Ferry Bridge.” From “The Handbook of Texas online: “Stephenson’s Ferry was on the Sulphur River between Bowie and Cass counties, just east of the boundary between Cass and Morris counties. The ferry was established by Joseph A. Stephenson about 1838 and remained in operation until about 1910. In 1936 a monument was erected there by the Texas Centennial Commission.” (Handbook of Texas Online, “Stephenson’s Ferry,” accessed January 02, 2017, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rts01).

Stover is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Stroud is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Sulphur’s location as shown on this map is taken from “Texas Land Survey Maps for Bowie County,” by Gregory A. Boyd, Arphax Publishing. From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Sulphur was on the eastern division of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Sulphur River ten miles south of Texarkana in southeastern Bowie County. It was probably settled in the early 1870s, when the Texas and Pacific Railway was being built. When a post office was established there in 1874 with L. C. Leeds as postmaster, it was named Sulphur Station. By 1884 the village was said to contain a gristmill, and lumber, shingle, and planing mills. The population was reported as 300. This was the highest population estimate ever recorded for Sulphur Station. In 1890 and 1896 the population was estimated at 100. The post office was discontinued in 1899, and no further population reports are available. By 1936 the settlement, which consisted of a few widely scattered houses, was being referred to as Sulphur; it may have been the site of a post office called Sulphur that operated in 1903 and 1904. By 1984 Sulphur had ceased to exist as a named community.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Cecil Harper, Jr., “SULPHUR, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvscx.

Three Corners is one of those rare locations where three states come together.

Union School is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  Location here is approximate.

Valley Grove School is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Vaughn’s Store is shown at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

Victory City:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Victory City is a small community located just north of Interstate 30 about eleven miles west of Texarkana in east central Bowie County. The town developed in the early 1940s along the Texas and Pacific Railway and U.S. highway 82 as a result of construction of the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant. Victory City, platted at the entrance of the ammunition plant, was so named to reflect the patriotic sentiment regarding World War II. The community, which consisted of a few businesses and many homes, continued to exist in the years following the war, and many residents worked at the plant. The first census figures available recorded a population of 250 in 2000. Victory City Cemetery was located in the nearby town of Hooks.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Laurie E. Jasinski, “VICTORY CITY, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlv14.

Wake Village:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Wake Village is an incorporated town just west of Texarkana on U.S. Highway 67 in eastern Bowie County. It was founded in 1944 or early 1945 to house workers from the nearby Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, and was evidently named for Wake Island, a site of bitter fighting during World War II. The community incorporated soon after its founding, and by the early 1950s the population had reached 1,066. Since that time Wake Village continued to grow steadily, and in 1991 it had a population of 4,413. Most of the residents worked at the nearby army installations or in Texarkana.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Christopher Long, “WAKE VILLAGE, TX,” accessed October 07, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hgw01.

Wamba:  From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Wamba, near the Red River five miles northwest of Texarkana in eastern Bowie County, is in an area that was occupied by squatters as early as the 1830s but not actually settled before the 1850s. A post office opened in 1897 with Laurel B. Fort as postmaster and was discontinued in 1916. The population of Wamba was reported as fifty in 1910 and as forty in 1940. In 1982 and 1990 Wamba had a population of seventy and no rated businesses.”  Handbook of Texas Online, Claudia Hazlewood, “WAMBA, TX,” accessed August 04, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnw15.  According to “Black Churches in Texas,” by Clyde McQueen (Texas A&M University Press, 2000), the Oak Grove Baptist Church was an African-American Church.  “The exact organization year of this church is unknown, but the current building was constructed in 1895.”

Ward Creek:   From the Handbook of Texas Online:  “Ward Creek (also known as Wards Creek) is located on Farm Road 561 about fourteen miles southwest of New Boston and thirty-four miles west-southwest of Texarkana in southwestern Bowie County. The community was named for nearby Ward Creek, and early settler William Ward received a patent for a headright of 1,280 acres in the area on February 10, 1846. The town probably had developed by the second half of the nineteenth century and consisted of a church, school, and farms. The oldest marked grave in Wards Creek Cemetery dates back to 1879. In the 1930s Ward Creek had two churches, a school, several businesses, a sawmill, and numerous dwellings. It remained a rural area throughout the twentieth century and recorded a population of 164 in 1990 and 2000.” Handbook of Texas Online, Laurie E. Jasinski, “WARD CREEK, TX,” accessed November 02, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlw51

Water Valley School is shown on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.  Location shown here is approximate.

Watson’s Ferry is shown at this approximate location on an 1884 Head Right Survey Map at the Texarkana Museum of Regional History.  This is likely the same location, or very close to it, as the first Pettis Bridge.

Whaley’s is a railroad stop name (also known as the Whaley Switch) just west of Hooks, but probably references Whaley’s Farm (or plantation).This location is at the southern end of the original Jonathan Collum head right, which stretches north to the Red River. The Whaley Plantation included bottom lands up to the river and likely corresponded to the Jonathan Collum head right. See http://ourfamiliesuntoldstories.com/2013/11/those-places-thursday-whaley-farm-in-bowie-co-texas/

Whatley is shown approximately at this location on the 1918 Bowie County Soil Map.

White Cotton’s location is shown on a 1930 USGS Bassett quadrant topographical map.  It is likely that the location was occupied by farmers much earlier, and it’s original name may have been a Whitecotton after a landowner in the area.

Entered Texas at this point. The 1813 road from St. Louis brought in great numbers of pioneers: Stephen F. Austin, his settlers, Sam Houston, James Bowie, David Crockett and others who died in the Texas Revolution. From here pointed southwest. Crossed the Sulphur at Epperson ferry, going south to Nacogdoches, linking “Southwest Trail” with the King’s Highway to Mexico. Surveyed by Nicholas Trammel (born in Nashville, Tenn., 1780; died, LaGrange, Texas, 1852), one of a family of U.S. surveyors and scouts. Mapped many trails, but only this one bears his name. (1965)

(March 26, 1836 – July 19, 1907) A first lady of Texas. Wife of H.W. Runnels, member of legislature 1857-59. During these years she and husband lived in Governor’s Mansion, where she was the official hostess for her bachelor brother-in-law, Gov. Hardin Richard Runnels. Recorded – 1969 Incise on base: Erected by Lone Star Chapter Daughters of American Revolution and Bowie County Historical Survey Committee.  Note:  The location of this marker is unclear as it was not seen on a walk-through of the Rose Hill Cemetery on February 1, 2017 (MGS).  However, the grave of Martha Runnels and her husband, Howell Runnels, is located here..

Were explorers and traders for about a century. Claimed coastal Texas early as 1685 when La Salle established his Fort Saint Louis colony. Another Fort Saint Louis, among Nassonite Indians, a few miles northwest of this marker, was founded in 1719 by a French captain, Benard de La Harpe, who came up the Red River. This fort was a center for trade with the Cadodacho (Caddoes) of northeast Texas and the Wichita, Tawakoni, Tonkawa and other tribes of North Texas. Over 250,000 French and Caddo Indian artifacts have been found near here– including two millstones used in a flour mill near the fort. Although Spain claimed Texas earlier and during the time of La Harpe, this did not discourage the French; they traded as far south as the mouth of the Trinity until Louisiana was ceded to Spain in 1762. The chief French influence in east Texas was the Cavalier Saint Denis (1676-1744), who controlled Red River area of Louisiana, frequently coming into Texas. At first he prospected for silver and gold, as Spain had done. Later he found trading with the Indians was very profitable. The French had no policy against trading guns to Indians; partly for that reason they were more popular than the Spainards. (1966)

Named for Maj. Gen. Johann de Kalb – a hero of the American Revolution – upon suggestion (1836) of David Crockett, a visitor on his way to fight in Texas War for Independence. Other Texas heroes traveling through here were James B. Fannin and Wm. B. Travis. Settled by 1831, when land was given for a public school by Dr. W.H. Boyce, Wm. L. Browning, D.M. Chisholm, Clement R. Johns and Judge (and Dr.) James W. Smith. Site of first college in Bowie County, founded in 1839 and of Ninth Masonic Lodge in Texas, organized 1840. Served as county seat, 1840-1841. On two early stagelines. A stopover for U.S. immigrants to Texas Republic, and 49’ers on way to California gold rush. In 1870’s hideouts of train robbers Sam Bass, Jesse James, other notorious characters were nearby. Texas & Pacific Railroad reached here 1876. Site in 1889 of P.S. Ramseur’s sawmill which shipped high quality lumber all over United States; to get logs to mill, he built a railroad, traces of which still exist. Although in 1896 and 1923 most of businesses were destroyed by fires, city prospers today. Center of ranching, truck farming, and pulpwood productions. Known as “The Pride of East Texas”. (1966)

Native of Kentucky. In Civil War, fought at Shiloh, Chickamauga and other battles. After being wounded twice, became a guard at Confederate White House. When Richmond fell on April 3, 1865, was placed in escort for the departing president. Rode 5 weeks toward Florida, where President Jefferson Davis was planning to sail for Mexico to join many other Confederate leaders. (These Southerners intended to regroup an army, march north to Texas and continue their fight for states’ rights.) President Davis and his guards were followed by thieves trying to steal the Confederate treasury, the horses and the wagons. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14 and the offer of a reward of $100,000 caused many adventurers to hunt for President Davis. Just before dawn on May 10, near Irwinsville, GA., Federals captured him and his party, including 2 Texans, Postmaster-General John H. Reagan and Presidential Aide F.R. Lubbock, a former Governor of Texas. Mrs. Davis and children were soon freed, but all the men were imprisoned. Sanders was released in a year. Later he came to Texas and lived near this site after 1887– honored for years as the last man of the Davis bodyguard. (1965)

Has 3 groups of octagonal rooms (leaves of a club) opening on a rotunda backed by long rectangular rooms (the Club’s stem). Rotunda has a marble mantel, French mirrors and spiral stairway and is topped with 20-foot tower. Built 1884 by J.H. Draughan. Was owned since 1894 by Henry Moore family. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 1964.  Now owned by the Texarkana Museums System and is open for tours.  Go to www.texarkanamuseums.org for more information.

(November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) Black composer Scott Joplin, often called the “King of Ragtime Music”, was born in Texarkana, Texas, five years before the townsite was platted in 1873. His family lived in this vicinity, and he attended nearby Orr School on Laurel Street. His early musical training came from his father, Giles Joplin, an ex-slave who played the fiddle, and mother, Florence Givens Joplin, who played the banjo. By tradition, a German music teacher realized Joplin’s talent and gave him lessons. Joplin left home at age 14 and wandered through the midwest entertaining in saloons and honky-tonks. In the 1890s, he was one of the originators of ragtime, a rhythmic new musical form that combined black and white musical traditions. Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag”, published in 1899, launched ragtime as a national fad. Joplin defended ragtime against those who called it frivolous and worked constantly to refine his music, which included over 30 piano rags. Demand for ragtime had declined by 1917, when Joplin died in New York City. Joplin’s background is revealed in his most ambitious work, the black folk opera “Treemonisha”, set on a plantation “northeast of the town of Texarkana”. It was not produced until the 1970s, when a revival of Joplin’s music inspired public recognition of his genius. (1976) Incise on back: Texarkana Joint Bicentennial Commission, Bowie County Historical Commission, Jerry L. Atkins, Nick Demopulos

A Virginian by birth and education, jurist and statesman of Alabama, 1813-1825. Came to Texas, 1825. President of the Constitutional Convention, March 1836, and member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas. Born February 14, 1781; died here December 20, 1846.

Established while part of Mexico; to serve plantations on Red River. Mail came horseback from Arkansas. Named for W.J. Boston, first storekeeper. A battalion was formed here to fight in Texas Revolution. First Bowie County Seat, 1841. Large stores surrounded square and two-story brick courthouse. Became educational center with 3 fine private schools. Texas governors Hardin R. Runnels and S.W.T. Lanham have lived here. New Boston (4 mil. N) founded on railroad, 1877. Boston (1 mi. S), exact county center, made county seat 1890, and this became “Old” Boston. (1966)