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The county’s
first jail still stands in the gullies and housed inmates until
the early 1980s when a new jail was built on a hill. The new Coldspring
was also built atop the hill with a new courthouse in 1918.
On Highway 190 is Oakhurst, which was once a prosperous sawmill
town named for Oakhurst, Oklahoma, home of of several lumber men
who moved to Texas.
Three miles north of Oakhurst is Raven Hill, the one-time
home of Sam Houston,
the hero of San
Jacinto. The hill got its name from an Indian name for Houston.
Further up Highway 190 from Oakhurst is Point
Blank, which was originally named Point Blanc by a Frenchwoman
who moved here from Alabama. The town was also called Point White
and White Point.
About a mile south of Point
Blank is Robinson Cemetery, where a large monument marks
the grave of Governor George Tyler Wood, who served from 1849 to
1851. Wood’s grave was unmarked for more than a half-century until
the monument was built.
At Coldspring,
historical markers dot the community. Coldspring United Methodist
Church is believed to be the oldest Methodist church in continuous
use in Texas. Another church, Evergreen United Methodist, was organized
in 1862, several years before the county was formed.
The Trapp-McClanahan
house, built around 1880, is privately owned and Council Hill,
also located on private property, was the home of Vernal B. Lea,
brother of Mrs. Sam Houston.
Several old cemeteries dot the county, including Laurel Hill, where
General James Davis is buried.
Old Waverly,
an early center of culture, is located on Highway 150 about 14 miles
west of Coldspring.
The town of Shepherd,
located on U.S. 59, originated near Old Drew’s Landing on the Trinity
River, and the Coushatta Indians inhabited an area on Coley Creek
from 1835 to 1900.
Bob Bowman's East Texas
May
1, 2011 Column.
A weekly column syndicated in 109 East Texas newspapers
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