Submitted by Ouida
Hopkins, Mar 19, 2010
Simsboro is located near Farm Road 80 about nine miles west of Fairfield and
three miles northwest of Teague in western Freestone County. The community was
named for the Sims family who migrated from Georgia to Freestone County in 1852.
Sterling Sims brought his slaves and purchased 490 acres in the western section
of the county. By the late 1850's the settlement of Simsboro was established.
The Sims family, silversmiths by trade, became blacksmiths, ironsmiths, and
builders in the region. Joseph Sims, the youngest son of Sterling, operated a
general store in the town during the later 1800's until he sold the mercantile
to Hugh Day about 1897. In the 1930's Simsboro had a school, many area farms,
churches, businesses, and the Magnolia Pump Station along the Burlington-Rock
Island Railroad. In the 1990's several churches still existed in the rural
community. No population figures were available in 2000.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Freestone County Historical Commission. HISTORY OF FREESTONE
COUNTY TEXAS (Fairfield, Texas, 1978).
Personal information: My husband (Joseph Howard Hopkins) is related to Sterling
Sims through his great great grandmother who was a sister of Sterling Sims. Her
name was Jane Sims or Simms. She was born in Georgia in 1790 and died there in
1840. She married James E. Skaggs.