BELVIEW, TEXAS. (Marion County) Belview is a church community thirteen miles northeast of Jefferson and two miles northeast of the intersection of State highways 49 and 43 in northeastern Marion County. The Belview school had seventy-two black pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 the community had a two-room schoolhouse with twenty-nine elementary students. By 1955 the school had consolidated with the Jefferson schools, and in 1962 all that remained at the site of Belview was a church, which was still shown on state highway maps in 1983.
BEREA, TEXAS (Marion County). BEREA COMMUNITY is located on FM 728 about five miles northwest of Jefferson. In 1914 Elder E. B. Hopkins of the Seventh Day Adventist Church was asked by some local citizens of Jefferson to establish a church school, offering financial help. In 1914 W. A. McCutchen, Texas Conference President of Seventh-Day Adventist purchased the 1770 acre plantation owned by Douglas and Mamie G. Jones. The McCutchens sold land to those who wished to move here and place their children in a christian school. Before 1918, the original 1770 acres had been sold to church members. Some of the first settlers in the community were S.P. and Elizabeth Colvin, W.B. and Nola Powell, Thomas and Emma Hancock and Richard Franklin Culpepper and his wife, Lena. Mr. Culpepper named the community "Berea". The high school became a boarding academy in 1941 and has a present enrollment of approximately 75 students from various states and countries. The present name of the school is Jefferson Adventist Academy. Across the street from the academy and church is Cypress Bend Adventist Elementary School with an enrollment of approximately 60 students. Both the academy and the elementary school have been in continuous operation since the doors opened in 1914. The Jefferson Academy Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the community has a membership of 285. The community has one grocery store across the street from the academy which has been in the Hopkins family, with the exception of three years, since 1914. There are several other businesses in the area. At the time Mr. McCutchen purchased the Jones property, he set aside a parcel of land for the Berea cemetery. The first burial in the cemetery was Areena Graves in 1917. There has never been an official census of the community. An estimate in 2002 - 2003 is approximately 300.
BETHLEHEM, TEXAS (Marion County). Bethlehem was a school community fourteen miles northwest of Jefferson in northwestern Marion County. The Bethlehem school had eighty-nine black pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 the community had a one-room schoolhouse that accommodated thirty-five elementary students. The school was consolidated with the Lassater schools by 1955, and in 1962 Bethlehem was not shown on government survey maps.
COMET, TEXAS. (Marion County) Comet was two miles from Jefferson in central Marion County. It had a post office from 1891 to 1905. In 1892 it had two general stores, and J. O. Jackson was postmaster. The population of the community was estimated at ten in 1896, and in 1899 thirty pupils attended the Comet school. By 1936 the community was not marked on the county highway map.
CORINTH, TEXAS (Marion County). Corinth was at the intersection of Farm roads 1324 and 248 and State Highway 49, on the Missouri Pacific Railroad three miles northeast of Jefferson in central Marion County. In 1936 the community had a school, a church, a factory, three roadside businesses, and a number of scattered dwellings. The Corinth school in 1938 was a one-room schoolhouse which accommodated forty black elementary school students and one teacher. The local school was consolidated with those of Jefferson by 1955, and by 1962 only the church and cemetery remained at Corinth. By 1983 the church was gone, and the cemetery was no longer marked on the county highway map.
CULBERSON, TEXAS. (Marion County) Culberson was on Black Cypress Bayou ten miles southwest of Linden in southwestern Cass County. A post office was established there in 1883 with I. S. Lacy as the first postmaster. In 1884 the community had a school, two churches, a gristmill, a gin, a general store, and a population of fifty. In 1890 the population of Culberson was reported as 100, but by 1896 it had declined to thirty. The post office was closed in May 1904 and the mail sent to Lassater in Marion County. On the 1936 highway map, a factory and several houses are shown near the site where Culberson was probably located but was not named. By 1983 the area was entirely rural.
DOUGLAS CHAPEL, TEXAS. (Marion County) Douglas Chapel is just east of State Highway 43 and ten miles east of Jefferson in eastern Marion County. The Douglas Chapel school had twenty-six black pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 the community had a one-room schoolhouse that accommodated twenty-seven black elementary students. The school was consolidated with the Jefferson schools by 1955, and in 1962 all that remained at the community site was a church, which was still identified on state highway maps in 1983.
FRAZIER, TEXAS. (Marion County) Frazier was just north of State Highway 49 and fifteen miles northeast of Jefferson in eastern Marion County. The Frazier school had thirty-nine black pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 the community had a one-room schoolhouse that accommodated forty-five black elementary school students and one teacher. The Frazier school was consolidated with those of Jefferson by 1955, and in 1967 all that remained of Frazier was two cemeteries named for the Coore family, who owned the original land grants at the site.
FRIENDSHIP, TEXAS (Marion County). Friendship is at the intersection of two country roads seven miles northeast of Jefferson and 1½ miles north of State Highway 49 in eastern Marion County. The Friendship school had fifty-six white pupils and one teacher in 1899. In the 1930s the community had a school, several scattered dwellings, and a church, a half mile west of the crossroads. In 1938 the community's three-room schoolhouse accommodated thirty-eight black elementary school students and one teacher. The school was consolidated with those of Jefferson by 1955, and in 1967 nothing remained in the area but the Trinity Church. In 1983 the site had the Trinity Church and a community center.
GETHSEMANE COMMUNITY, TEXAS. (Marion County) Gethsemane Community is on State Highway 49 fifteen miles northeast of Jefferson in northeastern Marion County. The Gethsemane school had fifty-three pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 the community had a three-room schoolhouse that accommodated 183 elementary students, twenty-seven high school students, and five teachers. The school was consolidated with the Lassater school by 1955. In 1962 Gethsemane Community had a church and a number of scattered dwellings. In the 1980s there were four business establishments, a recreational facility, and two churches in the predominantly black community.
GRANT, TEXAS (Marion County). Grant was on the East Line and Red River Railroad thirteen miles northwest of Jefferson in northwestern Marion County. A post office opened there in 1890, and in 1892 the community had a shingle and saw mill, the East Line lumber company, a gin and lath mill, and an estimated population of 200. B. F. Brown was the Grant postmaster. The community's post office closed in 1893. Grant seems to have disappeared soon thereafter.
GRAY, TEXAS (Marion County) Gray is at the intersection of State Highway 49 and Farm Road 727, sixteen miles east of Jefferson in eastern Marion County. In 1938 the community had a four-room schoolhouse that accommodated forty-five elementary school students and two teachers. The school was consolidated with the Jefferson schools by 1955, and in 1962 Gray had a church and scattered dwellings. In 1983 there were several businesses on the highway in the area of the community.
HALL COMMUNITY, TEXAS. (Marion County) Hall Community is on State Highway 49 four miles northeast of Jefferson in eastern Marion County. Cemetery records indicate that the area was settled as early as 1857, and the Logan family and Wesley York were among those living in the community in the mid-1800s and later. In 1938 Hall Community had a two-room schoolhouse serving forty-two elementary students and one teacher. In the 1960s the community consisted of a school, a church, and several dwellings, and in 1983 Hall Community had a school, a church, and a community center.
HARTZO, TEXAS. (Marion County) Hartzo, eighteen miles northeast of Jefferson in northeastern Marion County, was probably named for Daniel Hartzo or the Hartzo family, who owned the land grant on which it was situated. A post office opened there in 1894, and in 1896 Hartzo had a population of thirty and a general store run by S. P. Smith. The Guy Hartzo school had seventeen pupils and one teacher in 1899. The community's post office closed in 1905, and by the 1930s Hartzo had apparently disappeared as a named community.
JACKSON, TEXAS (Marion County). Jackson is on the south shore of Lake O' the Pines on Farm Road 726 thirteen miles southwest of Jefferson in southwestern Marion County. In 1938 it had a four-room schoolhouse that accommodated sixty-six students and three teachers. In 1962 the community had several scattered roadside dwellings and the Jackson community building, a mile north of the road. In 1983 Jackson had two businesses and a church.
JEFFERSON, TEXAS (Marion County). Jefferson, the county seat of Marion County, is at the junction of U.S. Highway 59 and State Highway 49, on Big Cypress Creek and Caddo Lake in the south central portion of the county. It was named for Thomas Jefferson when it was founded in the early 1840s by Allen Urquhart and Daniel Alley. In the late 1830s Urquhart, who immigrated to Texas from North Carolina, received a headright on a bend in the creek; he laid out a townsite there around 1842. At about the same time Alley obtained a 586-acre parcel adjacent to Urquhart's survey and laid out additional streets that became known as Alley's Addition. In contrast to most other town planners of the time, who arranged their plans around a central square, Urquhart laid out the town along Big Cypress Creek, with its streets running at right angles to the bayou. Alley's streets, on the other hand, followed the points of the compass. The intersection of the two plans gave the town its distinctive V-shaped layout. As the westernmost outpost for navigation on the Red River, Jefferson quickly developed into an important riverport. The first steamboat, the Llama, reached Jefferson in late 1843 or early 1844. A post office was established in 1846, and the town was incorporated in March 20, 1848, though because of various delays a city charter was not adopted until 1850. In the same year the town adopted the aldermanic form of city government. In 1846 Jefferson became the county seat of Cass County, upon that county's separation from Bowie County, and served as such until Linden became county seat in 1852. A Methodist church was organized in 1844, followed by the Presbyterian church between 1846 and 1850 and the Baptist church in 1855. The first newspaper, the Jefferson Democrat, was printed in 1847, and the following year the Jimplecute, the town's longest-running and most influential paper, made its appearance. During the late 1840s efforts were made to clear Big Cypress Creek for navigation. Within a few years steamboats were regularly making the trip from Shreveport and New Orleans, transporting cotton and other produce downstream and returning with supplies and manufactured goods, including materials and furnishings for many of the early homes. By the late 1840s Jefferson had emerged as the leading commercial and distribution center of Northeast Texas and the state's leading inland port. Among the persistent legends that have grown up around the town was the belief that Jeffersonians had shunned the railroads. While much of the city's wealth during the antebellum and early postbellum years derived from the river trade, city leaders recognized early the importance of rail transportation and made efforts to build a railroad linking the town with Shreveport and Marshall. Construction of a line began in 1860, but only forty-five miles of road was completed by the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1860 Jefferson became county seat of the newly established Marion County. After Abraham Lincoln was elected, Marion County voted unanimously for secession. Jefferson men volunteered for military service in large numbers, and during the Civil War a meat cannery was established there, as were factories for boots and shoes. After the war the town's economy recovered quickly. A fire destroyed practically the entire business section in 1866, but it was rebuilt within a few years. In 1867 Jefferson became the first town in Texas to use artificial gas for lighting purposes, and ice was first manufactured on a commercial scale there in 1868. By 1870 Jefferson, with a population of 4,180, was the sixth largest city in Texas. Between 1867 and 1870 trade grew from $3 million to $8 million, and in the late 1860s more than 75,000 bales of cotton were being shipped annually. By 1870 only Galveston surpassed Jefferson in volume of commerce. The town reached its peak in 1872, when a supplementary census reported 7,297 inhabitants. But in 1873 two events occurred that eventually spelled the end of Jefferson's importance. The first was destruction of the Red River Raft, a natural dam on the river above Shreveport. In November of 1873 nitroglycerin charges were used to remove the last portion of the raft, which had previously made the upper section of the river unnavigable. The demolition of the raft reopened the main course of the river, but significantly lowered the water level of the surrounding lakes and streams, making the trip to Jefferson difficult, particularly in times of drought. Even more important to Jefferson's decline was the completion of the Texas and Pacific Railway from Texarkana to Marshall, which bypassed Jefferson. Although another line of the Texas and Pacific reached Jefferson the following year, the development of rail commerce and the rise of Marshall, Dallas, and other important rail cities brought an end to Jefferson's golden age as a commercial and shipping center. Though efforts were made in later years to raise the water level on the Big Cypress, the railroads soon displaced the riverboats, and with them Jefferson. Another of the misconceptions that surround the history of the town is that railroad magnate Jay Gould, angered by the lukewarm response of Jefferson civic leaders to the railroad, deliberately bypassed the town and wrote in the register of the Excelsior Hotel that it would mean "the end of Jefferson." In fact, reports that Gould placed a curse on the town are completely unfounded. He did not acquire the Texas and Pacific until the early 1880s and only visited the town much later. The rise of the railroads and the decline of the river traffic nevertheless had dire results for Jefferson, and after 1876 the town began to decline. By 1885 the population had fallen to some 3,500. During the late 1870s the town's attention was briefly diverted from its economic woes by the sensational murder trial of Diamond Bessie Moore. Moore, a native of New York state who had worked for a time as a prostitute in New Orleans and Hot Springs, arrived in Jefferson in January 1877 with her consort, Abraham Rothschild. A few days later she was found murdered in the woods nearby. Rothschild was charged with the crime. The court battles that followed became one of the most celebrated trials of the period. Rothschild was eventually found not guilty, and the case was never solved; the incident has continued to provoke fascination. Jefferson's economy rebounded briefly in the late 1930s after the discovery of oil in the county. In 1940 it reported some 3,800 residents and 150 businesses. Subsequently the town slowly declined. By 1970 the population had fallen to 3,203, and the number of businesses had declined to seventy-five. In 1990 the population was 2,199. In the early 1990s Jefferson was known for its places of historic interest, including numerous mid-nineteenth-century homes, churches, and other structures. In 1971 a roughly forty-seven-block area containing fifty-six historic structures was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, some ten other buildings have been accorded National Register status, including the antebellum Excelsior Hotel and Planters Bank and Warehouse. Every year Jefferson sponsors a three-day spring historic pilgrimage to view these sites. Since 1955 the festivities have also included a reenactment of the Diamond Bessie Murder Trial.
JUDEA CHURCH, TEXAS. (Marion County) Judea Church (Judea) is at the intersection of State Highway 49 and Farm Road 805, eight miles northeast of Jefferson in eastern Marion County. The site of the community is south of State Highway 49; a separate community, Whatley, is to the north of the highway. The Judea school had eighty-six black pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 the community had a two-room schoolhouse, which accommodated sixty-seven black elementary students and two teachers. In the 1940s Judea had three businesses, the school, and a church. The school was consolidated with that of Jefferson by 1955, and in 1962 Judea Church had a church, a sawmill, a number of scattered dwellings, and, a short distance north, the Judea Cemetery. In 1983 the community had a church, a sawmill, and one other business, but was no longer identified on the county highway map.
KELLYVILLE, TEXAS. (Marion County) Kellyville, four miles west of Jefferson in Marion County, was the site of one of the state's first heavy industry experiments, the Kelly Foundry, Furnace, and Plow Company. Kellyville was originally called Four-Mile Branch and was a popular campsite for wagoners in transit between Jefferson and other communities throughout northeast and north central Texas. In 1848 Zachariah Lockett and John A. Stewart established a small foundry and furnace at Four-Mile Branch, at which they manufactured plows, repaired wagons, and made spare parts for other agricultural equipment. George Addison Kelly joined the firm in 1852 as foreman of the company's operation. Kelly became a partner in the firm in 1858 and established himself as sole owner by 1860. Four-Mile Branch became known in local parlance as Kellyville during this two-year period, though official records listed its name as Kellysville. Although its growth was interrupted by the Civil War, the company produced ammunition and farming implements for the Confederacy, and a considerable community of employees grew up near the ironworks. After the war Kelly added to his plant by purchasing Nash's Iron Foundry in western Marion County, and in 1874 he rebuilt his blast furnace at Kellyville, increasing his smelting capacity. In 1883 the name was officially changed to Kellyville. The Kelly Plow Company was the community's focus; it provided a prosperous economy that produced two churches, a school, a hotel, and a post office, which was established in 1883. By 1880 the Kelly Iron Works was listed as the state's outstanding producer of agricultural implements, the Kelly Blue Plow being its most popular finished product. However, due to the loss of cheap water transport following removal of the Red River Raft, a fire that destroyed his furnace, and a joint-stock arrangement with the state Grange not suitable to him, Kelly closed his foundry and moved his plow production operation to Longview in 1882. Kellyville rapidly declined. After the removal of George Kelly's manufacturing enterprise Kellyville began to resemble other Marion County farm communities, which depended primarily on truck farming, beef cattle, and small dairy operations. The post office was discontinued in 1908, and Kellyville's population declined from about 1,000 in 1860 to twenty by 1933. In 1936 the Texas Centennial Committee erected a historical marker commemorating the Kelly Iron Works. Today Kellyville stands as a small rural community whose economy is tied to the burgeoning tourist trade of Jefferson's historical district and Caddo Lake State Park.
LASSATER, TEXAS. (Marion County) Lassater is on the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway at the intersection of Farm Road 1969 and State Highway 49, ten miles northwest of Jefferson in northwestern Marion County. It was named for Joe Lassater, an early settler in the area, and was probably founded about 1877, when the East Line and Red River Railroad was built through the site and a post office called Lasater Station was opened there. In 1881 the name was changed to Lasater. By 1884 the community had a population of seventy-five, two steam and grist mills, cotton gins, and a church, and its principal shipment was cotton. By 1890 Lasater had a hotel and a Baptist church; its population had risen to 125. The local school served twenty-six pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1902 the name of the post office was changed to Pyland, probably for Dr. W. J. Pyland, who owned a drug and notion store in the community, and in 1909 was changed yet again, this time to Lassater. Between 1896 and 1914 the number of general stores in the community fell from three to one, and the number of sawmills from two to one. The population of the community also declined, to 103 in 1904, 98 in 1925, and 50 in 1933. In 1938 the Lassater school had ninety-two pupils and four teachers. In the early 1960s the community had a school, two churches, several scattered dwellings, an estimated population of sixty, and, some distance to the north, the Pyland cemetery. From 1968 through 1990 the population was estimated at forty-eight.
LEWIS CHAPEL, TEXAS (Marion County) Lewis Chapel (Louis Chapel) is eight miles northeast of Jefferson and 1½ miles east of Farm Road 248 at the intersection of two country roads in northeastern Marion County. In 1938 the community had a three-room schoolhouse that accommodated 106 black elementary students and three teachers. The school was consolidated with the Jefferson schools by 1955, and in 1962 the community consisted of a church, a cemetery, and several scattered dwellings. The church and cemetery were still identified on the 1983 county highway map.
LOCKETT, TEXAS (Marion County). Lockett was on a country road just west of U.S. Highway 59 and eight miles north of Jefferson in north central Marion County. It was probably named for Royal Francis Lockett, who owned a plantation on or near the site and had some fifty-five slaves in 1860. A post office was established at the community in January 1884, and by 1890 Lockett had thirty inhabitants and a general store run by J. N. Jackson. Lockett had Baptist and Methodist churches, a school, a blacksmith, a general store, and a flour mill and gin in 1896. Its post office closed in 1903, and by the 1930s the community consisted of a cemetery and a few dwellings scattered along the road. In 1961 all that remained of the Lockett community was a cemetery.
LODI, TEXAS (Marion County). Lodi is at the intersection of Farm roads 2683 and 248, on the Missouri Pacific line nine miles northeast of Jefferson in northeastern Marion County. The Texas and Pacific Railway was built through the area in the mid-1870s, and the community probably developed around a railway station. The post office, which opened in 1876, was named by J. Lopresto, an early settler, for his former home in Lodi, Italy. By 1884 Lodi was a timber processing community, with two steam sawmills, three general stores, and an estimated population of seventy-five. Its population grew to eighty by 1890, and the Lodi school had sixteen pupils in 1899. The community population grew to 133 in 1904 and an estimated 175 in 1925, then fell to an estimated 150 in the 1930s and stayed at that level through the 1950s. In 1938 the Lodi school had an enrollment of fourteen elementary-level students. The school was consolidated with those of Jefferson by 1955, and by the early 1960s Lodi had an estimated 100 inhabitants and four rated businesses. Its population was reported as 164 from 1968 through 1990.
LODWICK, TEXAS (Marion County) Lodwick is on Farm Road 1968 near the south shore of Lake O' the Pines, fourteen miles west of Jefferson in southwestern Marion County. It was named for Lodwick Alford. A post office, which at different times was considered variously to be in Marion and in Harrison counties, operated in the community from 1875 to 1917. In 1884 the population of Lodwick was estimated at thirty, and in 1892 the community had a general store, a saw and flour mill, a gin, and an estimated fifty inhabitants. By 1896 Lodwick had Methodist and Baptist churches. Timber processing was an important industry in the community, and in 1905 the Texas Southern line built a spur to the Lodwick Lumber Company. The local timber industry seems to have declined soon thereafter, and the railroad spur was abandoned in 1909. In 1914 the community had thirty-five residents but no longer had a sawmill. The Lodwick school had thirty-three pupils and one teacher in 1938. The school was consolidated with those of Jackson by 1955, and in 1961 Lodwick had a church and several scattered dwellings. In 1983 the community consisted of a church and a business.
LOGAN, TEXAS (Marion County). Logan, also known as Logan Chapel, is in eastern Marion County ten miles northeast of Jefferson on State Highway 49. In 1938 the community had a two-room schoolhouse that accommodated fifty-eight black elementary students and two teachers. The school was consolidated with those of Jefferson by 1955. In the 1960s Logan consisted of a community hall, a church, a business, and several scattered dwellings. A second church, called Shady Grove, was located about half a mile west of Logan. The 1983 county highway map showed Logan with a church, a community hall, a business, and the Shady Grove church about half a mile down the road.
LUMBER, TEXAS. (Marion County) Lumber was a rural post office and timber-processing community on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line eight miles northwest of Jefferson and 3½ miles southeast of Lassater in western Marion County. The post office was opened in 1890 and was probably named for the dominant product of the community. In 1892 Lumber comprised an estimated 100 inhabitants; it also had a general store and a saw and planing mill, both run by W. K. Henderson. W. P. Jennison was the postmaster. In 1904 the Lumber post office closed, and the community disappeared sometime thereafter, as there was no trace of it on the 1936 county highway map.
MACEDONIA, TEXAS (Marion County). Macedonia is near the intersection of Farm roads 726 and 3001, ten miles southwest of Jefferson in southwestern Marion County. In 1938 the community had a four-room schoolhouse that accommodated 221 black elementary and high school students and seven teachers. In 1961 Macedonia had a church, a cemetery, and several scattered dwellings, and in 1983 the settlement had a school, a church, a cemetery, and one business.
MIMS CHAPEL, TEXAS (Marion County). Mims Chapel is on Farm Road 729 by a tributary of Alley's Creek a mile north of Lake O' the Pines, sixteen miles northwest of Jefferson in northwestern Marion County. It is believed to have been founded about 1843, when a log church was built on the site. The church was known as the rock church, because of a large nearby rock where outdoor services were held. Soon thereafter a new structure, called Mims Methodist Church, was erected there and named for John W. and Henry Mims, two brothers who helped pioneer the community and were instrumental in securing the lot for the church. The first iron furnace in Texas was built by Jefferson S. Nash (see NASH'S IRON FOUNDRY) near the Mims Chapel community in 1847. A post office called Alley's Mills, presumably for a mill operated on the nearby creek, was opened on the site in 1852, and in 1861 the name of the post office was changed to Nash's Foundry. Between 1847 and 1861 Nash and his associates experimented with methods of iron ore production, and by early 1858 the Clarksville Northern Standard claimed that Nash's Foundry had produced more than 10,000 pounds of iron and shipped it to Jefferson. Nash's Foundry was rechartered by the Confederate government during the Civil War, and both the foundry and the post office were renamed the Texas Iron Works. The company had limited success in producing war material for the Confederacy, and Nash sold the foundry to the Kelly Plow Company around 1863. The new owners closed the plant and removed what they could to Kellyville, a site near Jefferson. Although all that was left of the old iron works by Mims Chapel was a rusting furnace, the post office became Nash's Foundry once again in 1866 and was discontinued in 1868. A new post office was opened on the site in 1870 and called Mims Store. In 1880 the name of this post office was changed to Mims Chapel, and in 1885 the post office was renamed or moved to Amicus. The Amicus store and post office was run by the E. O. Taylor family and appears to have been either on the same site as Mims Chapel or quite close by. In the early 1890s Amicus had an estimated population of twenty-five and a general store, and J. W. Mims was justice of the peace. The Amicus post office, the last to operate in the community, was discontinued in 1906. In 1907 there were four schools in the Mims school district, two for fifty white pupils and two for ninety-three black pupils. The Mims Chapel community was caught up in the iron-ore business once more in the early twentieth century. In an attempt to promote the iron industry in East Texas, the Port Bolivar Iron Ore Railway Company was formed about 1911. The railroad was planned to run from Longview to a point seventy miles north. The first stretch was built about 1912 from Longview to Ero, a station just north of Mims Chapel, but the building was interrupted by World War I, and plans for the railroad were abandoned by 1927. In the 1930s Mims Chapel had a school, two churches, two businesses, a sawmill, and a number of dwellings scattered along the road; in 1938 the school had forty-nine elementary students and two teachers. The school was consolidated with that of Lassater by 1955, and by 1961 Mims Chapel had the Mims Chapel Methodist Church, a cemetery, a rodeo grounds, and several widely scattered dwellings. In 1983 there were two churches in the community, and a Mims Chapel community center was located a short distance to the south.
MONTEREY, TEXAS (Marion County). Monterey is on Monterey Lake eighteen miles northeast of Jefferson by the Louisiana state line in northeastern Marion County. According to one source Monterey, as part of the Neutral Ground, was a haven for fugitives in the 1840s. The community was certainly settled by 1848, when a Monterey Masonic lodge was organized on the site. The first post office in the community was called Point Monterey and operated from 1851 to 1867. A second post office, called Old Monterey, opened in 1878, and in 1884 Old Monterey had an estimated population of thirty inhabitants. In 1961 the community was identified as Monterey on government survey maps and had a number of scattered dwellings beside the lake. In 1983 the community was no longer identified on state highway maps.
MOUNT CARMEL, TEXAS (Marion County). Mount Carmel is a rural community at the intersection of two country roads ten miles northeast of Jefferson and three miles northwest of Smithland in northeastern Marion County. The Mount Carmel school had forty-five black pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 the community had a one-room schoolhouse, which accommodated thirty-five black elementary students. The school was consolidated with those of Jefferson by 1955, and in 1962 Mount Carmel consisted of a church and a cemetery. The church and cemetery were still identified on the 1983 county highway map.
NEWLINE, TEXAS. (Marion County) Newline was a railroad station community on the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway five miles northwest of Jefferson and just northwest of Kellyville in central Marion County. In the 1930s the community had a church and a number of scattered dwellings. Newline had disappeared by the 1960s, when the deserted site was called Kellyville Siding on government survey maps.
NEW ZION, TEXAS. (Marion County) New Zion is a rural community at the intersection of Farm roads 2208 and 3001, seven miles southwest of Jefferson in southwestern Marion County. In 1938 the community had a four-room schoolhouse, which accommodated 106 black elementary students, seven black high school students, and four teachers. The school was consolidated with those of Jackson by 1955, and in 1962 New Zion consisted of a church, a cemetery, and several scattered dwellings. In 1983 the community had a church, a cemetery, and two businesses.
ORRS, TEXAS. (Marion County) Orrs (Orrville) is a rural community in northwestern Marion County, eleven miles northwest of Jefferson and one mile west of Lassater on the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway. Charles E. Orr, who operated a general store at the site, opened a post office in his store in 1881, and the community and post office were named Orrville. The population of the community was estimated at thirty in 1884. The post office was closed in 1897, and sometime thereafter the town became known as Orrs. In the 1930s a school and several houses were at the site, and in 1961 Orrs had several scattered dwellings. In 1983 Orrs was still identified on state highway maps as a railroad station.
PROSPECT, TEXAS (Marion County). Prospect (New Prospect) is a rural community in northern Marion County five miles north of Jefferson on U.S. Highway 59. New Prospect school had twenty-nine white pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 Prospect school was a two-room schoolhouse which accommodated seventy-two elementary students and two teachers. In 1967 Prospect had a district school, a church, a cemetery, scattered dwellings, and two business establishments, and in 1983 it had a church, a district school, a cemetery, and three businesses.
RAGLEY, TEXAS (Marion County). Ragley was a post office and timber-processing community ten miles northwest of Jefferson and four miles from Lassater in northwestern Marion County. The community had a post office from 1893 to 1898 and was probably named for the Ragley Lumber Company, which ran a similar operation in Panola County. In 1896 Ragley had a sawmill operated by Andrew Pryser, but the community had apparently disappeared by the 1930s; it was not listed on the 1936 state highway map.
ROCK SPRINGS, TEXAS (Marion County). Rock Springs is at the intersection of Farm roads 729 and 1969, eleven miles west of Jefferson in western Marion County. In 1938 the community had a one-room schoolhouse that accommodated twenty-nine black elementary students and one teacher. In 1962 the settlement consisted of several scattered dwellings and a church, and in 1983 the church was still marked on state highway maps.
SARBER, TEXAS. (Marion County) Sarber is by Sarber Lake on the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway eight miles northwest of Jefferson in northern Marion County. It was probably named for the Sarber family, whose descendants still lived in the area in the 1980s. In 1933 the community consisted of one business and an estimated 100 residents, and during the 1930s and 1940s Sarber had a sawmill and a school. The community included several scattered dwellings in 1962, and in 1964 its population was estimated at sixty. The 1983 county highway map showed two businesses at Sarber.
SAVANNAH, TEXAS (Marion County). Savannah is on State Highway 43 thirteen miles northeast of Jefferson in northeastern Marion County. The Savannah school had thirty white pupils and one teacher in 1899. In 1938 the community had a one-room schoolhouse that accommodated fourteen white elementary students. The school was described that year as being in somewhat dilapidated condition and located on a remote sandy road at least five miles from the nearest store. It had been consolidated with the Jefferson schools by 1955. In 1962 Savannah consisted of a church and several scattered dwellings. The 1983 county highway map showed the church at the townsite.
SHADY GROVE CHURCH, TEXAS. (Marion County) Shady Grove Church, also known as Shady Grove, is two miles north of State Highway 49 and nine miles northwest of Jefferson in northwestern Marion County. In 1938 the community had a two-room schoolhouse, which accommodated seventy-two black elementary students and two teachers. The school was consolidated with the Lassater school by 1955. In 1962 Shady Grove consisted of a church and several scattered dwellings, and the church was still marked on state highway maps in 1983.
SIMMONS, TEXAS (Marion County). Simmons was on a country road nine miles northwest of Jefferson and five miles east of State Highway 49, near the Cass County line in northern Marion County. The community was probably named for Jonathan B. Simmons, who owned land just to the north in Cass County. The Simmons school had eleven pupils and one teacher in 1899 and was gone by the 1930s. Simmons consisted of a cemetery and several scattered dwellings in 1936. By 1983 all that remained of the community was the cemetery.
SMITHLAND, TEXAS. (Marion County)Smithland, on State Highway 49 twelve miles northeast of Jefferson in eastern Marion County, was named for John Frank Smith, who moved to the site in 1842, when it was still part of Cass County. A post office opened in 1850. In 1884 Smithland had an estimated population of fifty, a steam sawmill, gristmills, and a cotton gin; the community shipped cotton. In 1892 R. B. Smith served as the town constable. Smith and Moseley owned a general store, flour mill, and gin, and there was a Presbyterian church in the community. Smithland School enrolled some twenty-eight white pupils in 1899. By 1914 Smithland had ten general stores, a cotton gin, telephone service, and an estimated 100 inhabitants. The community reached a peak population of 200 in the 1920s but declined in the 1930s to 150. In 1938 the two-room school accommodated thirty-five elementary pupils and two teachers. It was consolidated with the Jefferson schools in the 1960s. The number of rated businesses reported in the community slowly declined from ten in 1943 to two in 1968 and to one in 1978. The population rose in the 1960s to 179, the figure reported in 1990. In 1986 the community had four grocery stores and an automobile repair shop.
SUNVIEW, TEXAS. (Marion County) Sunview, also known as Murrey League, was on a country road seventeen miles west of Jefferson, near what is now the south shore of Lake O' the Pines in southwestern Marion County. The community school, Murrey League, was probably named for William Murray (or Murrey), who was granted the original land patent for the community site. The Murrey League school had forty-eight black pupils and one teacher in 1899. The Sunview post office was opened in 1901 and operated until 1906; the community was identified as Sunview on postal maps. In the 1930s the Murrey League school accommodated thirty-three black pupils and one teacher, the Sunview church was located a short distance away, and several scattered dwellings existed at the townsite. The school was consolidated with the Jackson schools by 1955. In 1983 the site was part of a much larger housing development called Tall Pines, though the name of the original community was preserved in the Sunview church.
UNION, TEXAS (Marion County). Union is a rural community a half mile south of State Highway 49 and five miles northeast of Jefferson in eastern Marion County. In 1938 the community had a one-room schoolhouse that accommodated one teacher and forty-six black elementary-school students. The school was consolidated with those of Jefferson by 1955, and in 1962 the community consisted of a church, a cemetery, and several widely scattered dwellings. In 1983 there was a cemetery and a business at the site.
WARLOCK, TEXAS. (Marion County) Warlock, formerly known as Ero, is on Farm Road 729 eighteen miles northwest of Jefferson in northwestern Marion County. Ero was built as a railway station on the Port Bolivar Iron Ore Railroad in 1912. The railroad was projected to run from Longview to a point seventy miles to the north, but the company ran out of funds and never built beyond Ero, a distance of some thirty miles from Longview. The railroad was abandoned in 1927. In the 1930s Ero had two businesses, two churches, and two school buildings with a total of six classrooms known collectively as Warlock School. In 1937 the Warlock schools were attended by a daily average of fifty-two black elementary students taught by two teachers and fifty-six black high school students taught by one teacher. The schools were consolidated with Lassater schools by 1952. In 1961 the community was called Warlock and had a church and several scattered dwellings. In 1983 Warlock had a church and a club house.
WHITE OAK, TEXAS (Marion County). White Oak was a rural community in northern Marion County eight miles northwest of Jefferson and one mile from the Cass county line on White Oak Creek. White Oak post office operated from 1912 to 1917. In 1936 and 1962 the community had several scattered dwellings, but in 1983 it was no longer listed on state highway maps.
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