Historic
Huntsville
From Pleasant to Present
Our Founder
Trading Post to Township
Center of Education
Economic Center
Prison City
Evolution and Change
Huntsville's Museums
Huntsville State Park and Lake Raven,
Huntsville Visitor Center at the Sam Houston Statue
Walker County History,
Sam Houston's Grave
Sam Houston The Man
The General Sam Houston Folk Festival
Pleasant Gray came to the northern most Mexican state of Texas in the early 1830's to find some of that "free land" that was being given away in order to populate the territory and secure it from the Indians (native people to be politically correct in the modern context).
Mr. Gray was from Huntsville, Alabama (hence the town’s name) and was looking for land comparable to his home place. In his search of eastern Texas, he came upon a "natural prairie in the middle of a vast forest with a mighty pretty stream running near by" which, he thought, looked like "home"!
"Here we’ll rest!" wrote Pleasant who returned to Alabama to retrieve his and his brother’s family. They traveled to Nacogdoches to petition the Emprassario Jose Vhlien for the typical league and labor of land grant to make his new settlement.
From two humble log cabins which served as a home and the trading post, sprang a most unusual community that has retained its unique distinctions and "flavor" to this day. Pleasant, his wife and brother gave the land for the town square, a cemetery and for Huntsville’s first academy.
A tradition of enlightened educational, political and cultural activity was thus established as the corner stones of the community from the very early stages of its existence. Huntsville was Incorporated and Chartered under the Republic of Texas in 1845 (in Montgomery County) and the State of Texas in 1852 ( Walker County).
Austin College had its beginnings on a prominent hill south of the fledgling township. Andrew Female College was founded on a north side hill. In 1879, Sam Houston Normal Institute replaced Austin College following its relocation to Sherman.
The subsequent metamorphosis of Sam Houston Normal to Sam Houston State Teachers College, and finally to a full blown University campus as a member of the State University System, took most of the next 100 years.
Sam Houston State University’s evolution was guided and influenced by a number of Huntsville Rotary notables such as, Dr. Harry Estill, Dr. Elliott Bowers, Dr. Martin Anisman and Dr. Bob Marks, who currently serves as its President.
The old township grid work of roads that framed the town square, linked up with the old trails dating from the Indian era which became wagon roads for early settlers and eventually the highways of east Texas.
The creation of the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system a century later, marked the first time that the Houston to Dallas highway traffic didn’t go right through downtown Huntsville on main street. Once the traffic was rerouted, the hub began to suffer a corresponding decline in economic activity. A low ebb was reached in the middle `80's, but was reversed by a public-privatepartnership of cultural preservation and economic revitalization. Richard Haas of New York, who had done extensive work in the Sundance Square area of Fort Worth, provided a trompe l’oeil (trick-of-the-eye) facade treatment on many of the downtown buildings that was funded by the City through a very generous grant from the Meadows Foundation of Dallas.
Property owners did their part in architectural renovation of the buildings and together the made over original township square once again resembled the vibrant hub of business which had existed since the post reconstruction era.
Ready for business, the revitalized old store fronts which once had a 70% vacancy rate, were soon filled with antique, craft, and specialty shops which has made Huntsville’s downtown a veritable mecca for the serious collector and the curious alike.
The Huntsville Arts Commission had a big role in visualizing, planning, and doing the missionary work that was necessary to "sell" the concept to owners and merchants who had suffered considerable financial injury during the declining years. Huntsville Rotarians such as Dr. Jack Staggs and Jane Monday were among the principal movers and shakers in this visionary venture.
A promontory to the east of the old town square became the genesis of another Huntsville institution in the 1850's. The annexation of the Republic of Texas by the United States prompted a state-wide referendum on the location of the State’s "new" capitol. Huntsville had become a major City by period standards and our leading citizen, one Sam Houston, certainly was a political force to be reckoned with, but a new outpost on the edge of Comanche territory called Austin, won the election.
In an effort to salve the hurt feelings of the hero of San Jacinto, the new state legislature awarded the state penitentiary to Huntsville. As the only state agency headquartered outside of Austin, the prison system remained concentrated in Huntsville; Walker County and proximate east Texas counties until the 1980's when an economic pinch and rapidly rising crime rate prompted the Legislature to salve other political wounds by spreading correction units across the state. Times do change!
Like a lot of Texas towns of the 1800's, Huntsville grew and prospered in fits and starts. The Gray’s original trading post evolved into a center of commerce surrounding the courthouse and served the rural, agrarian based society of large tract plantations dealing in timber and cotton. Many of the old family-original settlers are still represented in the community today.
One such family, the Gibbs brothers Thomas and Sanford, established a general mercantile store on the north side of the square which evolved into a privately owned bank and trust that later became our First National Bank. The Gibbs Brothers & Company became a multi-generational land holding, timber and investment firm, the oldest company to continuously do business in its original location in Texas.
Huntsville’s favorite son and easily most notable resident, Sam Houston, built the Woodland Home in 1848 and left his bride Margaret Lea to raise their eight children, while he tended to the affairs of state in Washington as one of Texas’ Senators. Their favorite homestead today, serves as the centerpiece of the historical buildings on the Memorial Museum complex which isadministered by the University.
Additional historical buildings include the Steamboat House in which Sam Houston died in 1863, his log cabin law office, and the cooking cabin-kitchen adjacent to the Woodland Home. Another feature of the complex is the main Museum building which was built in 1936 (Texas Centennial Celebration) and houses much of the personal effects the General, his family and related Texana collection.
The newest edifice in the Memorial Museum complex is the Walker Education Building which was built in conjunction with the bicentennial celebration of Sam Houston’s birth in 1993. Huntsville also boasts about the Texas Prison Museum which is fittingly located on the south side of the downtown square just a few blocks west of the Walls Unit. This facility contains many inmate made items, such as weapons, arts and crafts. "Old Sparky", the State’s legendary electric chair that was used in the administration of the death penalty until the lethal injection method was implemented, is an interesting, non-traditional exhibit.
A new, larger facility is planned for a ten acre site along Interstate 45 near the intersection with SH 75 in the northwest part of town as part of the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as a state agency. Improved visibility and accessability will serve to substantially increase the visitor volume and the additional space will allow for greater display of the collection by its volunteer curators.
A local Black History collection and the Walker County Historical Society’s Gibbs-Powell Home, round out the community’s "housed" historical points of interest. Many historical sites are located throughout the community and may be accessed by driving or walking tours. Information concerning all of these historical interests may be obtained at the Huntsville Visitor Center on SH 75 at IH 45 near the statue of "Big Sam", or at the Chamber of Commerce office, Downtown on 11th St.
Huntsville State Park and Lake Raven
Long one of Texas’ most used and loved "get away" destinations for camping, hiking, fishing, swimming, canoeing, or just plain ol’ enjoyment of nature, Huntsville State Park has been one of our community’s major assets for several generations. "State Lake" as it is affectionately referred to by the locals, is administered by Texas Parks and Wildlife. Rental of campsites, shelters, paddle boats, canoes, horses and other appurtenances, makes "roughing it" considerably more civilized. Metropolitan escapists have made Huntsville State Park one of the top visitor destinations in the Texas system since the 1950's.
Huntsville Visitor Center at the Sam Houston Statue
The City of Huntsville became the proud recipient of "A Tribute To Courage" by David Adickes in December of 1993. The project had been initiated as a part of the bicentennial celebration of Sam Houston’s birth sponsored by Sam Houston State University. The artist’s work on the "world’s tallest statue of an American hero" was to be completed by March 2nd of that year and be dedicated as part of the commemorative program that was planned by the University. Limited financing and logistical problems with the unique alabaster concrete and steel piece caused delays that lasted well into the summer of 1994.
The City’s role in the project became one of facilitator for the attempt at one of the mostsuccessful public-private partnerships ever accomplished in these parts, or any where else for that matter.
The City Council stipulated at the time the statue of "Big Sam" was proposed to be given that no ad valorem tax funds would be used as a direct "out of pocket" expenditure on the project. Rotarian Bill Hodges, Huntsville’s Mayor during the period, solicited help from the Chamber of Commerce to conduct a fund raising campaign to gather enough private sector donations to stand up the sixty-seven foot structure that was to be assembled in ten foot sections weighing tons each.
The "Stand With Sam" fund raising challenge was accepted by the Chamber whose leadership was made up of Rotarians like Dee McFarland, Arlena McLaughlin, Stan Saucier, Jim Balzaretti, and others who promptly set about collecting the original goal of $66,000 and then doubling the amount by dedication day, nine months later.
The out pouring of local financial support was augmented by a great variety of corporate citizenship gestures such as relocation of overhead utilities, crushed rock, crane use time, ready-mix concrete for the base of the statue and, most essentially, the donation of a six acre site adjacent to Interstate 45. The site, in the south part of town, took advantage of a six mile sight line to the south and creates the illusion of the statue standing in the north bound lane for motorists for all but the last half mile.
Once again, one of the founding families of the community, Gibbs Brothers & Co., stepped up and made an unbelievably generous gift of the prime real estate necessary to appropriately display this magnificent icon. It is no small coincidence that Mr. James Phillip Gibbs was a charter member and a Director of the Huntsville Rotary Club seventy years earlier.
The physical assembly of the statue components and the evolution of the attendant Huntsville Visitor Center facility provided additional challenges and rewards. The 28 foot square X 10 foot deep base was formed and poured in late July, 1994 to allow curing time by Labor Day weekend.
The steel superstructure ( 24" I beams with one inch plate reinforcements welded in place) was hoisted by crane and inserted in 30" sleeves "eye-balled" as to location and angle, in the base. The stacking of the component parts beginning with the boots commenced on Tuesday morning following the holiday.
The race was on to complete the erection, grout and finish the seams and make any "minor" finishing touches by the Artist, by the arbitrary dedication date that was previously selected, October 22nd.
The dedication date turned out to be a fortuitous choice. It was the date that Sam Houston had been sworn in as the first President of the Republic of Texas. Other pressure points were not as opportune. The Visitor Center building was a complement facility that was to be fashioned after the "dog run" cabin architecture of the "Houston" period. The functional simplicity of the design was expected to be a snap to be at least "substantially complete" by the dedicatory date. Due to "non standard" materials, custom workmanship requirements, and the weather, only the frame work and roof belied some semblance of the Visitor Center and Gift Shop flanking the dog run that was to come.
The weather was a real challenge to both project initiatives. "Big Sam" had endured several modifications that were far from "minor" by the artist David Adickes.
Mr. Adickes’ basic creative philosophy was simple; "As long as I can reach it, I am never finished". The model for the piece was a "life size" likeness which resides in the lobby of the Newton-Gresham Library at Sam Houston State University. The ten times life size extrapolationrevealed a few perspective flaws of a sixty- something year old man, such as, he was too skinny in the mid-section below the belt (not to be too delicate). So, with scaffolding wedged in place between his legs and work continuing overhead, the work began to add layers of fabric affixed with concrete nails and fresh concrete applied to the pelvic girdle to "fatten ol’ Sam" up a bit. After several days of layering on top of "green" concrete with intermittent rain events leading up to the "Second Great Flood", a large section of the crotch sloughed off on the scaffolding and a lone, unfortunate late workman. He spent the rest of that night replacing a weeks worth of work in a steady downpour just two weeks before "D" day.
The travails of that day were minor in comparison to the 20" flood event of the following week. In the final days, despite the natural disasters and other common obstacles, the scaffolding, ladders and a favorite chipping hammer of David Adickes had to be removed from the site in order to "finish" the job and clean up by the fateful day.
The sun dawned bright and clear on dedication day which proved to be a "monumental" (pardon the pun) success by any standard, much less the community of Huntsville. The Dedication Committee was co-chaired by Rotarians Jane Monday and Dan Davis and hosted a large number of Sam Houston and Joshua Houston family descendants; The Governor of Texas - Ann Richards; the former Governor of Tennessee - Lamar Alexander; Congressman Charles Wilson; State Representative Allen Hightower and Dr. Martin Anisman, President of Sam Houston State University (both Huntsville Rotarians); Mr. Ron Stone, Houston Television Personality and Master of Ceremonies for the occasion; as well as 3,000 or so assorted special guests.
David Adickes and his daughter christened the Statue with a bottle of champagne, a brass choir from the University played, the Huntsville Mens Choir sang, speeches were made by the visiting dignitaries, and a cannon and musket salute was fired by the "Raven’s Rangers" historical re-enactment group.
A gala luncheon followed the dedication at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center. Sam and Margaret Houston were members of this church in the last years of Sam’s life. The Visitors Center completion followed in February of 1995 and marked the beginning of the record keeping by the Chamber of Commerce employees that to date, indicates an excess of 150,000 registered visitors from every state in the nation and 72 countries. The gift shop operation showed a small profit in the past year, after only two years in operation. The Visitor Center-Gift shop co-op was intended to sustain the cost of operation above and beyond the Hotel-Motel occupancy tax revenue that was increased to pay for the building’s debt service and provide for some costs of operation. The Chamber of Commerce employees have done a great job in providing information-referral to other attractions and points of interest in the community including our museums and the restored downtown historical area.
Prior to 1846, the region was part of the municipality of Washington, then the county of Washington, Republic of Texas. When Texas was annexed into the United States, the county was formed in April of 1846 and was named for Robert J. Walker, the Mississippi Senator who introduced the resolution in the United States Senate recognizing the independence of Texas from Mexico. After Senator Walker’s refusal to support the Confederacy, the Texas Legislature renamed the county for Samuel H. Walker of Texas Ranger fame.
Many of the older communities in Walker County became ghost towns due to epidemics anddeclining economic factors. Old Cincinnati, Carolina, Elmina, Newport, and Tuscaloosa are examples of hardship demise. Old Waverly moved and became New Waverly when the railroads came to Walker County in the 1870's. Communities such as Riverside, Dodge, and Phelps, survive today along the route that bypassed Huntsville to the East.
Another transportation epoch nearly bypassed Walker County in the 1950's when the Interstate highway system between Houston and Dallas was slated to follow a railroad route through Grimes County. A major lobbying effort by local community leaders was successful in their efforts to bring the route through the county just west of New Waverly and Huntsville, thus avoiding a "backwater" void for the communities, Sam Houston State University and the local economy. Today, Interstate 45 has very nearly become the "Main Street" of economic activity for Huntsville and Walker County.
Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville is the final resting place for Sam Houston and several other notables of the Texas revolutionary period. Sam’s grave is marked by a gray Texas granite monument by Italian sculptor Pompeo Coppini. The monument was placed by the State of Texas on April 21, 1911, the 75th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. Among several thousand spectators present at the unveiling, were Houston family members, state official, two surviving veterans of San Jacinto and decendents of prominent early Texans.
Dedicatory addresses were given by noted orator William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska and Texas Senator McDonald Meachum of nearby Grimes County, who sponsored legislation for the $10,000 monument by Coppini, whose other works include the Alamo Cenotaph, the bluff freeze of Neptune in Corpus Christi, and the Littlefield fountain at the University of Texas. Some controversy existed prior to the dedication of the Houston Memorial due to the size of the monument in relationship to Coppini’s more grandiose works. The artist refused to attend the unveiling ceremony due to the criticism, responding instead with the retort, "They got what they paid for"!
The sculptor’s work on the monument depicts Sam Houston as the general in command of the Texas army, flanked by symbolic figures of Victory and History, who holds the first chapter of Texas history. Coppini also designed the black iron fence which surrounds the grave featuring Roman battle axes, inverted to indicate an end of fighting, connected by laurel wreaths signifying the Texan victory. The monument is engraved with a quotation from Andrew Jackson following the Battle of San Jacinto, "The world will take care of Houston’s fame".
Sam Houston was born in Virginia on March 2, 1793. He had a troubled youth living in Tennessee and left home at age 17 to live with the Cherokee Indians on their ancestral land in the southern Appalachian mountains. He was adopted by Chief Oolitaka and quickly adapted to their culture, learned their language and was given the name Coloneah which means "Raven", a bird of great honor in Cherokee society.
Sam grew troubled again and left after a few years to find his way among his "white brothers". He studied the classics and became a school teacher in Marysville, Tennessee. With the war of 1812 looming, he joined the army under the command of General Andrew Jackson. His heroics in the battle of Horse Shoe Bend drew Jackson’s attention and resulted in a barbed arrowwound in his upper thigh that would trouble him throughout his life, and a rifle ball in the shoulder.
As a war hero and student of law and politics under his mentor Andrew Jackson, Houston rose quickly in Tennessee politics and was elected to Congress and as Governor in short order. His life’s refrain of trouble returned when he married a young lady from a prominent Tennessee family. A few days later, he returned her to her folks, resigned his office as Governor and went again to live with the Cherokee in Oklahoma.
He took a Cherokee wife and resumed his leadership role in the Cherokee Nation as an ambassador for Indian affairs in Washington. In keeping with his past history, he became interested in the opportunity for free land and the "troubles" brewing in Texas. He crossed in to the northern most Mexican State of Texas at Jones crossing on the Red River in 1833 and proceeded to Nacogdoches where he started life in yet another country.
His physical stature, military, diplomatic and political experiences which preceded the Texas period of Sam’s life stood him apart from the crowd as the Provence moved to declare its independence and form a provisionary government. He was commissioned Commander and Chief of the Texas Army and went to begin training the rag tag band of volunteers as the Alamo fell and the Goliad massacre occured. The military tactics learned at the elbow of General Jackson, was put to good use in the "Run Away Scrape" across the coastal plains where he drilled and trained his troops to face the Napoleon of the West, Santa Anna, while in full retreat towards United States territory.
General Houston was berated by his men until he took a stand on the plains of San Jacinto and ordered an attack on the weary Mexican Army during a mid day siesta. Sam was seriously wounded in the battle which lasted only eighteen minutes. The rage of the Texians was not to be quelled until dark that day. Texas had won its independence and Houston was later elected President of the new Republic.
Sam met and married Margaret Moffett Lea of Alabama despite objections of his friends and her family. She was 21 years of age and he was 47! The couple had eight children, four boys and four girls. The youngest son, Temple Lea, was born in the Governor’s mansion in Austin while Sam was serving a term as an independently elected official following his recall from the United States Senate. The recall resulted from his votes in the Senate on the issues of Slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. With no partisan support he ran for the Governor’s office as Sam Houston and won, only to be put to the most severe test of his life which was cris-crossed with considerable troubles. The Secession Resolution of the Texas Legislature required that he take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy. A true Federalist to the end, Sam would not compromise his principals and refused. The Legislature accepted his resignation and Sam, Margaret and seven children (Sam Jr. had joined his friends in the Confederate Army) made that long journey from Austin back to Huntsville.
Sam visited the Union soldiers who had been incarcerated at the Penitentiary during his waning years and died on July 22,1863 at age 70 in the Steamboat house in Huntsville. His distinguished legacy as a wounded hero, statesman, and politician, the only man to serve as Governor of two states, President of the Republic of Texas, and United States Senator, is yet to be approached, much less matched. Sam’s adherence to principal and the preservation of his honor which was motivated by his Mother and sustained by his wife Margaret, served as a firm foundation throughout his tumultuous life. David Adickes’ "A Tribute To Courage" done in Sam’s honor is aptly named!
The General Sam Houston Folk Festival
There is more of a story in the genesis of the General Sam Houston Folk Festival than any other of the myriad details with the exception of the cumulative results of yet another of our local success stories. The story, as they say, is in the telling and it must be acknowledged for posterity’s sake that time dims the memory of the sweat and toil, and, true Texans will, embellish even a good story, at every chance.
Said introductory caveat not-with-standing, the story goes "something" like this;..Times were hard, economically speaking, in these parts back in the middle `80's. Our state’s dependence on the oil field for revenue to run the government had created the need for some belt tightening to make ends meet. The Governor at the time (who shall remain nameless) was of one political party and the legislature was, of course, the other.
They didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye on the budget cuts nor what was to be funded. The Gov., in an effort to get the last word and send a not-to-subtle message to his legislative colleagues, decided to "red line" a couple of rather sensitive programs, to wit: the High Plains Museum at Texas Tech University and the Sam Houston Memorial Museum at Sam Houston State!
Now this action may be viewed variously, depending on your politics, as gutsy resolve or real stupid. Well, the home folks in Huntsville took considerable umbrage at the gentlemen’s use of our pride and joy since the 1936 Centennial Celebration as a sacrificial lamb to the great God of the state’s balanced budget. Being the home to two state agencies had accustomed the population to some degree to "whipping boy" pecking order, but "Close Our Museum?"...not a chance!
The leadership of the community led by Rotarians such as former Governor Bill Nash, President Jane Monday, Mayor of the City at that time, John Birkner, Past President who now is active in a Bryan club, and a like number of University officials who were also members of Huntsville Rotary, came together to meet the challenge head on. The community response to the perceived crisis would warm the heart of even the most cynical.
With guidance and support by the Institute of Texan Culture and the Texas Folk Life Festival in San Antonio and an army of volunteers, the East Texas Folk Festival found life. The original intent and expectation was to generate enough revenue to sustain the Sam Houston Memorial Museum absent state funding. The ideal of a commercial windfall soon faded into the reality that the more obtainable and sustainable mission of the renamed General Sam Houston Folk Festival was a premise long prized in the local culture, education!
A first class historical/educational experience for the generations of Texans that would result in the historical heritage of this great State never again being held hostage to budget battles in Austin, was far more important than any financial success.
A dozen years later, the success of the venture may be begrudgingly owed to that infamous Governor who wielded his pen as a sword. Hundreds of thousands of young folks of all ages have visited the Museum grounds and learned of the legacy of the life and times of Texas’ greatest hero Sam Houston, his wife Margaret, and many of the other historical personas of the period.
The Walker Education Building serves today as a modern portal for the young expansive minds of Texas youth to pass back into the history of the actual buildings where Sam lived and died.
A sincere debt of gratitude must be accorded the Sam Houston University officials and community leaders who met the challenge head-on and decided to capitalize on a lineal education benefit rather than abandon the project due to its marginal financial success. Special acknowledgment is due the historical documentary drama "Gone To Texas" that was written, produced, directed and "starred-in" by Una Grace Nash in which the life story of "Sam the Man" istold through the eyes of Margaret Lea, his wife.
The play which originated as a monologue by Mrs. Nash for "parlor" audiences, was expanded into a production for the Folk Festival, which includes music, appearances by various historical characters who shared experiences in the Hero’s life, and all eight of their children.
The reception by Festival audiences and shows on-the-road around East Texas has been phenomenal. The compression of seventy years of personal and national history into a forty -five minute, highly personalized performance has proven to be a very enjoyable and effective educational tool.
The very talented Una Grace Nash is a treasure of this community and richly deserves the accolades received for her personal services that went well above-and-beyond the call of duty.
This information was compiled by former City Manager, Gene Pipes.
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