About Rusk
Location
Rusk is seated in the heart of East Texas at the intersection of US
Highways 69 and 84:
• 45 miles south of Tyler
• 30 miles east of Palestine
• 45 miles north of Lufkin
• 40 miles west of Nacogdoches
• 110 miles west of Shreveport
• 141 miles southwest of Dallas
• 160 miles north of Houston
• 225 miles northeast of Austin
• 305 miles northeast of San Antonio
History of Rusk
RUSK, TEXAS. Rusk, the county seat and second largest
city of Cherokee County, is near the geographic center of the county
at the junction of U.S. highways 69 and 84, State Highway 110, and
Farm roads 241, 343, 752, 768, 1248, 1857, and 2972, 120 miles
southeast of Dallas. The town was established "Byan
Act" of the Texas legislature on April 11, 1846, which defined
the boundaries of Cherokee County and called for the county seat to
be named for Gen.
Thomas Jefferson Rusk,
(pictured to your left),
one of the signers of the
Texas Declaration of Independence.
The law stipulated that the new county seat be located within three
miles of the county's geographical center and named a five-member
commission to determine the town's exact site. The commission
originally wanted to locate Rusk at Cook's Fort, the largest
settlement in the area near the junction of the Neches-Saline and
Fort Houston roads. But after James Cook, the owner of the property,
refused to sell the land, the commission opted for a 100-acre tract
in the James Hundley survey, owned since 1839 by James F. Timmons.
Timmons agreed to sell the property, situated three miles east of
the Saline Road, for $600, and on April 13, 1847, the land was
deeded for a town site. At the time only John Kilgore and his family
lived on the site; but within two years most of the families in and
around Cook's Fort had moved the new town, and by 1850 Rusk
reportedly had 355 residents. A post office was authorized on March
8, 1847, and the town's first church, the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church, was organized by Rev. J. B. Harris in May 2, 1847. The first
Masonic Lodge in the county, Euclid Lodge 45, was chartered on July
15, 1848. Like many early Texas towns, Rusk was laid out on a grid
pattern based on the Shelbyville plan with a courthouse square in
the center. The county court originally met in a crude log dogtrot
cabin, but in August 1847 a contract was let for a two-room frame
building with brick chimneys. The town's first jail was built the
same year, and a larger frame courthouse was erected in 1849. A
larger jail was built in 1855, and a brick building to house the
county and district clerk's offices was constructed on the northeast
corner of the square in 1859; the latter structure stood until it
was razed in 1941. Most of the town's early businesses were
clustered around the courthouse square. During the late 1840s and
early 1850s Granville J. Carter and Theron L. Philleo opened general
merchandise stores on the north side of the square; and E. T. Givens
and F. T. Hayden operated a grocery and saloon respectively, on the
west end. A city charter was approved in 1850, and a second charter
was adopted in 1856 when the town's first mayor, E. W. Bush, was
elected. The town's first school was taught by the Presbyterian
minister J. B. Harris; in 1848 Cherokee Academy, a private
subscription school, was chartered; and in 1851 another private
school, the Stephens and Carter Academy was established. The latter
institution, housed in an impressive two-story structure on
Henderson Street, eventually developed into the Rusk Male and Female
Academy, which survived into the latter portion of the nineteenth
century.
During the 1850s Rusk grew rapidly, swelled by immigrants from the
old South and Europe, including the British Isles, Germany, and
Norway, as well as a sizeable African-American population. The
town's growth slowed during the
Civil War
and early post-war years but rebounded in the 1870s with the coming
of the railroads. In 1870 the International-Great Northern Railroad
announced that it would construct a line across Cherokee County. But
what at first seemed like salvation for Ruskians nearly turned to
disaster when the railroad elected to bypass the town. Fearing the
lack of a rail connection would doom their city, a number of
prominent Rusk citizens incorporated the
Rusk Transportation Company
in May 1874 and raised money to build a narrow gauge wooden tram
railroad to join the I&GN at Jacksonville. The line was opened in
1875, but its wooden rails soon proved inadequate, and after
investors refused to supply additional capital for iron rails the
railroad was auctioned off for $90.50 in 1879. In 1881 the property
rights and franchises were purchased by the Kansas and Gulf Short
Line Railroad, which completed a line from Tyler to Lufkin in 1885.
The town's economy was further spurred by the construction of the
Rusk Penitentiary
between 1877 and 1883. In an attempt to make the facility pay for
itself and exploit the area's rich iron ore deposits and timber
resources, state officials constructed an iron foundry at the site.
The operation, however, was never very profitable, and in 1910 the
state suspended the iron operation. The penitentiary was later
converted into the
Rusk State Hospital.
Equally significant for Rusk's fortunes during the late nineteenth
century was the construction of the Texas State Railroad. As timber
and iron ore reserves near the penitentiary foundry were depleted,
the state acquired additional land in the western portion of the
county. In 1893 state officials constructed a rail line linking the
prison with work camps in Rice and Woodlawn. By 1903 the
fourteen-mile long line was changed to run from Rusk to Camp Wright
near the site of present Maydelle. The effect of the construction of
the railroads and the penitentiary on the town's growth was
dramatic. Between 1882 and 1890 the population in Rusk grew from 626
to 2,000. By 1890 the town had four churches, a public school
system, a bank, a new courthouse, saw and planning mills,
brickyards, an opera house, and two weekly newspapers, the
Standard Enterprise and the Cherokee Herald. The town
received an additional boost from the collapse of the iron-mining
venture in New Birmingham, two miles southeast, after which many of
the merchants and residents moved to Rusk. In 1903 the Texas and New
Orleans Railroad was built through Cherokee County, and once again
the railroad bypassed Rusk. Determined to secure a second rail link,
Rusk's leading businessmen and officials led by Frank B. Guinn, the
Cherokee County representative in the Texas legislature, asked Gov.
Thomas M. Campbell
for assistance. The result was the passage of a bill that authorized
the extension of the Texas State Railroad from Rusk across the
Neches River to connect it with the I&GN in Palestine. The bill
further stipulated that the T&NO would be required to build a branch
line from Gallatin. Rusk reached a population of 2,750 in 1929. The
town's steady rise was accompanied by a host of civic improvements:
a waterworks system was built in 1914; a sewage system was completed
in 1925, the courthouse square was paved in 1927; and a gas system
was installed the same year. Although the
Great Depression
slowed Rusk's economy, the town continued to grow, and by 1936 it
had 3,859 residents and 120 businesses. After
World War II
the population rose to 6,617 by 1952. Over the next forty years the
number of inhabitants declined to 5,000 in 1966 and 4,665 in 1990.
Over the same period the number of businesses also gradually
declined, dropping from 145 in 1952 to sixty-seven in 1990. The town
revived in the 1990s, and contained 5,085 inhabitants and 233
businesses in 2000. Rusk remains a commercial center for a
surrounding agricultural, lumber, and iron ore area. The nearby
Texas State Railroad, now operated by the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
and the Rusk State Park, attracts numerous tourists to the area.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cherokee County History (Jacksonville, Texas:
Cherokee County Historical Commission, 1986). Hattie Joplin Roach,
A History of Cherokee County (Dallas: Southwest, 1934).
Marker Files, Texas Historical Commission, Austin.
Christopher Long
32 Historical Markers Rusk, Proud City of Their
Heritage
The City of Rusk was named for Thomas
J. Rusk (right). Thomas J. Rusk is said to have held
more official positions than anyone else during the
days of The Texas
Republic. He was a soldier, attorney, judge,
statesman, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and
Major General of the Texas Republic. He practiced
law in Cherokee County from 1829 to 1856.
Rusk was named as the County Seat of
Cherokee County by the Texas Legislature on April
11, 1846. The town's colorful past is echoed in the
many historical offerings within:
Our markers...
For history hounds, sniffing out pertinent places has never been
easier. Rusk boasts a saturation of 32 historical
markers...as well as a plethora of landmarks, museums and
historical building.
Bachelor Girls’ Library Club, 207 E. Sixth
Street - Formed by 15 young single women in 1902
with fewer than 50 books, this library club would
later donate to the City of Rusk a volume of books
that greatly contributed to an inventory in excess
of 23,000 books. The Book Club, originally housed in
downtown Rusk at the Acme Hotel, is believed to be
the first public library established in Cherokee
County. In 1904 the club changed its name to “The
Maids and Matrons Library Club” and rescinded its
rule prohibiting married members in order that
several of its original founders who had since
married could continue in the organization. The name
of the club was changed once more in 1916 to the
“Library Study Club.” In 1936 the members formed a
club for younger women called “The Thailand Study
Club.” The size of the library’s holdings continued
to grow so that by 1966 the club had for some years
required the services of a paid librarian. That year
the club donated all of its books and furnishings to
the City of Rusk. In 1969 they became part of the
permanent collection at the newly constructed
Singletary Memorial Library building. The Library
Study Club and its offspring the Thailand Club
continued to support the Rusk Community Library.
Old
Bonner Bank Building, Hwy 69 & Euclid - Built
1865 by C.Chaffee, a New Orleans promoter-cotton
buyer. Served 1868-1883 as law office of S.A Wilson,
member of 5-man commission to codify Texas law under
Constitution of 1876; Later judge in State Court of
Appeals. In this building, 1884-1892, leading East
Texas attorney and Tyler banker F.W. Bonner had the
first bank in Cherokee county, serving New
Birmingham. Retained Bonner Building name through
school and other occupancies. RTHL 1968.
Cherokee
County has a rich and varied history. Spanish
and French explorers of the seventeenth century
found Tejas and Hasinai Indians living in this area,
and Spanish missions were established in the region.
Driven out of the United States, the Cherokee
Indians migrated to this area about 1822, and were
here at the time of early Anglo-American
colonization in the 1820s and 1830s. Under the
administration of Republic of Texas President
Mirabeau B. Lamar, the Cherokee were expelled from
area in 1839. Following formal creation of Cherokee
County from Nacogdoches County in 1846, settlement
of the area increased rapidly. Family farms and
towns soon sprung up throughout the county. The
building of roads and the advancement of railroads
and river navigation contributed further to
settlement. The chief economic base of the county
from its beginning, agriculture remained a vital
force as industrialization and business interests
developed. The establishment of schools and churches
formed the basis for the area's social history.
Cherokee County has been the birthplace of two Texas
governors, one governor of Wyoming and one Speaker
of the Texas House of Representatives.
Cherokee
County Courthouse - This courthouse, the fourth
to serve the citizens of Cherokee County, was built
in 1940-41 with the assistance of the Federal Works
Progress Administration. Designed by the
architectural firm of Gill & Bennett, the modern
structure is built of native red and white limestone
and features a central block with two-and-one-half
story wings. Large windows on its to primary facades
and decorative art deco grillwork are also
prominent.
Cherokee County C.S.A. - Civil War
manufacturing, supply and military center. Field
Transportation Bureau shop made and repaired wagons,
saddles, harnesses. Gun factory produced
"Mississippi rifles" and pistols. Two iron works
cast plows, skillets, pots, irons. Salt works
provided a scarce item. Confederate commissary
stored sugar and military supplies. Texas conscript
district office directed drafting activity.
Additional military activities included Union
prisoner confine and two camps, one a camp of
instruction for raw recruits. C.S.A. Men and Units
Two thousand men from Cherokee County were in the
Confederate Service, including Brigadier General
Joseph L. Hogg who died in Mississippi in 1862.
Companies organized were: Co. A, 2nd Texas Cavalry
Co. C, 3rd Texas Cavalry Co. K, 4th Texas Cavalry
Co. F, 7th Texas Cavalry Co. I, 10th Texas Cavalry
Co. B, 17th Texas Cavalry Cos. F and I, 35th Texas
Cavalry Co. B, 28th Texas Cavalry, Dismounted Cos. A
and D, Border's Cavalry Co. K, 1st Texas Partisan
Rangers Co. E, 7th Texas Infantry Cos. A, C,K 18th
Texas Infantry.
Cherokee
Furnace Company, C.S.A. - Made crude kettles,
plow tools on this site in 1864-65. Slaves fled from
Louisiana's Red River Campaign battles were the
workers. This county had 2 war plants working
easily-mined, abundant local ore. Smelting fuel was
charcoal made of timber growing nearby. A phase of
manufacturing that made Texas "Storehouse of the
Confederacy.“
Confederate
Gun Factory - Built in 1862 by John L.
Whites Carver, William H. Campbell and Benjamin F.
Campbell. When unable to secure materials and tools
for the manufacture of rifles, Colt-model pistols
were made. A number of Negroes were employed.
Confederate Training Camp , located on old
Crockett Road. During the Civil War this area along
the road from Rusk to Crockett served as a training
camp for Confederate soldiers. Located in a bare
field with an available water supply from the nearby
Pryor Branch, Camp Rusk was used for training new
recruits as well as for reorganizing and equipping
veteran units. Several units that spent time here
went on to serve with distinction in such battles as
Mansfield and Glorietta Pass. The training camp was
occupied by Union soldiers after the war ended and
was abandoned once the occupation period was over.
Cook’s Fort, 3 miles south of Rusk on FM 241
Named in honor of Joseph T. Cook; native of North
Carolina; Early settler in Nacogdoches; Owner of
land on which a military company under Captain Black
built a fort never attacked by Indians; On adjacent
land, James Cook built a store and blacksmith shop;
About them a village grew up; Population in 1846,
250; After establishment of Rusk, inhabitants moved
there.
Elm Grove Common School - SH 110, 6 miles
northeast of Rusk .
Elm Grove, a Freedmen's community, was part
of the county school system by 1884, when 69 school
districts were set up by the Commissioners Court.
Classes were held in a local church or in homes
until the 1890s when a schoolhouse was erected on
land given by R. B. and Caroline Wood. Built by Elm
Grove citizens with donated materials, the building
was originally one large room. A merger with other
schools in 1917 increased the student population,
and the interior was divided into three classrooms.
The school closed in 1957 when it merged with Rusk
schools.
Site of Fastrill,
FM 23, 11 mi. S of Rusk .
The property of the Southern Pine
Lumber Company, Fastrill took its name from
three men connected with logging in the
area: Frank Farrington, postmaster at
Diboll, the company headquarters, in the
early 1920s; and P. H. Strauss and William
Hill, both lumbermen. Fastrill was a company
town. All its residents were employees of
Southern Pine, which purchased the site in
March of 1922. A post office was established
in July of that year. Fastrill's residential
sections were divided among Anglos, African
Americans and Mexican Americans. The company
provided a general store which began in a
boxcar, a barber shop, cleaning and pressing
shop, gas pump, electrical power at certain
hours, structures in which to hold worship
services, farming equipment and a cannery.
The company also supplied extra funding for
the public school to operate on a nine-month
year. At the height of Fastrill's
production, the town had a population of
600. The monthly payroll to employees was
$30,000 divided among 200 loggers. They cut
and shipped 50,000,000 feet of logs
annually. During the Depression era, the
company operated at least two days a week,
keeping Fastrill's citizens from
unemployment. By 1941 most of the timber
owned by Southern Pine in this area was
exhausted. The post office was discontinued
in September, and the company closed the
town. When the men finished their final
workday, they were instructed to take the
train to Diboll, where they found their
families had been relocated to new homes.
Once the largest and longest-lived of the
southern Pine Lumber Company's towns,
Fastrill quickly disappeared. Two graves are
all that remain of twenty-one years of
settlement and human habitation on this
site. (1999)
Site of Ferguson Ford Mill , FM 1248 at
CR 2103.
In November 1847, James Ferguson, a
land speculator, bought 1,600 acres
including this site and built a mill. He
successfully operated it for several years,
employing five workers by 1852. He lost the
property in a legal judgment, and it changed
ownership several times in the next
seventeen years. Charles E. Ford, a New
England Quaker, brought his family to
Cherokee County in 1869 and purchased the
mill with 335 acres of creek bottom land for
$442.50. An entrepreneur and inventor, Ford
modernized the mill and reopened it in 1872
to grind corn, saw lumber and repair
machinery. The mill's value by 1880 was
$1,250. "Miller" Ford's fortune expanded to
include 14 cotton gins and grist mills in
the county. His son continued the mill's
operation until 1917. All that remains is
the mill pond and vestiges of the mill race.
(1999).
First
Baptist Church of Rusk, 308 N. Barron,
traces its history to 1853, when a small
group of worshippers led by the Rev. John C.
Woolam met in the home of Mrs. Nan C.
Trimble to organize a congregation. Early
worship services were held in a Union Church
shared with the local Presbyterian
congregation. Located on Barron Street on
land donated by Mrs. Joseph L. Hogg, the
building housed the Baptist fellowship for
almost forty years. In 1890 property was
purchased on Fourth Street and two years
later, under the leadership of the Rev. J.
H. Thorn, a new sanctuary was erected. Also
during Thorn's pastorate, this congregation
was merged with that of the New Birmingham
Baptist Church. The 1892 one-room church
structure was moved to this site in 1910. A
building fund begun in 1918 enabled the
church members to replace the small
sanctuary with a three-storey building in
the early 1920s. Later building programs
enlarged church facilities over the years.
Throughout its history, the First Baptist
Church has maintained an involvement in
local and foreign missionary activities. It
continues to be a vital part of the City of
Rusk. First
Presbyterian Church, corner of Main and
4th.
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Rusk
was organized on May 2, 1847 by the Rev. J.
B. Harris, with a
charter membership of
four. A Sunday School was begun in 1850, and
existed as a Union school until the 1880s.
Ecumenical relationships were strong with
other churches in town, and the Presbyterian
church building was used by various
denominations. The "Old School" congregation
of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. was
organized in March 1831 by the Rev. J. M.
Becton and the Rev. J. C. Sharp, with eight
charter members. A sanctuary was built on
Henderson Street in 1854, and a parsonage
was added in 1888-1889, largely through the
efforts of the Ladies' Aid Society. The two
congregations united to form the First
Presbyterian Church on April 6, 1906. This
property was acquired, and both church
buildings were moved to the new site. The
"Old School" church was converted to a
parsonage. The present sanctuary was built
in 1913-14, and was the first brick church
in Rusk. A new parsonage was added in 1925.
Throughout its history, which began one year
after the city's founding, the Presbyterian
church has sought to serve its community
with outreach programs. First
United Methodist Church, 308 N.
Henderson Street . Organized in 1849, this
congregation was first served by the Rev.
Henderson D. Palmer (1812-1869). A circuit
riding minister, Palmer received his license
to preach in 1838 in Nacogdoches County. The
first deed for the Methodist church property
in Rusk was recorded on May 22, 1850. The
first church building was erected the
following year. A second sanctuary was built
in 1896 during the pastorate of the Rev. A.
A. Godbey. Those serving on the building
committee were E. L. Gregg, J. W. Summers,
and J. F. Mallard. The present building was
completed in 1920 while the congregation was
under the leadership of the Rev. J. W.
Goodwin. It was dedicated in 1935, when the
building debt was retired. The dedication
day was referred to as a great day in the
life of the church. All three Methodist
sanctuaries have stood on this site. There
have also been three parsonages. The first,
built in 1879, was replaced by a second home
in 1947. Recent additions to the church
property were an educational building in
1961 and parsonage in 1981. For over a
century, the First United Methodist Church
of Rusk has been a vital part of the
community. Many descendants of early members
continue to be active in the life of the
church.
Dr. I. K. Frazier Home, 704 E. 5th
Street.
Typical Texas house of the 1850s,
when it was built. Deeded 1873 to Dr.
Frazer, who in Civil War had been in 3rd
Texas Cavalry and Brigade of Gen. Joseph
Hogg. For over 40 years, until his death in
1908, Dr. Frazer was a leading physician of
Rusk. RTHL 1969.
Gregg
Family Home, East 4th Street.
One of the oldest houses in Rusk;
Built 1847-48; Dog-trot styling, pine
construction. Modernized in 1919 and 1935.
Three former owners were Confederate
captains; Daniel Egbert, E. C. Williams,
Elbert L. Gregg. Owned by Gregg family since
1876; Community leaders. RTHL 1967.
Site
of Sam Houston speeches, Corner of 4th
and Barron Streets.
Two speeches were delivered by Sam
Houston in Rusk. The first, in 1855, was a
debate with politician Frank Bowden.
Houston, a U.S. Senator, was on a tour
through central and east Texas trying to
regain public favor after voting against the
Kansas-Nebraska Act. Political debates were
popular entertainment of the time, and were
well attended. Houston campaigned for
governor here in 1857. A newspaper account
states his speech lasted three hours, but
brought little enthusiasm from the crowd.
When he finished speaking, applause was weak
and many of the benches were empty.
Little
Bean’s Cherokee Village, US 84 at FM
347.
In the winter of 1819-1820 Chief John Bowles
led about sixty Cherokee families from
Arkansas to East Texas. Near this site a
small settlement was established by a leader
named Little Bean. They remained until 1839,
when the Republic of Texas government forced
the tribe to move to Oklahoma. The land
later was opened to Anglo settlers. Early
owners of the Indian village were Reza J.
Banks and Lewis Rogers. Little Bean, who
died in 1839, is thought to be buried in the
vicinity of the village.
Jim Hogg Mountain Home.
Off US 84 on Park Road 50 in city
park. Birthplace of James Stephen Hogg, son
of Lucanda McMath Hogg and Joseph Lewis
Hogg. Born March 24, 1851. Died March 3,
1906. First native Texan to serve as
governor. Inspirer of the passage of the
Railroad Commission Law, Stock and Bond Law,
Alien Land Law.
New
Birmingham, 1 mile southeast of Rusk on
US 69.
Born during iron rush of 1880s.
Population about 3000. Had 2 iron furnaces,
"The Tassie Bell" and "The Star and
Crescent," 15 brick business blocks included
banks, ice plant, electric plant, pipe
foundry, school and palatial southern hotel
where Jay Gould and Grover Cleveland were
guests. Street railway connected with Rusk.
Became ghost town in 1890s due to financial
troubles of iron companies.
Norman Law Firm,
106 E. Fifth St.
Wyatt Thomas Norman and
William Harrison Shook, both
Cherokee County natives, opened a
law office on the Courthouse Square
in 1898. George Gibson became a
partner in 1918. He later moved to
Jacksonville and opened a branch
there. Wyatt T. Norman's son joined
the firm in 1930, becoming a partner
in 1932 and later maintaining the
Jacksonville office. Throughout its
history, the firm has retained the
Norman name in its title. It remains
widely known as the Norman Law Firm.
The firm has contributed to Texas
legal history, successfully
representing both individuals and
national corporations. The Norman
firm has produced judges,
politicians and local, county and
state leaders. It continues in the
traditions of its founders.
James
I. Perkins Family Home, 302 E.
5th Street.
Attorney James N. Thomas (b.
1816) erected the one-story portion
of this residence before 1851. James
I. Perkins (1847-1923) built the
two-story wings and added Victorian
detailing after he purchased the
property in 1893. Head of a leading
Rusk family who owned the home for
94 years, Perkins served as district
attorney, district judge, and a
member of the State Legislature. His
son James I. Perkins, Jr.,
(1887-1952) and daughter-in-law
Morinne (Taylor) (1905-1974) shared
a law practice and held offices in
city and county government. City
of Rusk, City limits of Rusk .
Founded 1846. Named for
Republic of Texas Statesman Thomas
J. Rusk. Industrial site and supply
depot in the Civil War. Birthplace
of Texas governors James S. Hogg,
Thomas M. Campbell. City and county
rich in historical sites marked for
visitors.
The
Rusk Cherokeean, 618 N. Main St.
The first newspaper in Rusk
was the short-lived Rusk Pioneer,
which began in 1848 and moved to
Palestine the following year. On
February 27, 1850, the first issue
of the Cherokee Sentinel was
published. This is the publication
to which the current
Cherokeean/Herald can trace its
origin. After the Civil War, the
name of the weekly paper was changed
to the Texas Observer, and it was at
this paper, as a typesetter, that
Texas' first native governor, James
Stephen Hogg, began his work in the
newspaper business. This weekly
publication underwent a series of
name changes and consolidations over
the years but remained in continuous
operation. Among its significant
publishers have been: Samuel A.
Willson, a noted judge, who was
appointed by Governor Richard Coke
to help codify the laws of Texas
under the 1876 Constitution; John
Benjamin Long, a U.S. Congressman,
state legislator and mayor of Rusk;
and state representative Wallace M.
Ellis. They and other publishers and
editors have kept the citizens of
Rusk and Cherokee County informed of
news and events throughout the
years. The Rusk Cherokeean published
its first issue in 1919 and
purchased the Press Journal (a
successor to the Cherokee Sentinel)
in 1923. In 1959, the paper's name
was shortened to the Cherokeean. It
has been known as the
Cherokeean/Herald since a merger
with the Alto Herald in 1989. At the
beginning of the 21st century, the
publication could lay claim as the
oldest, continuously operated,
weekly newspaper in Texas. (2001)
Text of supplemental plate: June 1,
1950, Emmett and Marie Whitehead
bought this newspaper from Frank and
Marie Main. They and their family
have owned it since.
Rusk
Footbridge, end of 5th and Lone
Oak. 546 feet long; 4 feet wide.
First built 1861 as the means for
residents east of valley to get to
town during rainy seasons. Rebuilt
in 1889 by T. H. Barnes, engineer
building New Birmingham (now ghost
town, to the east). Maintained by
city of Rusk until 1950. Restored
1969 on plans by Barnes.
Rusk Penitentiary Building Site
of Rusk College, Avenue A and US
69.
The abundance of iron ore for
use in manufacturing prompted a
commission appointed by Gov. Richard
Coke in 1875 to select this region
for a state penitentiary. In 1877
this 19,000-acre tract was purchased
form T. Y. T. Jamison and his wife.
Contractors Kanmacher and Denig of
Columbus, Ohio, built this structure
the following year. The walls are of
two-and-a-half foot thick sandstone.
The administrative offices, a
hospital, chapel, dining area, and
cells were housed here. The
prisoners helped construct the Texas
State Railroad from Rusk to
Palestine. They built the "Old
Alcalde" iron ore smelting furnace
adjacent to this structure. The
furnace produced iron products for
construction throughout the United
States and for use in the erection
of many state buildings. Convict
labor was used in the area at
contract prices. In 1917 the Texas
Legislature changed the facility to
a state hospital for the mentally
ill. The building was renovated and
ready for occupancy by 1919 and
operated under the name of Rusk
State Hospital. The Department of
Mental Health and Mental Retardation
was designated as the governing body
in 1963. This structure became the
administrative center for the
hospital.
Site of Rusk College, South Main
Street, in front of city park.
After efforts to relocate a
Methodist school to Rusk fell
through, the community convinced the
Cherokee Baptist Association to
establish a school on 12.2 acres
donated by local resident Georgiana
Bonner. Chartered in 1894, the East
Texas Baptist Institute was housed
in a grand 3-story structure and
offered classes from first grade
through junior college. Renamed Rusk
Academy of Industrial Arts in 1907
and Rusk College in 1919, the
six-building campus was closed in
1928. In 1937 the main building was
razed and its cornerstone later put
on display at the First Baptist
Church. Site
of Rusk Public School No. 2 for
African-Americans, 1/4 mile west
of Courthouse on US 84.
By 1884 the Rusk Public
School District maintained two
schools: No. 1 for its Anglo
students and No. 2 for its African
American students. A yearly average
of 50 students met in a small house
built here about 1895 to house Rusk
Public School No. 2. In 1939 the
Rusk Independent School District
erected a new school building
southeast of downtown Rusk for its
African American students. Named
after long-term principal G. W.
Bradford, the facility was used
until Rusk integrated its schools in
the 1960s. Many graduates of this
school became highly respected
professionals. Site
of Tassie Belle and Star and
Crescent Iron Ore Furnaces, US
69 .
New Birmingham was a boom
town nearby in the late 1880s built
around local iron ore operations.
The furnaces, capable of producing
50 tons of iron daily, were named "Tassie
Belle," after the wife of the town
founder A. B. Bevin's, and the "Star
and Crescent." About 275 workmen
were required to keep furnaces in
continual operation. The town grew
to over 3, 000 people with a
business district of 15 blocks
including 32 mercantile houses, an
ice plant, the spacious Southern
Hotel, bottling works, and an early
electric power plant. The 1883 panic
bankrupted the industries and killed
the town.
Texas State Railroad, 2.5 miles
west of Rusk.
In the late 1880s the Texas
Prison System built a short rail
line from the state penitentiary
facility in north Rusk southward to
hardwood timber stands, where
charcoal was made for use in firing
the prison's iron ore smelting
furnaces. The line served as the
foundation of the Texas State
Railroad, which was organized in
1894 in an effort to make the prison
more self-sufficient by providing
new markets for prison products. Two
Texas governors, James Stephen Hogg
and Thomas M. Campbell, both natives
of Cherokee County, were
instrumental in the railroad's
development. Built by prisoners and
supervised by the state prison
system, the line was completed in
1909 to Palestine (30 mi. w), where
it connected with existing routes.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife
Department operated the park and
train operations from 1976 to
September 1, 2007.
The TSRR Operating Agency
selected American Heritage Railways
as the new operator of the railroad
in February 2007 and the Texas
Legislature approved this with a
signed bill from Governor Perry in
the spring of 2007.
The Philosophy of American
Heritage Railways:
“We are guardians of history.
The best way to preserve
history is to make its presentation
so interesting and exciting that
people will pay a fair price for the
experience.”
Allen C. Harper, President.
Union
Hotel/Bracken House/Acme Hotel,
Northwest corner of Main and 6th .
The first hotel to occupy
this site was the Union Hotel, a
wood frame building erected in 1849.
Renamed Bracken House for a
subsequent owner, it continued to
serve the city until 1889. Civil War
General Joseph L. Hogg, father of
future Governor James Stephen Hogg,
gave a rousing patriotic speech from
the front steps in 1861, and
infamous outlaw John Welsey Hardin
was held for two weeks in the hotel
by the local sheriff in 1872.
Architect Theodore Miller razed the
wooden structure and built the
65-room brick Acme Hotel in its
place in 1889. It was destroyed by
fire in 1905.
|