Part of our in-depth series exploring Texas Forest Trail Region Forts
Markers (click on a topic to jump to that section).
Ancient Mound | Arnold, Captain Hayden | Austin, Stephen Fuller | Balch, John | Barbo, Site of the Home of Antonio Gil y | Battle of Nacogdoches | Site of the Home of James Dill | Douglass, Kelsey Harris | Site of El Atascoso | William ("Bill") Goyens | Halfway Inn | Hamilton, Elias E. | La Calle Real del Norte | Los Ojos de Padre Margil | Site of the Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe | Site of the Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisma Conception | Site of Town of Mount Sterling | Nacogdoches | Site of Bivouac and Banquet for The New Orleans' Greys | Oak Grove Cemetery | 100th Anniversary of Oil in Nacogdoches County | Old Soledad | Presidio Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores | Roberts, John S. | Homesite of Thomas J. Rusk | Rusk, Thomas Jefferson | Old Spanish Cemetery | Stone Fort Museum | Old Stone House | Texas Stagecoaches, C.S.A
Uncommemorated Sites (click on a topic to jump to that section).
Mission Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores de Los Ais
Ancient Mound
Marker Title: Ancient Mound
Address: 516 Mound St.
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Marker Text: Mound Street got its name in the 18th century from mounds which lined it from Main to King Street. These were built by prehistoric Indians. Only this one remains. Pottery from a demolished mound that measured 150 by 75 feet is preserved in Old Stone Fort, Stephen F. Austin State College.
Captain Hayden Arnold
Marker Title: Captain Hayden Arnold
Address: Oak Grove Cemetery
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: Lanana and Hospital Sts.
Marker Text: Commanded the Nacogdoches company at the Battle of San Jacinto. Born in Tenn. in 1805; died in 1839.
Stephen Fuller Austin
Marker Title: Stephen Fuller Austin
Address: SFA Campus, end of Vista Dr.
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1993
Marker Text: (November 3, 1793 - December 37, 1836) Republics often point to one person whose vision and leadership led to their creation. For the Republic of Texas (1836-1845) that person is Stephen Fuller Austin. Austin, the son of Moses and Maria Brown Austin, was born on the Virginia frontier. He attended schools in Kentucky and Connecticut before opting to work in his father's mercantile business in Missouri. He served as a judge in Arkansas prior to moving to New Orleans where he worked at a newspaper and studied law. In 1821 Moses Austin was granted permission by Spain to settle 300 families in Texas. His untimely death while in Louisiana recruiting settlers left the completion of his ambitious project to his son Stephen. Although a series of Mexican leaders subsequently rejected his father's original grant, Austin persevered and successfully lobbied for the grant's continuance. He astutely governed every facet of the original 300 families' settlement in southeast Texas (1821-1825) and those of another 900 families in the area by 1832. Austin was imprisoned in Mexico after requesting separate statehood for Texas in 1833. He returned to Texas in 1835 and helped it gain independence from Mexico. Austin, chosen as the new Republic's first secretary of state, is known as the father of Texas. Stephen F. Austin Bicentennial 1793 - 1993
John Balch
Marker Title: John Balch
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: Cove Springs Cemetery, about 9 mi. E of Nacogdoches off SH 21 on Cove Springs Rd.
Marker Text: Participated in the storming of Bexar, 1835; Battle of San Jacinto, 1836. Born in Tennessee in 1812, died in 1900. His wife Elizabeth Rogers Balch, born in 1826, died in 1893
Site of the Home of Antonio Gil y Barbo
Marker Title: Site of the Home of Antonio Gil y Barbo
Address: 317 E. Main St.
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Text: Founder of modern Nacogdoches in 1779. This Spanish frontiersman matched wits with Spanish governors in the interest of the early settlers of this region. A leader of the people, he brought the exiles back.
Battle of Nacogdoches
Marker Title: Battle of Nacogdoches
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1979
Marker Location: corner of Fredonia and El Camino Real (Main)
Marker Text: (August 2, 1832) One of the opening actions of the Texas War for Independence, this battle occurred soon after settlers drove out the Mexican garrisons at Anahuac and Velasco. In 1832 Col. Jose de las Piedras, in command of over 300 soldiers here, ordered the residents to surrender all firearms. Citizens of Nacogdoches and other East Texas towns resisted by forming the "National Militia," commanded by James W. Bullock. When Piedras refused to support the constitution of 1824, the militia marched toward the Mexicans on the square and the Mexicans opened fire. In hand-to-hand combat, the militia took the stone fort and several nearby structures, but the Mexicans continued to hold Piedras' headquarters in the red house. Adolphus Sterne showed San Augustine "redlanders" how to outflank the Mexicans. Piedras' men fled during the night and were captured August 3 by militiamen near Loco Creek. Fighting ended after the Mexicans arrested their leader at John Durst's home. A peace treaty was signed on August 6. Piedras lost 47 men.Four Texans died, including the alcalde of Nacogdoches, Encarnacion Chireno. Because of this incident, Mexican troops were never again stationed in East Texas, leaving settlers free to meet and air their grievances.
Site of the Home of James Dill
Marker Title: Site of the Home of James Dill
Address: Corner of North and Hospital
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Text: Born in Pennsylvania in 1770. Pioneer Indian trader. Recognized by the King of Spain as a public spirited citizen. First alcalde of Nacogdoches under the Mexican government in 1821.
Kelsey Harris Douglass
Marker Title: Kelsey Harris Douglass
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: Oak Grove Cemetery, Lanana and Hospital St.
Marker Text: Member of the Second Congress of the Republic. Commander of the Texas forces in the decisive battle with the Cherokee Indians, July 16, 1839. Charter member of Grand Masonic Lodge of Texas. Died Oct. 4, 1840. His daughter Anne Elizabeth Douglass died in July, 1840.
Site of El Atascoso
Marker Title: Site of El Atascoso
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1973
Marker Text: In the 1778 return to East Texas of settlers removed in 1772-73, this Atascoso Bayou-to-Puentesuellos segment of El Camino Real was site of many camps, and here Jose Mora established Rancho "El Atascoso." Others settled nearby, joining him for protection against the original Indian inhabitants. Ranch preserved by Aaron Cox and family.
William ("Bill") Goyens
Marker Title: William ("Bill") Goyens
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Text: Born a slave in South Carolina, 1794; escaped to Texas in 1821. Rendered valuable assistance to the Army of Texas, 1836. Interpreter for the Houston-Forbes Treaty with the Cherokees, 1836. Acquired wealth and was noted for his charity. Died at his home on Goyens' Hill 1856. His skin was black His heart, true blue.
Halfway Inn
Marker Title: Halfway Inn (Flournoy - Granberry House)
City: Chireno
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1997
Marker Location: 1 mi. W on SH 21 from junction FM 95 and SH 21, Chireno.
Marker Text: This two-story log dwelling was built on the El Camino Real about 1840 by Samuel Flournoy for his wife Minerva (Wadington) and their family who moved to Texas from Mississippi. They settled in the Chireno area, where they purchased 300 acres. An active member of the community, Flournoy was appointed as a Republic of Texas postmaster in 1843, and continued as postmaster as part of the United States Postal Service. This house served as the post office for a fifteen-mile radius, and was a popular halfway stop on the stagecoach route between Nacogdoches and San Augustine, Texas. The Flournoys, after acquiring an additional 500 acres, sold this property in 1852 and moved away. The property changed owners several times until 1917 when H. R. Granberry purchased the house; it remained in his family until 1981. This house was moved twelve miles east of Nacogdoches in 1984, but in 1988 was returned to the Flournoy homestead within one-quarter mile of its original location. This hewn-log residence is constructed of square notch logs two rooms wide and one room deep with a dogtrot, or central hall. The two-story house was restored through the efforts of local citizens. RTHL - 1962
Elias E. Hamilton
Marker Title: Elias E. Hamilton
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: Oak Grove Cemetery, Lanana and Hospital St.
Marker Text: Participated in storming of Bexar, 1835; Battle of San Jacinto, 1836. Born in Clarksville, Georgia in 1816; died in Douglass, Texas, September 30, 1840.
La Calle Real del Norte
Marker Title: La Calle Real del Norte
Address: Corner of North and Powers
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Text: An 18th-century trail connecting the Indian villages of the Nacogdoche and Nasoni Indians. Travelled by Spanish missionaries, soldiers and settlers, French traders and American filibusters before Anglo-American colonists came to make Texas their home.
Los Ojos de Padre Margil
Marker Title: "Los Ojos de Padre Margil" (The Eyes of Father Margil)
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1977
Marker Location: Park St. at La Nana Creek Bridge
Marker Text: A Franciscan missionary who spent almost 50 years with the Indians of Central and North America, Father Antonio Margil de Jesus (1657-1726) was born in Valencia, Spain, and came to the New World in 1683. He founded three Catholic colleges before joining the Domingo Ramon Expedition to East Texas in 1716. He established three missions in this region, including Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe at present Nacogdoches. A severe drought, which began in 1717, ruined crops and caused many Indians to leave the mission. In the summer of 1718, according to tradition, Father Margil was led by a vision to a point near this site where the bed of La Nana Creek made a sharp bend. There he struck the overhanging rock shelf with his staff, and a stream of water gushed forth. Some accounts say that he made two openings in the rock, which became known as "The Eyes of Father Margil." This miraculous event inspired the Indians, and a relief expedition later found conditions at the mission greatly improved. In 1720, Father Margil founded Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo in San Antonio. He died in Mexico City. "The Holy Spring," now dry except during very rainy weather, symbolizes the faith and endurance of the Spanish missionaries.
Site of the Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe
Marker Title: Site of the Mission Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe
Address: North and Mullen St.
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Text: A Spanish outpost founded in 1716 by the pioneer Franciscan Antonio Margil de Jesus as a means of civilizing and christianizing the Nacogdoches Indians. Abandoned temporarily due to the French incursions from Louisiana in 1719. Restored by the Marquis of Aguayo in 1721. Abandoned permanently in 1773. Its deserted buildings formed a nucleus for the settlement of Nacogdoches in 1779 by Antonio Gil y Barbo.
Site of the Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisma Conception
Marker Title: Site of the Mission Nuestra Senora de la Purisma Conception
City: Douglass
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: about 7 mi. S of Douglass via FM 225, then S on CR 789, take left before Goodman Bridge and continue for one mile.
Marker Text: Established by Franciscan missionaries in 1716 with the hope of civilizing and christianizing the Indians of the region. Abandoned temporarily due to the French incursions from Louisiana in 1719. Restored by the Marquis of Aguayo in 1721. Removed to the Colorado River in 1730 and finally situated on the San Antonio River in 1731.
Site of Town of Mount Sterling
Marker Title: Site of Town of Mount Sterling
City: Douglass
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: FM 225, 7 mi. south of Douglass
Marker Text: Established by John Durst in 1837. Near the ruins of the Mission La Purisma Concepcion de Maria. He built a saw and grist mill, in the town, a large warehouse. From his house he could see the boats moored to the wharves on the Angelina. The Cordova Rebellion in 1838 sealed the doom of the town. Durst moved to Leon County.
Nacogdoches
Marker Title: Nacogdoches
Address: North St. in front of Wal-Mart
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Text: Home of the Nacogdoches Indians in the 17th century. Spanish settlements, 1716.Alternately settled and abandoned in 18th century due to French encroachments. Scene of the Fredonian Rebellion in 1827. Organized a municipality, 1839 under the Mexican government. Created a county March 17, 1836; organized May 24, 1837. Nacogdoches established 1779, became the county seat in 1836.
Site of Bivouac and Banquet for The New Orleans' Greys
Marker Title: Site of Bivouac and Banquet for The New Orleans' Greys
Address: Pilar & S. Lanana St.
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1977
Marker Text: Led by Adolphus Sterne, citizens of Nacogdoches helped outfit a volunteer force, the New Orleans' Greys, to fight in the Texas War for Independence. One company of Greys traveled overland to San Antonio by way of Nacogdoches in Nov. 1835. The 50-100 men camped for a few days at this site near Sterne's home. They were honored with a banquet of bear, raccoon, and other meat, and were praised in toasts and speeches. The Greys reached San Antonio before the Siege of Bexar, Dec. 5-9, 1835. Most of the volunteers died in later battles of the revolution.
Oak Grove Cemetery
Marker Title: Oak Grove Cemetery
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 2000
Marker Location: Lanana at Hospital St.
Marker Text: Originally called "American Cemetery," Oak Grove Cemetery is located on the 1826 land grant of Empresario Haden Edwards. The leader of the 1826 Fredonian Rebellion, Edwards is interred here. The earliest marked burial on this site is that of Franklin J. Starr (d. 1837), a native of New Hartford, Connecticut and a local realtor. Many graves from the early Spanish cemetery of Nacogdoches were relocated to this site when the county courthouse was erected on the Spanish cemetery grounds in 1912. The earliest grave from that burial ground is marked, "Father Mendoza," 1718. Oak Grove Cemetery is filled with historical figures important both to Nacogdoches County and the State of Texas. Perhaps the most famous is Thomas Jefferson Rusk, judge, statesman and Sam Houston's secretary of war. Like Rusk, Charles Stanfield Taylor, John S. Roberts and William Clark , Jr., signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Other statesmen and soldiers interred here include Captain Haden Arnold and Elias E. Hamilton, veterans of the Battle of San Jacinto; Jacob Lewis; James Harper Starr; General Kelsey H. Douglass; George F. Ingraham; Nicholas Adolphus Sterne; Captain Frederick Voigt; and Dr. Robert A. Irion, who also was Sam Houston's personal physician. Other burials of interest include those of former slaves Mitchell Thorn, Lawrence Sleet and Eliza Walker. Frost Thorn was among Texas' early millionaires; Deidrich Anton Wilhelm Rulfs, Nacogdoches' master architect, designed Zion Hill Baptist Church on the north side of the cemetery. Richard William Haltom founded and edited Nacogdoches' "The Daily Sentinel," and poet Karle Wilson Baker was the third person named a fellow to the Texas Institute of Letters. (2000)
100th Anniversary of Oil in Nacogdoches County
Marker Title: 100th Anniversary of Oil in Nacogdoches County
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1966
Marker Location: across from Old Stone Fort on Griffith & Alumni, SFA Campus.
Marker Text: --
Old Soledad
Marker Title: "Old Soledad"
Address: 407 E. Main
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Text: Famous throughout East Texas prior to 1800 as the headquarters of William Barr and Samuel Davenport, Indian traders.
Presidio Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores
Marker Title: Presidio Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores
City: Douglass
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: about 6 mi. S of Douglass on FM 225 at junction w/CR 789
Marker Text: Built by Capt. Domingo Ramon, 1716. Repaired and enlarged by Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo, 1721. Abandoned about 1730. Built by the Spanish government as a fort and headquarters for soldiers to guard the east Texas missions and the borders of the New Phillipines.
John S. Roberts
Marker Title: John S. Roberts
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: OakGrove Cemetery, Hospital and La Nana St.
Marker Text: Born July 13, 1796; died August 9, 1871. Sheriff in Natchitoches, LA in 1826. One of the leaders in Battle of Nacogdoches. Member of Consultation, 1835. Commanded the Nacogdoches Company in storming of Bexar, 1835. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. His wife, Harriett Roberts, born April 7, 1796, died April 5, 1874.
Homesite of Thomas J. Rusk
Marker Title: Homesite of Thomas J. Rusk
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: corner of North and Rusk St.
Marker Text: (1803-1857 Soldier-statesman of the Republic of Texas. A hero of San Jacinto. Commander in chief of the army 1836. Chief justice of the Supreme Court 1839. President of the Constitutional Convention, 1845. United States Senator, 1846. He called Nacogdoches his home from 1835 to 1857.
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Marker Title: Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Address: 1936 North St.
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1999
Marker Location: in front of Rusk Building, SFASU campus
Marker Text: (1803-1857) Born in South Carolina, Thomas Jefferson Rusk showed an early aptitude for the law, passing the bar at age twenty-one. He began to practice law in Georgia, where he married Mary F. Cleveland in 1827. Rusk was so taken with Nacogdoches that he sent for his family and became a citizen of Mexico in 1835. Quickly becoming involved in the independence movement, he organized a group of Nacogdoches volunteers and joined Stephen F. Austin's army. The provisional government named him inspector general of the army. He signed the Texas Declaration of Independence as a delegate from Nacogdoches and was appointed secretary of war. Rusk fought with Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto and was briefly commander in chief of the army of the Republic of Texas. After the war, Rusk was again appointed secretary of war and major general of the Texas Militia. Elected to the Republic of Texas Congress, he chaired the House Military Committee. In 1840, he retired from his position as chief justice of the State Supreme Court to return to a successful law practice in Nacogdoches, but he was called again to the militia in 1843 and was soon elected major general by the Congress. Returning home in June, Rusk focused his energies on the establishment of Nacogdoches University. Following his term as president of the convention of 1845 to annex Texas to the United States, Rusk was elected to a U. S. Senate seat in 1846. He and Senator Sam Houston established the southwestern boundary of Texas, and he promoted construction of a transcontinental railroad route through Texas. Mary Rusk died of tuberculosis in 1856, and an ill and despondent T. J. Rusk took his own life in 1857. (1999)
Old Spanish Cemetery
Marker Title: Old Spanish Cemetery
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: Courthouse lawn - corner of Main (SH 21) and North
Marker Text: This courthouse stands in the Old Spanish Cemetery used from 1800 to 1895. Notable among those whose remains rest here is Antonio Gil y Barbo, 1729-1809. Founder of Nacogdoches. An outstanding figure in the life of this frontier town at the close of the 18th century, who was captain of militia, military and civil lieutenant, governor, and judge of revenue for the town and district of Nuestra Senora del Pilar de Nacogdoches. In 1783, he published the town's first criminal code.
Stone Fort Museum
Museum Name: Stone Fort Museum
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6075 SFASU
City: Nacogdoches
Zip Code: 75962
Street Address: Corner of Alumni & Clark Blvd, SFA Campus
Area Code: 409
Phone: 568-2408
County: Nacogdoches
Types of Exhibits/Collections: Science, Art, Natural History, Archeology, Interactive, Historical, Local/Pioneer History
Old Stone House
Marker Title: Old Stone House
Address: 218 E. Main, Nacogdoches
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1936
Marker Location: 218 E. Main, Nacogdoches
Marker Text: On this site stood for a century an old stone house thought to have been built in 1779 by Antonio Gil y Barbo. Sold by him as community property in 1805, headquarters in 1806 for William Barr and Samuel Davenport, Indian traders, it served as trading post, store, warehouse, town hall, fort, barracks, church, tavern, and saloon before being torn down in 1902 by W. U. and Charles Perkins, last owners. Reconstructed in 1936 on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College (Nacogdoches).
Texas Stagecoaches, C.S.A
Marker Title: Texas Stagecoaches, C.S.A.
Address: 211 E. Main St.
City: Nacogdoches
County: Nacogdoches
Year Marker Erected: 1964
Marker Text: At this site on the historic King's Highway, used since 1691, passengers boarded stagecoaches during the Civil War, 1861-65. Besides this stand, the town had 2 others, to serve 3 stage lines operating here. Wm. Clark had the line to Mt. Pleasant, Haston & Lee the one to Tyler, and Sawyer & Risher (contractors for 15 Texas lines) the one to Waco. Passengers for Waco boarded a coach at 6 a.m., and rode 4 days, 16 hours to the destination. Along the way some made connections for other places. In Waco there were stage lines to Henderson, San Antonio, Clarksville and Hempstead. Schedules were shorter from here to Mt. Pleasant and Tyler. Nacogdoches was one of the best-served towns in Texas. Only 2 lines, both operating from Hempstead, had daily schedules, to Old Washington and to Austin. Cities with 5 lines included Austin, Waco and San Antonio. The port city of Indianola, later destroyed by storms, had 4 lines. In all 31 stage lines operated in Confederate Texas, hauling mail, soldiers, civilians. 15 used 2-horse hacks, the others heavier coaches. All but 5 lines made connections with railroads or steamers, making possible extensive travel.
Mission Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores de Los Ais
One of the earliest missions in Texas. Located about a mile south of present-day San Augustine in 1717 by the Domingo Ramon expedition. Abandoned due to French invasions in 1721 and then re-established at its current site.