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Sabine County
Courthouse
1940 Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Few
find the community of Hemphill, county seat of Sabine County, by accident unless
they are lost. One generally has a purpose for visiting this old town. A good
one might be finding a place to fish or to retire since the completion of Toledo
Bend Reservoir provided the area with a fine 'fishing hole' not far away.
Milam served as the seat of local government in Sabine County until
1858, when voters decided to move the courthouse to a more central location. E.P.
Beddoe drew the assignment of finding the right spot and platting a town there.
They named it Hemphill in honor of John Hemphill, former chief justice
of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas and of the State of Texas.
Hemphill
assumed its role as a government center in 1859, and Michael Watson became postmaster
there the same year. Despite its promising beginning as a central location of
the Sabine County, the county itself lay in the grip of dense forest.
With the Sabine River on one side and trees all around, Hemphill was not benefited
by the Houston, East and West Texas Railway, the first constructed in East
Texas in 1882-1883.
In 1884, Hemphill had a population of only 350
souls, few retail businesses, a cotton gin, and a lumber mill. Population declined
to less than 300 in 1900, rose to 400 by World
War I, and reached perhaps 1,500 or so by the 1920s before declining again
during the Depression. In 1990 the official count stood at 1,182 residents. A
significant portion of the present population resulted from the economic stimulation
of Toledo Bend Reservoir. |
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Historic jail in Hemphill, now a museum
Photo courtesy George Lester,
April 2004 |
I have
some fond memories of Hemphill. On many weekends back in the 1960s, we drove from
Nacogdoches to the southern
part of Sabine County to help my father-in-law, Bert Barrett, clear brush from
a lakeside subdivision he and his partners were developing. Our route followed
Highway 21 to Milam, then south, through Hemphill, to the subdivision.
We rarely stopped, unless it was at the old Peddy's Restaurant, for a cup of coffee
or a meal. On one trip my wife wanted to stop in town for a purchase, and my then
four-year-old son and I strolled around the square while she shopped. We received
a guided tour of the old jail, just then unoccupied, that shares the square with
the seat of justice in Sabine County. I had never seen the inside of a jail before,
and determined that this would be my last visit. So far, that has turned out to
be the case.
© Archie P. McDonald, PhD
All
Things HIstorical July,
2002 Column
Archie McDonald is author of Pioneers, Poke Sallet and Politics
with Bob Bowman. It is available through the East Texas Historical Association,
Nacogdoches
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A feed store in Hemphill
TE photo |
Hemphill Chronicles
A
gunfight in Hemphill
by Bob Bowman
With deep roots in East Texas, John Wesley Hardin was
our most famous outlaw and gunfighter, but many of his raids and shootings in
the pineywoods have remained unchronicled. A little-known incident in which he
won a gunfight with a Sabine County deputy sheriff at Hemphill...The
Mystery of Lady Bountiful
by Bob Bowman
November 22 will mark the 85th anniversary of an East
Texas murder that created a still-lingering mystery and put a timber baroness
in a pauper’s grave. Saving
Sallie's Home
by Bob Bowman
Today, more than a few Hemphill townspeople are convinced
Sallie's prayers 95 years ago have protected her house from the wrecker's ball
and will lead to its eventual restoration. more
A
Personal Hero
by Bob Bowman
My favorite East Texans are the senior citizens whose
agile memories have helped me write columns such as this. Leon Herman Adickes,
88, who was high on my list, died recently at Hemphill -- a place where he helped
make history by simply doing things to make his community a better place. Most
of what he did were acts like making sure Hemphill had a doctor, a hospital, a
nursing home and a Lions Club. more
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