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HEMPHILL
by Archie
P. McDonald, PhD 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. |
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A
feed store in Hemphill
TE photo |
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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
Hemphill
Hotels
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More
Hemphill Stories
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. moreThe
Twirler by Bob Bowman
When Audrey Dean Leighton passed away in mid-2005,
East Texas lost one of its most entertaining and colorful characters.
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