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LASSATER, TEXAS


Marion County, East Texas

FM 1969 and State Hwy 49
On the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway
10 Miles NW of Jefferson
Population: 48 (1968 through 2000)

Lassater, Texas Area HotelsJefferson Hotels

-RR Track
A railroad passed through it
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, 2010

History in a Pecan Shell

The community is thought to be founded sometime around 1877 with the arrival of the East Line and Red River Railroad. A post office opened that year and was named Lassater Station after Joe Lassater, an early resident. The word “station” was dropped in 1881.

The mid 1880s showed a population of around 75 – most of them cotton farmers or working at one of the two gins in town.

The 1890 population had increased to 125 residents and the town could boast a hotel as well a church and school.

The town underwent a change of name in 1902 when they decided to honor Dr. W. J. Pyland, local druggist. By 1909 it had reverted back to Lassater.

By 1904 Lassater’s population had declined to 103, and by 1925 it was down to just 98. In 1933 – the worst year of the Great Depression – it was a mere 50 people.

Today the community has two churches and the Pyland Cemetery – just north of town. The 1960 census reported 60 residents – not far from the 48 reported in 2000.


The Story of Lassater
An interview with longtime resident Virgil Webster

Lassater TX - Grace and Truth Independent Church
Grace and Truth Independent Church
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, 2010
Morea Texas Churches


Lassater TX Country Scene
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, 2010


Lassater TX - Virgil Webster Store Owner
Virgil Webster, long time resident and store building owner
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, 2010

Lassater, Texas

Extended photograher’s notes from an interview with longtime resident Virgil Webster

By Gerald Massey

"A railroad still runs through Lassater. It’s the L & A Railroad but, it’s o ne of the many smaller lines that make up the better-known Kansas City Southern Railroad.

There is a “pass” there, as well as a siding, and a small “team track” there.  Many high-speed freights run through here daily hauling freight to and from the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. They also haul much coal to the AEP Swepco Electric Power Plant located a short distance away at Cason, Texas. That coal comes from the rich coal country of the Powder River Basin in Eastern Wyoming.

During my visit to Lassater in June of 2010, I was fortunate to talk with life-long resident Virgil Webster. Mr. Webster has become the local historian for Lassater since he’s been a part of the community for 75 years.

Mr. Webster stated that about the only existing building of old Lassater besides the rock church is the red wooden building that was originally a store. He remembers working there after school and on Saturdays for .15 a day. He now owns the building.

He once attended a school built of native stone, much like the church. It offered classes through the sixth grade. According to Mr. Webster, the community also had a Methodist Church (across the railroad tracks) and another store.

Across the existing highway near site of the former school was a doctor’s office and the Law Office of Judge McCalthin. There was another store down highway 49 near Patilo Road. At one time tiny Lassater had as many as five stores." - Gerald Massey, June 17, 2010

Lassater TX Old Store
Former store, one of the two oldest building in Lassater
Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, 2010


Marion County TX 1920s Map
Marion County 1920s Map showing Lassater
NW of Jefferson, near Cass County line
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

Take a road trip

East Texas

Lassater, Texas Nearby Towns:
Jefferson
Longview

See Marion County

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