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History in
a Pecan Shell
Once Trinity County’s
first county seat, Sumpter was designated such by the Texas State
Legislature around 1850. It is said to be named after the town of
the same name in Alabama.
Eager to get the new county rolling, a post office was applied for
– and granted in late 1851, however the town itself wasn’t platted
for another four years. The town was incorporated in 1962 with the
hope that after the war, it would become a business and railroad center
for the region.
After the war, the railroad did arrive as predicted, but bypassed
the town. Those who had gambled on the prosperity the railroad would
insure – lost. The Trinity County courthouse burned in November of
1872, and without this all-important landmark, the rival town of Trinity
became the official county in May of 1873. Sumpter’s post office
closed the following year.
Things got worse. The timber companies moved out having reduced the
forests to an ocean of stumps. What few farmers were in the area were
discouraged and left. By the end of 1895 there were hardly enough
families to keep the school open.
In time, even the die-hard residents died out or moved, leaving a
cemetery and little else. The 1936
Centennial Marker stands as a silent sentinel to what had once
been Trinity County’s largest city.
Photographer's Note:
"This is just east of Groveton.
Nothing left of Sumpter but the cemetery and this marker." -
Barclay
Gibson, December 2010
See Sumpter Historical Marker |
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Historical
Marker Text:
Site of the
Town of Sumpter
The legislature
of the State of Texas created Trinity County out of Houston County
in 1850. A group of seven commissioners was appointed to locate and
survey a site for the seat of government. The town of Sumpter was
founded in this area, near the geographic center of the county.
Trinity County's first seat of justice grew slowly. Early settler
Solomon Adams operated a small general store, and his log home also
served as a hotel. The courthouse was a small frame building located
on the plaza, near which a log schoolhouse was erected.
When Goodwin Woodson and R.D. Crow opened a saw and grist mill four
miles south of Sumpter in 1857, the town began to develop rapidly
and was incorporated five years later. As the population increased,
a larger courthouse was built. An influx of businesses, such as drugstores
and saloons, appeared on around the courthouse square. A number of
plantations flourished in the area until the coming of the Civil War.
In 1872, the courthouse at Sumpter burned, and a rail line was built
through the town of Trinity. Sumpter
was gradually abandoned, and the nearby cemetery is all that remains
of the once-thriving community.
1985 |
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Sumpter
Centennial Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2010 |
Centennial Marker:
4.6 miles E of Groveton on US 287
Site of the
Town of Sumpter
First County Seat
of Trinity County
Land granted in 1850
Town was laid out November 20, 1855
Incorprated 1862
Courthouse and records were destroyed by fire, 1872
In 1873, the county seat was removed to Trinity |
"Site of
the Town of Sumpter" centennial marker
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2010 |
Sumpter Chronicles
Two
Courthouse Fires by Bob Bowman
Some of the most delectable historical desserts of East Texas are
found in the yellowed documents of the thirty-plus county courthouses
scattered across the pineywoods. One such morsel is the little-known
story of two courthouse fires in Trinity County, one of the rowdiest
of our early counties... more |
The
sign to Sumpter Cemetery
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2010 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
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