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TENNESSEE
COLONY, TEXASAnderson
County, East Texas
FM 321
14 miles NW of Palestine
Population:
583 (2000) |
| | A
church in Tennessee Colony
Photo courtesy Erik
Whetstone,
October 2005 | |
History in a Pecan
Shell
A large group of settlers from Tennessee and Alabama settled
here in the late 1840s and judging by the name, there were more Tennesseans than
Alabamans. The land was soon turned into cotton production and the Jackson Plantation
became one of the largest in all of East
Texas.
In 1851 a log school opened, and the following year a post
office was granted. Tennessee Colony gained an infamous footnote in Texas history
when in 1860 two white instigators from Mississippi were accused of plotting a
slave uprising. The alleged plan was for slaves to poison the town's drinking
water. Both men were captured, tried and hanged. When Palestine
was connected by rail in 1872 Tennessee Colony was self-sufficient with a population
around 200. |
| | Tennessee
Colony Community Center/School
Photo courtesy Erik
Whetstone,
October 2005 | |
| Palestine,
with it's rail connection drew off Tennessee Colony's population and by 1914 the
population was reduced by half. By the late 1920s the population rose to 300 -
but declined with the onset of the Great Depression. By the time WWII
was underway, the town was again reduced by half.
In 1965 the town experienced
a growth spurt to 400 people when the Texas Department of Corrections built a
medium-security prison just southwest of town. The Coffield Unit which was built
to hold 2,000 prisoners was joined by a second facility (the Beto Unit) in 1984.
The town's population remained around 120 from the 1970s through the early 1990s.
Two historical markers are currently present in Tennessee Colony - one for the
town itself and one for the cemetery. |
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The uneven merry-go-round
at the school play ground
Photo courtesy Erik
Whetstone,
October 2005 | |
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