Limestone County, Texas

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: limestone_county us_history texas

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Welcome to Limestone County, Texas Project!

• Texas Space Page
• The current leader of this project is: Mary Richardson.

==History/Timeline==

• April 11, 1846 Limestone County was formed from Robertson County and organized in 1846. It is named for indigenous rock in the area.^[1]

• https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcl09

1825 - Limestone County was part of the Haden Edwards and Robert Leftwich empresario grants made by the Coahuila and Texas legislature

1830s Struggle between Mexican government and American settlers. Government restricted colonization through legislation. The Tawakoni, branch of Wichita Indians originated north of Texas, but migrated South into East Texas.

1843 the Tawakoni were part of treaties made by the Republic of Texas and USA, friendly to settlers. Tawakonis hunted and traded, were enemies of Apaches, Comanches who raided their settlements.

Pre 1836 - Mexican and Anglo, claimed land grants in the area before 1836:

1833 Land Grants received were Silas M. Parker, Moses Herrin, Elisha Anglin, Luther T. M. Plummer, David Faulkenberry, Joshua Hadley, and Samuel Frost, who came as a group from Illinois to establish a permanent settlement for their families.

Fort Parker, near the Navasota River in central Limestone County

May 19, 1836 - The men were working the fields, a large band of Comanches and Kiowa came to the Fort. After conversation under a truce, the Indians attacked and killed many settlers, Mrs Rachael Plummer, survived, later wrote of their captivity.Cynthia Ann Parker was captured, lived with the tribe, and was mother of Quanah Parker until her rescue. .

The other 18 survivors wandered in the river bottoms prior to reaching Fort Houston. A rescue party was sent back to the scene.

1844 Further settlement was delayed until a treaty with the Indians was signed in 1844 at the instigation of Sam Houston.

:April 11, 1846, Limestone County was formed from Robertson County.

1846 The organization of the Limestone county was completed on August 18, 1846, with the election of county officials.

Here's an image.

Limestone County originally included all the land between the Brazos and Trinity rivers on E and W the land north of Robertson County to Navarro County.

1848, 1850 part of North and West Limestone County washed in to form McLennan and Falls counties. and in 1850 . Self-sufficient farmers raised corn, wheat, raised cattle and hogs. Wild game was plentiful here.

1850 part of the E of county was taken to form part of Freestone County. Population: 1,990 whites and 618 black slaves, (279 farms value-$102,640), wheat, corn, hay, forage, sweet potatoes, cattle, swine, and sheep. New roads were surveyed and built, and a stage line was established.

1860 businesses were wagon, cart making, saddlery, harness making, and blacksmithing. The population was 4,537; (3,464 were white, 1,072 were slaves, and one free black female)..

1861The secession returns for the county were 98% approving secession. Many of these men joined the Confederate Army. Lochlin Johnson Farrar raised the first Confederate company.. Other companies were raised by captains D. M. Prendergast, B. R. Tyrus, and W. P. Brown.

1870s - race-related murders occurred in the county..

1871 a man publicly denounced the State Police and the local Republican officials. Race riot broke out between mob protecting him and the police. Governor declared county under martial law.

Ralph Long, a 25-year-old black man from Tennessee, became the boss of that Republican party.

1866 Boundaries changed to their present form on November 2, 1866

1869 Houston and Texas Central Railway arrived. came to Limestone County, stopping at Kosse, the courthouse burned. Groesbeck became the county seat.

1870s Edward Coke Chambers founded the Thornton Institute in the 1870s, and graduates from his school easily obtained teaching positions, then faded after Chambers left 1889. Most education of the period was conducted in such institutes or private schools.

1876 law provided for free public education.

1870 - Trinity University was established in Tehuacana from College at Daingerfield, Larissa College at Larissa Springs, and Ewing College at La Grange.

College was moved to Waxahachie and the property in Tehuacana was offered for sale.

1888 1st public school district in the county, Shady Grove Community School.

1902 - Westminster College, from Westminster in Collin County, reopened at Tehuacana fall of 1902 and became a junior college in 1916.

1903 The Trinity and Brazos Valley, laid track from Cleburne to Mexia.

1904 county had a cottonseed oil mill, gins, a rock-crushing plant at Roberta, and several sawmills. Pottery was made at Oletha. County maintained 5 independent school districts, Mexia, Tehuacana, Groesbeck, Thornton, and Kosse.

1913- Gas was discovered in 1913. Drilling tests performed near Mexia after the discovery at Spindletop, more test wells were drilled

1920 oil was discovered. Thousands of people moved into the area.

Woodland , a black high school, near an oil center offered vocational/industrial training to students.

1930 - Great Depression - Many tenant farmers left the land, moved to cities. Cattle, swine increased, crops: wheat, hay, and forage. Work Projects Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps helped ease unemployment, constructed buildings, and the CCC built Fort Parker State Recreation Area and Springfield Lake dam.

1950 17% residents were high school graduates, by 1980, it was 42%.

Contents 1 Government Offices 2 Geography 2.1 Adjacent counties 2.2 Formed From 3 Demographics 3.1 Cities 3.2 Town 3.3 Resources 3.3.1 Census 3.4 Notables 3.4.1 Land Grants 4 Cemeteries 5 Sources

Government Offices

Limestone county has had 5 courthouses. :1847, 1856 courthouses in Springfield, 1878, 1892, 1924 in Grosbeak.^[2]

1st courthouse, 1847, Springfield

2nd Courthouse, 1856-73, Springfield, ::Springfield courthouse - Springfield served as the first county seat, but geographic boundary changes and the burning of the Springfield Courthouse led to the designation of Groesbeck as the county seat in December 1873. Three more official courthouses served the county before the early 1920s. ^[2]

3rd Courthouse 1878 Grosbeak ::County Seat was moved to Groesbeck. in December 1873. ^[2]

4th Courthouse, 1892, Groesbeck^[2]

1892, Groesbeck.

5th Courthouse, 1924, Groesbeck The William Rice Construction Company, also of Amarillo, received a contract for $300,000 to erect this structure. Rice had been the contractor for both the Lipscomb and Lynn County courthouses.

A fine example of a classical revival building with beaux arts influences, the 1924 Limestone County Courthouse is a variation on the most common themes of early 20th century courthouses. Then-modern construction methods, such as reinforced concrete structural systems covered in brick and terra cotta, were employed. The elevations -- classical columns flanking the windows, upper floors adorned with balustrades and elaborate cornucopia moldings -- indicate that the edifice is intended to be viewed from all sides. The Limestone County Courthouse functions as the heart of Limestone County. ^[2]

Limestone courthouse.

Geography

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcl09

Limestone County is in Central Texas 30 miles E of Waco. Mexia, largest town is 80 miles S of Dallas.

Groesbeck, county seat, is near the county's center, at 31°31' north latitude and 96°35' west longitude. :Size - SE section - loamy soil over mottled grey, red, yellow, cracking clayey subsoil, acidic- In the central section soil is acidic, loamy with cracking clayey subsoil.

NW section - dark calcareous, cracking clayey soil.

Terrain - level to undulating terrain and light-colored, medium to slightly acid soils of the Claypan area and Cross Timbers are also found in the county.

Vegetation- mesquite, blackjack oak, pecan, bois d'arc, elm trees, Indian grass, winter grass in N area

Post Oak Savannah vegetation in S area - has tall grasses, Post oak, and blackjack oak.

Natural resources -kaolin, ceramic clays, limestone, industrial sand, glauconite, lignite coal, oil, gas.

Altitude - 375 to 665 feet above sea level.

Rivers land is between the Brazos and Trinity rivers, is drained by the Navasota River and tributaries. :Lakes - Lake Mexia, Springfield Lake, and Lake Limestone. T

Precipitation is thirty-eight inches

Temperatures low of 37° F in January to high 96° in July.

Growing season lasts 255 days.

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcl09

Adjacent counties

• Navarro County (north)
• Freestone County (northeast)
• Leon County (southeast)
• Robertson County (south)
• Falls County (southwest)
• McLennan County (west)
• Hill County (northwest)

Formed From

1846--Limestone County was created 11 April 1846 from Robertson County.

Demographics

In 2000, there were 22,051 people residing in the county with a population density was 24 people/sq. mi. The racial makeup of the county was 70.75% White, 19.07% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 8.10% from other races, and 1.49% from two or more races. 12.97% of the population were Hispanic.The median income for a household in the county was $29,366, and the median income for a family was $36,924. Males had a median income of $28,069 versus $18,893 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,352. About 14.40% of families and 17.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.90% of those under age 18 and 15.00% of those age 65 or over.^[3]

adj counties.

• Thornton Institute was established training teachers. then failed.

• Central Institute, was a military boarding school in Honest Ridge.

• Trinity University, was established at Tehuacana.

• Hospital, nursing homes, the Maffett Memorial Library, The Groesbeck Journal, Fort Parker State Recreation Area, and the Limestone County Historical Museum

• Agribusiness and trade center with a hospital, the only radio station in the county, a newspaper called the Mexia Daily News, the Limestone County Airport, and the Gibbs Memorial Library.

• Limestone County has no metropolitan area; Mexia, with 7,313 residents in 2014, is the largest town.

Churches

• Baptist, Methodist, and Church of Christ.

Politics: Democratic party dominated the vote in Limestone County. Except for the presidential elections of 1972 and 1984, the senatorial elections of 1984 and 1990, and the gubernatorial election of 1986, the returns were strictly Democratic through 1992. ^[4]

Highways

• U.S. Highway 84
• Texas State Highway 7
• Texas State Highway 14
• Texas State Highway 164
• Texas State Highway 171

Cities

• Groesbeck (county seat)
• Mart (mostly in McLennan County)
• Mexia

Town

• Coolidge
• Kosse
• Tehuacana - has Texas Hall at the old Trinity University campus and Booker T. Washington Emancipation Proclamation Park
• Thornton

• Ben Hur
• Buffalo Mop
• Forest Glade
• Prairie Hill

• Springfield ghost town

Resources

• Fort Parker State Recreation Area
• Springfield Lake dam.
• Mexia Daily News
• Red Stocking Follies
• Arts and Crafts Fest in March
• Youth Stock Show in April
• Fiddle Festival in May
• County Fair.
• Gibbs Memorial Library

Census

1850 --- 2,608 —

1860 --- 4,537 74.0%

1870 --- 8,591 89.4%

1880 --- 16,246 89.1%

1890 --- 21,678 33.4%

1900 --- 32,573 50.3%

1910 --- 34,621 6.3%

1920 --- 33,283 −3.9%

1930 --- 39,497 18.7%

1940 --- 33,781 −14.5%

1950 --- 25,251 −25.3%

1960 --- 20,413 −19.2%

1970 --- 18,100 −11.3%

1980 --- 20,224 11.7%

1990 --- 20,946 3.6%

2000 --- 22,051 5.3%

2010 --- 23,384 6.0%

Est. 2015 --- 23,320

Notables

Alfonso Steele (1817–1911) born in 1817 in Hardin County, Kentucky, and is buried in Mexia.

Anna Nicole Smith (1967–2007) lived briefly in Mexia.

Don the Beachcomber (1907–1989) born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt in Limestone County.

Bob Wills (1905-1975) Born on a farm in Kosse, in the southern portion of Limestone County.

Land Grants

Mexican and Anglo, claimed land grants in the area before 1836. Among these were Silas M. Parker, Moses Herrin, Elisha Anglin, Luther T. M. Plummer, David Faulkenberry, Joshua Hadley, and Samuel Frost, who came together as a group from Illinois in 1833 to establish a permanent settlement for their families.

Cemeteries

• Armour Cemetery
• Faulkenberry Cemetery
• LaSalle Cemetery
• Kirk Cemetery
• Mount Calm Cemetery
• Mount Antioch Cemetery
• Thornton Cemetery

• Mount Calm Cemetery

• FindaGrave cemeteries
• Cemeteries of Limestone Co. Gloria Mayfield

Sources

1. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/index.php?q=topics/government/limestone-county
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} http://www.texasescapes.com/CentralTexasTownsNorth/Groesbeck-Texas-Limestone-County-Courthouse.htm
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone_County,_Texas
4. ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcl09

• https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcl09
• FindaGrave cemeteries
• Cemeteries of Limestone Co.