Danville Community
Kilgore, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Also known as New Danville, this rural community was established around 1847, and reportedly named by S. Slade Barnett and family in honor of their former hometown of Danville, Kentucky. Located along the intersection of major roadways to Marshall, Tyler and Henderson, the townsite was near an old indian village called Bighead Village, either named after a nearby creek, or the Nadaco Chief named Bighead who played a part in the Fredonia Rebellion. Families from Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee and other southeastern states began to settle here in the mid-1840s. In 1848, the Gum Spring Presbyterian Church (now known as the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore) was organized by the community, and the Danville Masonic Lodge No. 101 was chartered in 1852 with S. Slade Barnett as an initial member of both organizations. The masonic lodge would play a large part in the social and educational life of the community. A post office opened in 1850 under the name Rabbit Creek but was changed to New Danville in 1852, with John W. Wilson as the first postmaster. The post office operated until 1873. The majority of the families that settled in Danville were traditional farmers along with several doctors, merchants, mechanics, teachers and more. At its height after the Civil War, Danville was the location of several stores, saloons, a blacksmith shop, saw mill, and mule-powered cotton gin. The community continued to prosper until the 1870s when the International-Great Northern Railroad bypassed the town. Many of the town’s residents and businesses moved to the new town of Kilgore along the railroad. Danville remains one of the oldest settlements in what became Gregg County. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settled around 1847 and named for Danville, Kentucky, this crossroads community drew families from across the Southeast to a spot near old Bighead Village, a Nadaco Indian site. With a Presbyterian church, a Masonic lodge, stores, and a cotton gin, Danville thrived through the Civil War era—until the International-Great Northern Railroad bypassed it in the 1870s and its people drifted to the new town of Kilgore along the tracks. It remains one of the oldest settlements in what became Gregg County.
Why it matters
Danville's rise and fading is a classic parable of 19th-century America, where a railroad's route could make one town and quietly doom another.
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Related people
- · S. Slade Barnett
Themes & tags
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