De Kalb
DeKalb, Bowie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Named for Maj. Gen. Johann de Kalb - a hero of the American Revolution - upon suggestion (1836) of David Crockett, a visitor on his way to fight in Texas War for Independence. Other Texas heroes traveling through here were James B. Fannin and Wm. B. Travis. Settled by 1831, when land was given for a public school by Dr. W. H. Boyce, Wm. L. Browning, D. M. Chisholm, Clement R. Johns and Judge (and Dr.) James W. Smith. Site of first college in Bowie County, founded in 1839 and of Ninth Masonic Lodge in Texas, organized 1840. Served as county seat, 1840-1841. On two early stagelines. A stopover for U.S. immigrants to Texas Republic, and 49'ers on way to California gold rush. In 1870's hideouts of train robbers Sam Bass, Jesse James, other notorious characters were nearby. Texas & Pacific Railroad reached here 1876. Site in 1889 of P. S. Ramseur's sawmill which shipped high quality lumber all over United States; to get logs to mill, he built a railroad, traces of which still exist. Although in 1896 and 1923 most of businesses were destroyed by fires, city prospers today. Center of ranching, truck farming, and pulpwood productions. Known as "The Pride of East Texas". (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
De Kalb was named for Revolutionary War hero Maj. Gen. Johann de Kalb at the 1836 suggestion of David Crockett, who passed through on his way to fight in the Texas Revolution, as did James Fannin and William B. Travis. Settled by 1831, the town claimed the first college in Bowie County (1839), an early Masonic lodge, and a brief turn as county seat, and it sat on early stage lines and, later, the Texas & Pacific Railroad. Sawmills and, legend says, the nearby hideouts of outlaws like Sam Bass and Jesse James all figure in its lively frontier story.
Why it matters
De Kalb compresses the whole arc of frontier Texas — Revolutionary namesakes, famous travelers, stage and rail transportation, and outlaw lore — into the history of one East Texas town.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Johann de Kalb
- · David Crockett
- · James B. Fannin
- · William B. Travis
- · P.S. Ramseur
- · Sam Bass
- · Jesse James
Related events
- · Texas Revolution
- · California Gold Rush
- · Arrival of the Texas & Pacific Railroad (1876)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hubbard Home
New Boston, TX
Built in 1904 for Robert M. Hubbard and designed by architect Bayard Witt, this exuberant Victorian home crowned with eight irregular gables and leaded glass hosted statesmen and leading figures of Texas society. Hubbard himself became a public servant of consequence: named to the Texas Highway Commission in 1918 by Governor W. P. Hobby, he chaired it until 1925 and pushed to raise the highway department's standards during the automobile age's crucial early years.
Dan LaFayette McDuffie
New Boston, TX
Dan LaFayette McDuffie came from a line of lawmen and pinned on his first badge at eighteen, learning the trade from an uncle who was Texarkana's police chief. Over three decades he served as county officer, railroad special agent, and Texas Ranger, winning fame in a 1923 amnesty that brought in 82 liquor stills. In 1931 he was cut down by gunfire in a kidnapping case — the last Ranger killed on duty during East Texas's lawless oil-boom years.
Site of Epperson's Ferry
Maud, TX
Where Trammel's Trace met the water, a crossing first used by Caddo people and later by French and Spanish explorers became Mark Epperson's ferry sometime before 1837. Travelers relied on it until a wooden bridge, and then the modern span of 1924, made the ferry obsolete. When Lake Texarkana flooded the original site in the 1950s, the state moved this 1936 monument seven miles to higher ground.
Trammel's Trace
Marietta, TX
Trammel's Trace, established in 1813 by horse trader and smuggler Nicholas Trammell, was one of the earliest immigrant roads leading pioneers into Spanish and Mexican Texas. Running from the great bend of the Red River down toward Nacogdoches, it linked the Southwest Immigration Road from St. Louis to El Camino Real, often following even older paths worn by game and Native travelers. The crossroads community that grew here, Old Unionville, faded after the Civil War, though the trace's route survived into the twentieth century as a county road.