George C. Reeves
Mineola, Wood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Aug. 31, 1854 - Aug. 29, 1934) Georgia native George C. Reeves came to Mineola soon after its founding in 1873. He served as city marshal, and through his association with County Attorney (later Governor) Jim Hogg, he became a transfer agent for the state penitentiary system. Active in business ventures associated with cattle, lumber and real estate, reeves actively promoted his adopted home county and its agricultural products with exhibits at the State Fair of Texas. He also served as President of the Agricultural Exhibitors Association. Reeves and his wife, Sallie (Wigley), were the parents of two children. Recorded - 2002
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A Georgia native, George C. Reeves reached the brand-new railroad town of Mineola soon after its 1873 founding and served as city marshal. Through his friendship with county attorney and future governor Jim Hogg, he became a transfer agent for the state penitentiary system while building ventures in cattle, lumber, and real estate. A tireless booster, he promoted Wood County's farms with exhibits at the State Fair of Texas and led the Agricultural Exhibitors Association.
Why it matters
Reeves typifies the local promoters who built up Gilded Age railroad towns, tying their fortunes to the new rail lines, county boosterism, and the State Fair's showcase of Texas agriculture.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · George C. Reeves
- · Jim Hogg
- · Sallie Wigley Reeves
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Richard Malcolm Smith
Mineola, TX
Kentucky-born Richard Malcolm Smith came to Texas in his youth and made his mark first as a newspaperman with the Galveston News before turning to law and politics. Settling in Wood County in 1897, he founded the Winnsboro Free Press and the Wood County News, then served as county judge, district judge, and a member of the Texas Legislature in the early 1930s. His long public life spanned journalism, the bench, and the statehouse.
Railroads in Mineola
Mineola, TX
Mineola owes its very existence to a railroad race: in the summer of 1873 the Houston and Great Northern and the Texas and Pacific drove crews day and night toward a single crossing point, arriving so close together that the two lines could see each other and still argue over who won. The junction town incorporated in 1877, gained a third railroad in 1881, and became a bustling shipping point for watermelons, sweet potatoes and cotton. When the T&P moved its terminal here in 1929, some 200 rail jobs helped carry Mineola through the Great Depression while neighboring towns struggled.
Site of Coleman Family Drug Store and Clinic
Mineola, TX
After moving to the railroad town of Mineola in 1897, Dr. Walter Jackson Coleman was persuaded to open a pharmacy, launching the Coleman Family Drug Store in 1902. He earned his patients' trust with house calls and by accepting food as payment, while his son Charlie mastered patent formulas and won a pharmacist's license. Two more sons ran an adjoining clinic in the 1930s, and the family business served Mineola until 1964.
Mineola's Jewish Community
Mineola, TX
Jewish immigrants who entered Texas through the port of Galveston began arriving by train in Mineola soon after the town was founded in 1873. Families such as the Munzesheimers, Sodeksons, and Brombergs opened businesses near Broad and Johnson Streets, and merchants and philanthropists like Isaac Bromberg became pillars of the town. Alongside the Goldmans, Krausses, Weiners, and Zuckermans, they helped drive Mineola's economic and civic growth.