George Washington Stell, Sr.
Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(1793 - Dec. 12, 1870) A veteran of the War of 1812, Virginia native George W. Stell, Sr. came to Texas in the late 1830s. A farmer, surveyor, and builder, he constructed the first courthouse in Paris after it was named the Lamar County Seat in 1844. Stell, who was deaf, also surveyed the route of the Central National Road for the Republic of Texas Congress. Stretching for 130 miles from the Trinity River to the Red River, it helped open the area for settlement.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born in Virginia in 1793 and a veteran of the War of 1812, George Washington Stell, Sr. joined the wave of settlers pouring into the young Republic of Texas in the late 1830s. A farmer, surveyor, and builder who was deaf, he raised the first courthouse in Paris after it became the Lamar County seat in 1844. He also charted the Central National Road, a 130-mile artery from the Trinity River to the Red River that helped draw settlers into northeast Texas.
Why it matters
Stell's courthouse and surveyed road literally laid the framework for civic life and settlement in frontier northeast Texas, showing how one determined pioneer could shape a county's future.
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Related people
- · George Washington Stell, Sr.
Related events
- · Central National Road
- · War of 1812
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Central National Road of the Republic of Texas
Paris, TX
Created by the Republic of Texas in 1844, the Central National Road was conceived as a military highway to link with a U.S. Army road north of the Red River and to knit the young republic together. Major George W. Stell surveyed its 130-mile route from the mouth of Elm Fork on the Trinity to the Kiomatia Crossing, running through the newly founded town of Paris and past John Neely Bryan's cabin, the seed of Dallas. Builders earned 160-acre land grants for each mile cleared to a road 30 feet wide.
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