Henderson Yoakum Homesite
Huntsville, Walker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Soldier and politician Henderson Yoakum (1810-1856) arrived in Texas in oct. 1845 from Tennessee. In Dec. 1847, he purchased 640 acres from J.H. Shepherd seven miles east of Huntsville. At this site Yoakum built a center-hall country home from hand-hewn logs and mill-sawn framing and moved from Huntsville. He divided his time between practicing law, teaching at Austin College, and researching and writing. It was here that he wrote a comprehensive two volume history of Texas, published in 1855 and still significant among historical writings. In 1876, the Texas legislature created and named Yoakum county in his honor. A Texas centennial historical marker was placed at the site of his home in shepherd’s valley in 1936. (2016)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Henderson Yoakum, a soldier and politician who came to Texas from Tennessee in 1845, built a hand-hewn log home here in the late 1840s and divided his time between law, teaching at Austin College, and writing. It was in this house that he composed his landmark two-volume history of Texas, published in 1855 and still valued by scholars today. The Texas legislature named Yoakum County in his honor in 1876.
Why it matters
Yoakum wrote one of the first serious histories of Texas, helping a young state understand and record its own dramatic origins.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of the Home of Henderson Yoakum
Huntsville, TX
This was the home of Henderson Yoakum, where he wrote his pioneering History of Texas, published in 1855. Yoakum's two-volume work chronicled Texas from its first settlement through annexation to the United States in 1845, telling the story of the sacrifices and struggles that made the republic. His history became one of the earliest serious accounts of the young state's past.
Black Jack Methodist Church and Cemetery
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Settlement of this part of Walker County began in the 1830s, and Black Jack Methodist Church was organized in 1871, moving to this site in 1886 on land donated by Sophronia Jane Warren. A cemetery opened here in 1887, and the building doubled as the community's school until 1916. Regular services ended during the Great Depression, leaving the church and its graves as the settlement's memorial.
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