Huntsville Springs
Huntsville, Walker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Kentucky native Pleasant Gray and his wife Hannah (Holshouser) left Tennessee with their two children in 1834 and in 1835 settled here on land granted to them as part of Mexico's colonization effort. At that time natural springs located nearby served as a campsite for the area's native Bedias Indians and for immigrants passing through the region. After establishing a trading post near the springs with his brother Ephraim, Pleasant Gray subdivided his land into home and business lots and advertised the property in Alabama, Tennessee, New Orleans, and various steamboat offices. Settlers soon arrived and a town developed which Gray named after Huntsville, Alabama, a former family home. The area's bountiful springs were observed in the Texas chronicles written by British scientist/adventurer William Bollaert in 1843-44. Huntsville was incorporated in 1845. For many years townspeople were accustomed to using spring water captured in a trough near the springs. In 1893-1894 the city dug an artesian well within a few feet of the springs to provide water for municipal distribution and an ice factory. Shortly thereafter the watering trough at the spring fell into disuse, and the spring itself was boarded over.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Kentucky native Pleasant Gray and his wife Hannah settled here in 1835 on land granted through Mexico's colonization effort, beside natural springs that had long served as a campsite for the Bedias Indians and for travelers passing through. Gray and his brother opened a trading post, subdivided the land, and advertised lots as far as Alabama and New Orleans, naming the new town for Huntsville, Alabama. Incorporated in 1845 and even noted by British adventurer William Bollaert, the springs supplied the town's water until an artesian well replaced them in the 1890s and the spring was finally boarded over.
Why it matters
Huntsville's founding shows how a single reliable spring could seed a town, drawing Native campers, immigrant settlers, and boosters to the same water on the moving Texas frontier.
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Related people
- · Pleasant Gray
- · Hannah Holshouser Gray
- · William Bollaert
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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