Knoxville
New Summerfield, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1854 Thomas Norman (1812-1859), a native of Tennessee, sold 2/3 interest in a 30-acre tract to William A. Pope and Archibald Carmichael. They sold town lots for Knoxville and in 1856, they gave 3/4 acre for a community church. Soon mercantile stores, a mill, distillery, blacksmith shop and a new school opened. Knoxville never had a saloon although all the stores sold whiskey. In 1872 the International Railroad Company opened the Palestine-Troup line. Businesses moved to Troup and Knoxville declined. The Knoxville cemetery is all that remains.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1854 Tennessee native Thomas Norman and partners platted the town of Knoxville, selling lots and setting aside ground for a community church. Stores, a mill, a distillery, a blacksmith, and a school soon followed—though residents proudly noted the town never had a saloon, even as every store sold whiskey. When the International Railroad bypassed it in 1872, business drained away to Troup, and today only the Knoxville cemetery marks the spot.
Why it matters
Knoxville's rise and quick decline is a classic tale of how the railroad decided which Texas towns would live and which would fade into ghost towns.
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Related people
- · Thomas Norman
- · William A. Pope
- · Archibald Carmichael
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Henry's Chapel Community
Troup, TX
In 1848 the Presbyterian minister William Porter Henry moved from Alabama to northeastern Cherokee County, where he preached for the rest of his life. Nearby investors platted the town of Knoxville in 1854, but it withered after the International and Great Northern Railway bypassed it for Troup in 1872. To serve the farmers who stayed, Henry donated five acres in 1874 for a school, church, and cemetery, and the community that gathered around them took his name; today the historic cemetery is its last physical trace.
Troup City Cemetery
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When the International & Great Northern Railroad platted the town of Zavala—later Troup—in 1873, it set aside no ground for the dead. Local leaders and Judge William Wright Morris pressed the railroad, which in 1875 deeded 1.67 acres for a public burial ground. Among the earliest interred was South Carolina native William A. Arms, reinterred here by his widow, alongside three of the town's early mayors who had helped bring the rail line through.
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