Oakland
Crockett, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Named for the oak trees in the vicinity, Oakland was a rural settlement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A townsite was never platted, and the community was composed of scattered homes between the Trinity River and Crockett. A church, cotton gin, and school were in operation for a brief time. Among the early settlers of the area were Wilson E. Hail, who later served as Houston County Sheriff, and Z.S. Thompson. The settlement began to decline by the 1930s. Some descendants of early settlers remain in the area. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Named for its oak trees, Oakland was a loose rural settlement of scattered homes between the Trinity River and Crockett in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It never platted a townsite, but for a time it supported a church, a cotton gin, and a school. Among its early residents was Wilson E. Hail, later Houston County sheriff. By the 1930s the community was fading, though a few descendants of its settlers still live in the area.
Why it matters
Oakland's rise and quiet disappearance is a familiar arc for countless small farming communities that flourished briefly and then dissolved as rural Texas changed.
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Related people
- · Wilson E. Hail
- · Z. S. Thompson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Captain Elisha Clapp
Houston County, TX
Elisha Clapp came to Texas in 1822, among the earliest Anglo-American settlers, and fought in the Battle of San Jacinto that won Texas its independence in 1836. He went on to serve as a captain in the Texas Army during the young republic's fragile early years. He died in 1856; his wife, Rebecca Robbins Clapp, outlived him until 1875.
Elisha Clapp
Crockett, TX
The son of an American Revolution veteran, Tennessee-born Elisha Clapp came to Texas in 1822 and served in a cavalry company at the Battle of San Jacinto during the Texas Revolution. He captained mounted rangers on the frontier and, in 1837, was among the petitioners who organized Houston County, later receiving a captain's commission from President Sam Houston. He also helped found and served as an early trustee of Trinity College in the Alabama community before moving on to Leon County, where he died in 1851.
Collin Aldrich
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Collin Aldrich, born in 1801, fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in the war that won Texas its independence, then served as the first chief justice of Houston County from 1837 to 1841 under the Republic of Texas. He died in 1842, and the State of Texas erected this memorial to him in 1936, the centennial of independence. His life bridged the battlefield and the founding of civil government on the Texas frontier.
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