Pittsburg
Pittsburg, Camp County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Anglo settlement of this area began in the 1850s. The W. H. Pitts (1815-1898) family arrived from Georgia in 1854, and soon were joined by more settlers from the southern United States. Pitts donated land for a townsite, which was named in his honor. In 1874, when Camp County was created from Upshur County, Pittsburg became county seat. Two railroad lines were built through the area by 1880, and in 1891 the citizens voted to incorporate their town. Pittsburg continues to serve as a transportation, business, marketing, and cultural center for the county.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Anglo settlement of this corner of East Texas began in the 1850s, and the family of W. H. Pitts arrived from Georgia in 1854, soon joined by other newcomers from the southern states. Pitts donated land for a townsite that took his name, and when Camp County was organized from Upshur County in 1874, Pittsburg became its seat of government. Two railroad lines reached the area by 1880, the town incorporated in 1891, and it has remained the commercial and cultural hub of the county ever since.
Why it matters
Pittsburg's rise — from a landowner's gift to county seat to rail junction — is a textbook example of how transportation and local boosterism built the towns of the post-Civil War South.
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Related people
- · W. H. Pitts
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
William Harrison Pitts
Pittsburg, TX
Georgia-born William Harrison Pitts moved his plantation household to this corner of East Texas by 1854, bought land, and built a home around which a settlement gathered — earning the new post office the name "Pittsburg." A shrewd civic promoter, he set aside acreage for the town and in 1874 offered $50 toward a courthouse, tipping the election that made Pittsburg the seat of newly organized Camp County. By 1880 the railroad junction town numbered 750 people.
Jefferson-Quitman Road
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Caddo Trace
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The Caddo Trace was an ancient hunting and trade path worn by the Caddo people who lived in the northeast corner of what became Texas. Like many Indigenous routes, it was later taken over by newcomers, becoming part of stage and mail lines after 1840 and a road for teamsters and marching soldiers. It touched or crossed the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Trammel's traces, and modern state highways still trace its course.
Tarver's Ferry
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