Rains County
Emory, Rains County, Texas
Marker Inscription
One of the earlier areas of Texas to be settled. J. H. Hooker, first known settler, built a grist mill on the Sabine River here in the 1840s. Emigrants from the Old South came in after 1840, although the county was not created until 1870. The name honors pioneer Emory Rains (1800-1878). He served as Senator in 8th Legislature from district out of which this county was later carved and had a long public service career. Rains County is known as the birthplace of the Farmers Cooperative and Educational Union of America, founded in 1904.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Among the earlier-settled parts of Texas, this area saw J. H. Hooker, its first known settler, build a grist mill on the Sabine River in the 1840s, with emigrants from the Old South arriving after 1840. The county itself was not organized until 1870, taking its name from pioneer legislator Emory Rains, who had represented the surrounding district in the 8th Legislature. Rains County is also celebrated as the birthplace of the Farmers Cooperative and Educational Union of America.
Why it matters
The county joins the story of early Southern settlement of Texas with the later farmer-cooperative movement that gave rural producers a national voice.
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Related people
- · J. H. Hooker
- · Emory Rains
- · Isaac Newton Gresham
Related events
- · Founding of the Farmers Cooperative and Educational Union
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Judge James Hooker
East Tawakoni, TX
James Hooker came to Texas in 1840 and received a 640-acre headright from the Republic, helping organize his county and choose its seat. He built the area's first steam mill and served as first postmaster of the Hooker's Mill settlement, an important stop on the Clarksville-to-Austin road. Twice a legislator, he sat in the Secession Convention before his death in 1865 and lies buried on his own land grant.
A. L. Spradlin Log Cabin
Edgewood, TX
Adolphus Lane Spradlin came to Texas from Indiana as a boy in 1875 and, in 1898, built this dogtrot cabin of hand-hewn logs on land in the Van Zandt County community of Small. He and his wife Lee Ann, of Cherokee ancestry, farmed there until 1909, when he sold out and moved to Edgewood to run a cotton gin and serve 22 years as justice of the peace. The Sims, Vines, and Simmons families later called the cabin home.
William H. Humphries Home
Edgewood, TX
William Henry and Molly Humphries were part of a large migration of Mississippi families to Edgewood in the early 1890s, drawn to a growing East Texas town. William opened a general store and bought up farmland to become a local business leader, and in 1893–94 he built this frame Victorian home where Molly hosted civic and church gatherings. The house sheltered the couple and their two sons and survives as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.
Rains County Courthouse
Emory, TX
When the Texas Legislature carved Rains County from four neighbors in 1870, the little community of Springville was renamed Emory and chosen as county seat. Fire destroyed the first log courthouse, then gutted its brick successor in 1908 — though the steel records vault survived and became the literal core of the 1909 Classical Revival building that stands today. Built of distinctive "ginger" brick, the courthouse square has hosted speakers including Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson.