Salem Community Well
Gainesville, Cooke County, Texas
Marker Inscription
HAND DUG BY CITIZENS IN THE LATE 1800s, THE WELL WAS A GATHERING PLACE FOR THE SALEM (LATER SHADY GROVE) COMMUNITY. P.G. DOTSON DIRECTED THE WORK FOR THE BRICK-LINED WELL DUG TO A DEPTH OF 17 FEET. INTENDED TO PROVIDE WATER FOR THE NEARBY SALEM SCHOOL, THE WELL ALSO BECAME USEFUL FOR AREA HOMES AND FARMS, CHURCHES AND LIVESTOCK. THE WELL WAS EVEN A POPULAR DATING SPOT FOR YOUNG COUPLES. THE NEARBY SALEM SCHOOL BUILDING ALSO SERVED AS A CHURCH FOR VARIOUS CONGREGATIONS. DURING WORLD WAR II, LOCAL WOMEN OF THE COMMUNITY CAME TO THE SCHOOL BUILDING TO GATHER TO PRAY FOR THEIR LOVED ONES OVERSEAS. THE HISTORIC WELL EVOKES PIONEER TIMES AND THE ONGOING MEMORIES OF THE SALEM COMMUNITY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Hand-dug by local citizens in the late 1800s under P.G. Dotson's direction, this brick-lined well reached seventeen feet down to serve the Salem — later Shady Grove — community. Built to supply the nearby Salem School, it also watered homes, farms, churches, and livestock, and became a favorite gathering and courting spot for young couples. The adjoining school doubled as a church, and during World War II the community's women met there to pray for loved ones serving overseas.
Why it matters
A simple community well captures the heart of rural pioneer life, where the daily gathering for water bound neighbors together through generations and even through wartime worry.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · P.G. Dotson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Indian Creek Cemetery
Valley View, TX
The burial ground began in sorrow in 1867 with ten-year-old William J. Bray, and eleven years later his parents deeded an acre to formally establish a cemetery, expanded by later gifts in 1910 and 1944. Once known as Bray Cemetery, its headstones range from elaborate granite to hand-etched sandstone, shaded by cedars amid iris, bluebonnets, and peonies. Pioneer families rest here alongside military veterans, Masons, and members of the Order of the Eastern Star, tended today by a caretaking association.
Oak Grove Community
Gainesville, TX
In the 1860s George Sanford Norrid brought his wife Tabitha and family from Missouri to this part of Cooke County, opening their home for church services. In 1875 Norrid and F.M. Dougherty deeded land for a Methodist Episcopal church and cemetery, and when Tabitha died in January 1876 she became the first burial in what grew into Oak Grove Cemetery. The congregation used the building for both worship and school until 1884, when they moved it to nearby Woodbine, leaving the cemetery as the community's lasting memorial.
Nelson Log House
Gainesville, TX
Soon after reaching the area in 1861, Robert Carroll Nelson built this house of post oak logs with a chimney and foundation of hewn ironstone. He served as a county commissioner and justice of the peace, and he and his wife Elizabeth raised six children here. Its original materials and exposed logs preserve a fine example of pioneer craftsmanship.
Tioga Cemetery
Tioga, TX
Settlers founded Tioga on the edge of the East Cross Timbers in 1881, and after years of burying their dead in scattered family plots, the community got a formal cemetery in 1906 when W.R. and Sally Gillespie deeded five acres to the local Woodmen of the World camp — whose distinctive tree-stump headstones still mark many early graves. The burial ground holds Civil War veterans from both sides, Texas Senator Olin R. Van Zandt, and the Rev. H.G. Ball, who preached the funeral of U.S. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. An association keeps the grounds for future generations.