Site of Old Burr's Ferry (At Highway Bridge)
Newton, Newton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
An important communications point between Texas and the United States, especially during settlement era of early 1800's. Named for Dr. Timothy Burr (1790-1852), second cousin of U. S. Vice President Aaron Burr. Dr. Burr is said to have come to the Sabine area in 1809, but moved his family down from Ohio in 1820's. He practiced medicine from home plantation on the Sabine. Family operated the ferry in the 1840's. Town of Burr's Ferry grew up on east side of the river. This crossing (earlier called Hickman's Ferry) gave pioneers the means to enter Texas with their stock, household goods,and other property. It was one of four main points of entry on Texas-Louisiana border. Besides the famous El Camino Real (King's Highway) from Natchitoches, other entry roads were the "Upper" route, from present-day Shreveport; "Lower" route, from Opelousas; and this one, called "The Old Beef Trail" because it was used to drive thousands of cattle from Texas to Alexandria for shipment to such cities as New Orleans, as early as the 1820's and 30's. This crossing was considered strategic in 1860's, during the Civil War. Breastworks were built on east bank, and timber cleared here on west bank, in effort to guard against Federal invasions.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the settlement era of the early 1800s, this Sabine River crossing was one of only four main gateways for pioneers entering Texas from Louisiana, letting families bring their stock and household goods across the border. Known first as Hickman's Ferry and later for Dr. Timothy Burr — a second cousin of Vice President Aaron Burr — it also anchored "the Old Beef Trail," over which thousands of cattle were driven to Alexandria for shipment to New Orleans. By the Civil War the site was strategic enough that Confederates dug breastworks and cleared timber to guard against Federal invasion.
Why it matters
The ferry was a literal doorway into Texas for waves of American settlers and their herds, and its later fortification shows how frontier crossings became stakes in the Civil War.
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Related people
- · Dr. Timothy Burr
- · Aaron Burr
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Old Beef Road
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By 1840 the Beef Road had become a vital artery across the Sabine River borderlands, replacing the earlier Zavala Road and taking its name from the cattle driven along it from the Huntsville and Liberty regions toward Louisiana markets. Near this spot it forked into three branches, each heading to a different crossing and destination, with "beef pens" set along the way to corral cattle overnight. During the Civil War it served as a Confederate supply route until Union control of the Mississippi in July 1863 choked off the eastern drives, and the postwar rise of the Kansas railheads finished its decline.
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