Site of Volga Community
Houston County, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Westward-moving pioneers settled this area after the Civil War. Attracted by good farmland, timber, and water, they established homes and called their community High Prairie. It was renamed Volga in 1897, when a post office was established in Samuel Knox's store. His son, Samuel D. Knox, served as first postmaster. Although never formally platted or incorporated, Volga was an important early community. At its height the settlement boasted homes, stores, a cotton gin, sawmill, school, and church. An early building called Rough Edge served as church and school until 1893 , when the High Prairie Missionary Baptist Church of Christ was built. After it burned in 1905 a two-room building used for school and worship was erected, and in 1911 a new church was built. The Volga Community began to decline about 1917 after the post office was discontinued. In 1918 some of the town's young men were listed in World War I, and many Volga citizens died in the influenza epidemic. The school was consolidated with nearby communities, and the church was disbanded. After 1960 some descendants of Volga pioneers returned to resettle the area.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Westward-moving pioneers settled here after the Civil War, drawn by good farmland, timber, and water, and named their community High Prairie before it became Volga in 1897 with the opening of a post office in Samuel Knox's store. At its peak the town held homes, stores, a cotton gin, sawmill, school, and church. It began to fade after the post office closed in 1917, a decline hastened as young men left for World War I and the influenza epidemic swept through.
Why it matters
Volga's story compresses the settlement, flourishing, and dissolution of a Texas farm town, with the Great War and the 1918 flu marking its turn toward memory.
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Related people
- · Samuel Knox
- · Samuel D. Knox
Related events
- · World War I
- · 1918 influenza epidemic
Themes & tags
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