Town of Shepherd
Shepherd, San Jacinto County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Originated in vicinity of Old Drew's Landing, a Trinity River port for settlers bringing in goods and shipping cotton, tobacco, and other products to markets. An early nearby community was Big Creek. Into these pioneer settlements came Houston East & West Texas Railroad investors, including Benjamin A. Shepherd (1814-1891) of Houston, who in 1875 platted townsite here, naming it for himself. The town square was on west side of H. E. & W. T., which was completed beyond this point in 1879. The Shepherd Post Office opened Dec. 22, 1879, with Jack B. Noble as postmaster. A pioneer physician was Dr. William Herbert Beazley (1837-1919); Mrs. Jessie Fain operated an early hotel; Mrs. Jane Langham taught first public school session, in Methodist church building. James Ephraim Tribe, a native of Canada, came here in 1895, was a carpenter, coffin maker, millwright, and wheelwright. A Baptist, he built a church edifice for that faith in 1896. Distinguished native son Robert Scott Lovett (1860-1932), became president of Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads and rendered outstanding civilian service to the nation during World War I. Once a center for the lumbering industry, Shepherd remains an important market town of southeast Texas.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Shepherd grew from riverboat roots along the Trinity, where Old Drew's Landing shipped out cotton and tobacco for a scattering of pioneer settlements. When the Houston East & West Texas Railroad pushed through in the late 1870s, investor Benjamin A. Shepherd platted a townsite in 1875 and gave it his name, and a post office, physician, hotel, and church soon followed. Once a hub of the East Texas lumber industry, it settled into life as a steady market town of the piney woods.
Why it matters
Shepherd captures a quintessentially American pattern: a river landing eclipsed by the railroad, whose promoters could conjure a whole town into being on the strength of a rail line and a plat map.
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Related people
- · Benjamin A. Shepherd
- · Robert Scott Lovett
- · William Herbert Beazley
Related events
- · Arrival of the Houston East & West Texas Railroad
Themes & tags
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