Wood County

Quitman, TX

Freemasonry followed Anglo settlers into frontier Texas, and this lodge petitioned for its charter in 1852, taking the name Flora on Christmas Day of that year. Early members met in a combined Presbyterian church and lodge hall built in 1855, working by candlelight and kerosene until electricity arrived in 1917, and rebuilding after an 1854 fire destroyed their charter and furnishings. The plain details of their record — 30-cent candles bought by the pound, Saturday-morning meetings paused for preaching — capture the texture of pioneer community life.

Quitman, TX

This modest 1860s cottage was bought in 1873 by James Stephen Hogg, who honeymooned here with Sarah Ann Stinson while serving as editor-publisher of the "Quitman News" and the local justice of the peace. From these small-town beginnings Hogg rose to become the first native-born governor of Texas, serving from 1891 to 1895. Preserved by local clubs and later restored by his daughter Ima Hogg, the cottage survives as a memento of that ascent.

Quitman, TX

An Alabama native who reached Texas in 1877, J.H. Jones taught school, won election as Wood County clerk, and prospered as a Quitman merchant. In 1902 he gave this land to the Old Settlers of Wood County Association, whose members gathered each year to honor the region's pioneers. Save for a pause during World War I, the homecoming reunions continued here, and in 1952 the grounds passed to the Governor Hogg Shrine State Park.

Quitman, TX

When the Texas legislature created Wood County in 1850, it named Quitman the county seat, which began governing from a humble log courthouse. Fire repeatedly claimed its successors — a frame structure in 1878 and F.E. Ruffini's building in 1924 — before the present Classical Revival courthouse rose with its columned temple front and pedimented entablature. It has anchored the county square ever since.