Native Americans friendly to the settlers resided inEast Texas[3] before theKiowa,Kickapoo,Kichai,Apache, andComanche relocated to the territory.[4] These tribes hunted, farmed the land, and were adept traders. By 1772, they had settled on theBrazos atWaco and on theTrinity upstream from presentPalestine. The Tawakoni branch ofWichita Indians originated north of Texas,[5] but migrated south into East Texas. From 1843 onward, the Tawakoni were part of treaties made by both theRepublic of Texas and the United States.
On May 19, 1836, an alliance of Comanche, Kiowa,Caddo, and Wichita attacked Fort Parker (Limestone County), killing and taking settlers captive. The survivors escaped to Fort Houston, which had been erected in Anderson County in 1835 as protection against Indians.[6][7] Some early residents of Anderson County were related toCynthia Ann Parker, who was among the captives.[8]
In October 1838,Gen. Thomas Jefferson Rusk conducted a raid against hostile Indians at Kickapoo, nearFrankston.[9] This ended the engagements with the Indians in East Texas for that year.
In 1826, empresarioDavid G. Burnet received a grant from theCoahuila y Tejas legislature to settle 300 families in what is now Anderson County.[10] Most of the settlers came from the southern states andMissouri.
After the Texas Revolution and the attack onFort Parker, Daniel Parker and some of the survivors moved to Fort Houston (Anderson County).[13] They established a new community south of the fort.
The First Legislature of the State of Texas formed Anderson County fromHouston County on March 24, 1846. The county was named forKenneth Lewis Anderson. Palestine was named the county seat.[14]
Anderson County voted forsecession from the Union.[15] When theAmerican Civil War began, former Palestine district judgeJudge John H. Reagan[16] served in the cabinet of theConfederate government as postmaster general, being captured at the end of the war and spending 22 months in solitary confinement. DuringReconstruction, District Nine Court Judge Reuben A. Reeves,[17] a resident of Palestine, was removed from office as "an obstruction to Reconstruction" in part because of his refusal to allow blacks to participate as jurors in the judicial process.
In 1875, theInternational – Great Northern Railroad[18] placed its machine and repair shops and general offices in Palestine, causing the community to double in size over the next 5 years. For a time, it was a rough railroad town, dominated by male workers.
White violence against blacks occurred in the county, most frequently by lynchings of black men. But in July 1910, at least 22 blacks were killed in white rioting near Slocum, a majority-black community, in what is called theSlocum Massacre. Racial and economic tensions had been high in the post-Reconstruction era and southern states haddisenfranchised blacks and imposedJim Crow in furtherance ofwhite supremacy.[19] Anderson County tied for 13th place in a list of the 25 American counties with the highest number of lynchings between 1877 and 1950 (all were located in the South).[20]
Oral tradition in the African-American community holds that as many as 200 blacks may have been killed in the massacre. An estimated 200 whites rioted and attacked blacks on the roads, in the fields, and inSlocum on July 29–30, 1910. Many black homes were burned, and black families fled for their lives, having to abandon their property and assets. This town is about 20 miles east of the county seat at Palestine.[21]
At the time, as was usual, white newspapers described such events as a "race riot" by blacks. Texas newspapers had contributed to problems by reporting false rumors that 200 blacks were arming. Afterward, 11 men were arrested and seven were indicted, including James Spurger, said by many to be the instigator, but no prosecution resulted. The massacre had been preceded by racial tensions, rumors, and, for 6 months, at least one lynching per month of Blacks in East Texas.[21]
In January 2016, the state installed a highway historical marker in Slocum to recognize this unprovoked white attack on the black community.[22] It was part of a history of white violence against blacks.
In 1926, the Humble Oil and Refining Company, in partnership with the Rio Bravo Company, started an exploration drilling program along Boggy Creek, in what turned our to be the Boggy Creeksalt dome. On March 19, 1927, the Elliott and Clark No. 1 encountered theWoodbine Formation at a depth of 3,838 feet (1,170 m) and produced 62 barrels of oil per hour, but showed salt water after producing only 15,000 barrels. On November 10, 1927, the Elliott and Clark No. 2, 150 feet to the west, was completed as a gas well. On February 4, 1928, the first oil-producing well in Anderson County, theHumble-Lizzie Smith No. 1, was completed, producing 80BOPD. By May 1931, 80 wells had been drilled in theBoggy Creek Oil Field, 6 of which produced gas, 33 oil, and 41 were dry holes.[23][24][25]
The Fairway Oil Field was discovered in 1960, and straddles the border of Anderson and Henderson Counties. Oil is produced from theLower Cretaceous JamesLimestone member of the Pearsallformation.[26]
TheGus Engeling Wildlife Management Area was purchased by the state between 1950 and 1960,[27] much of it formerly owned by Milze L. Derden. The area was renamed in 1952 for Gus A. Engeling, the first state biologist assigned to the area who was killed by a poacher on December 13, 1951.
Farm to Market Road 315 north of Palestine, Anderson County, Texas, USA (April 2017)
Anderson County is situated at the threshold of two ecoregions, thepiney woods to the east, and theEast Central Texas forests, also referred to as post oak savanna to the west. The terrain of Anderson County consists of hills carved by drainages and gullies, with numerous lakes and ponds. The Trinity River flows southward along the west boundary line of the county; the Neches River flows southward along its east boundary line, and Brushy Creek flows southeastward through the central portion of the county.[28] The terrain slopes to the south and east, with its highest points along the midpoint of its northern boundary line at 551 ft (168 m) ASL.[29] The county has a total area of 1,078 square miles (2,790 km2), of which 1,063 square miles (2,750 km2) are land and 15 square miles (39 km2) (1.4%) are covered by water.[30]
Anderson County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 57,922, which represented a 0.9% decline from the 58,458 residents recorded at the2010 census.[48][50] The median age was 40.7 years; 18.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.3% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 152.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 165.3 males age 18 and over.[51]
32.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 67.9% lived in rural areas.[53]
There were 17,371 households in the county, of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.7% were married-couple households, 17.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[51]
There were 20,131 housing units, of which 13.7% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 71.1% were owner-occupied and 28.9% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.2%.[51]
According to the 2020American Community Survey 5-year estimates, the median household income was $45,847 and 14.1% of the population lived at or below the poverty line.[54] Among residents under age 18, 21.5% were living in poverty, and 9.9% of those 65 or older were below the poverty line.[54]
From its initial population of 2,684 in the1850 census, Anderson County's population increased to 55,109 people at the2000 U.S. census.[55] At that time there were 15,678 households, 34.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were married couples living together, 13.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.70% were not families. About 24.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[55] In 2000, the median income for a household was $31,957 and for a family was $37,513. Males had a median income of $27,070 versus $21,577 for females, and theper capita income for the county was $13,838. About 12.70% of families and 16.50% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 21.60% of those under age 18 and 16.60% of those age 65 or over.[55]
Anderson County is governed by a commissioners' court. It consists of thecounty judge, who is elected at-large and presides over the full court, and four commissioners, who are elected from the county's four single-member precincts.[56][57]
Anderson is a strongly Republican county, voting Republican in every election since 1980 (as of 2020). The county last voted Democratic in 1976, when Jimmy Carter won 57% of the county's votes. Hillary Clinton managed to win just 19.8% of the vote in the county, the least of any presidential candidate since 1944.
United States presidential election results for Anderson County, Texas[60]
E.R. Bills wroteThe 1910 Slocum Massacre: An Act of Genocide in East Texas (2014) about white mobs rioting and killing at least 22 blacks in Anderson County in July 1910, and driving off hundreds more.[21]
^Moore, R. Edward."East Texas Indian Lands". Texas Indians.Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. RetrievedMay 2, 2010. R. E. Moore and Texarch Associates
^ Caraway, Georgia Kemp: Anderson County from theHandbook of Texas Online. Retrieved May 2, 2010. Texas State Historical Association
^Terriere, Robert (1976). Braunstein, Jules (ed.).Geology of Fairway Field, East Texas, in North American Oil and Gas Fields. Tulsa: The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. pp. 157–176.ISBN0891813004.
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