Capt. Charles Henry Allyn

Allyn's name sits on much of Corsicana's civic paperwork. A Navarro County history site, drawing on his obituary and memorial resolutions, lists him as vice president and charter member of the First National Bank, president of Corsicana Cotton Mills and the Elk Building Association, and first president of the country club. He served on the school board for years, helped win the Carnegie library, and headed the trustees of the State Orphan Home. After he died in 1918 the city named Allyn Park at the foot of Beaton Street in his honor.

What the plaque says

Capt. Charles Henry Allyn New York native Charles Henry Allyn (1842-1918) came to Texas in 1868, after having served as a captain in the Union army during the Civil War. Capt. Allyn arrived in Corsicana with his wife, Angela (Aldrich), in 1871. As a Corsicana businessman, he assisted in the organization of the First National Bank, local savings and loan companies, and the cotton mill. Allyn served as a member of the city council before holding a two-year term as Corsicana's mayor from 1888 to 1890. Capt. Allyn was also active in civic, educational, and church activities. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Petroleum Industry Park — steps away
  The pipes and drilling tower mark where a city water well struck oil on June 9, 1894, the start of the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities.
• Blind Lemon Memorial Cemetery — 20 mi
  The Freestone County grave of the Texas blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson, who recorded for Paramount in Chicago from 1926 and died there in December 1929.
• Ellis County Courthouse — 30 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's courthouse of 1897 in Pecos red sandstone and pink granite, with twenty-one carved stone faces and two cornerstones left by a quarrel over its building.

More markers nearby

• Site of Merchants Opera House — steps away
• Early Texas Natural Gas Pipelines — steps away
• The Molloy Hotel — steps away
• The First National Bank of Corsicana — steps away