Groveton

Groveton began as two towns. The lumber company put its mill south of the new railroad track and its townsite north, and for years Groveton and Milltown, also called South Groveton, were separate municipalities with separate mayors. Residents of both combined to build churches and a school. When mills elsewhere closed around 1900, displaced workers arrived with a rougher sawmill society, and the town outlawed saloons and liquor sales in 1900. The Handbook of Texas gives the population as 4,000 in 1928 and 1,046 in 1931, the year after the mill whistled for two hours and shut.

What the plaque says

Groveton Named for a grove of black jack oak trees, Groveton resulted from the establishment of the Trinity County Lumber Company sawmill in 1882. After the Trinity and Sabine Railroad Company built a sixty-five mile branch line through area forests, the Trinity County Lumber Company bought about 29,000 acres of land from the Trinity and Sabine Timber Company, leaving acreage on either side of the railroad tracks for a town. The county seat was moved from Pennington to Groveton in 1882. By 1884 the first permanent court house was completed and the town included a barber shop, grocery store, drug store, hotel, boarding house, several saloons, homes, and a school. The city was incorporated on September 29, 1919 and officials were elected. By 1930 all the timber for miles around had been cut; consequently, the sawmill closed December 31, 1930. The once prosperous town of Groveton went into decline. The Civilian Conservation Corps was responsible for road construction and a reforestation program in the 1930s. Through the years Groveton has sen economic booms and hard times, but as the county seat, it and survived to leave a rich heritage.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Trinity County Seats — steps away
• First Methodist Church of Groveton — steps away
• George Washington Carver School — 0.4 mi
• Site of the Town of Sumpter — 4.6 mi