Henderson

Schools came early to Henderson. Henderson Female College ran from 1849 to 1866 and the Fowler Institute from 1850 to about 1861, followed by the Masonic Female Institute in 1864-66 and the Male and Female College from 1871 to 1890. The first courthouse, of 1849, burned in the 1860 fire, was rebuilt in 1878 and was replaced by the present one in 1928. The town counted 705 people in 1858 and about 10,000 in 1933, then 6,437 in 1940, the year it incorporated. A 1936 statue of Thomas J. Rusk stands in front.

What the plaque says

Henderson Founded as the county seat for the newly created county of Rusk in 1843, Henderson was named for Republic of Texas pioneer and statesman James Pinckney Henderson, who would later become the first Governor of the State of Texas. Land for the town was donated by W. B. Ochiltree, who stipulated that it be named for his friend Henderson, and by Republic of Texas General James Smith, who is known as the "Father of Henderson." Town lots were sold soon after the city was established, with land set aside for both churches and schools. A wooden courthouse was built in the center of town in 1849, and the town grew steadily as homes and businesses were constructed. A disastrous fire destroyed much of the central business district in 1860. Following the Civil War and the arrival of the railroads in this area in the 1870s, a large number of brick structures were built in the downtown area. The discovery of the vast East Texas oil field in 1930 caused an economic boom in Henderson. The population increased from 2,000 to 10,000 within a matter of months. The town continues to serve as a center of commerce and civic activities. (1989)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• New London Museum and Cenotaph — 10 mi
  A volunteer-run museum beside the pink granite cenotaph for the March 1937 school gas explosion, holding a model of the school, a blackboard from that day and an odorizer device.
• East Texas Oil Museum — 16 mi
  A Kilgore College museum that rebuilds the 1930s oil boom in a full-scale Boomtown with a general store, drugstore and newspaper office, plus dioramas, films and antiques given by East Texans.
• Tex Ritter Museum and Texas Country Music Hall of Fame — 27 mi
  Carthage's country music museum, with Tex Ritter's boots, guitars and saddles in a room styled like a movie theater, and exhibits on other Texas stars, Jim Reeves among them.

More markers nearby

• The 1860 Henderson Fire — steps away
• Merritt Building — steps away
• First Baptist Church of Henderson — steps away
• Judge William Wright Morris — steps away