Science Hill

Science Hill's cotton went by wagon to Navasota and Calvert, ginned at a gin run by J. D. Jaggers and D. M. Thompson, according to the Handbook of Texas. A post office served the community from 1859 to 1866 with Andrew J. Fowler as postmaster. Two pioneer ministers lived here: Hezekiah Mitchum, who organized Henderson County's first Methodist church in 1852, and Robert Hodge, who organized its first Presbyterian church in 1855. John Patterson gave an acre for a cemetery in 1861, and nothing identified the townsite by 1936.

What the plaque says

Science Hill A group of pioneers from Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana founded the Science Hill community when they arrived in this area in 1846. Their hope for the settlement was that it would become a cultural and educational center for the county. Soon after their arrival, the residents started mills, cotton gins, mercantile businesses, churches, and schools. The decade of the 1850s was one of growth and progress for Science Hill. A Methodist church was organized by the Rev. William D. Sansom, and the Science Hill Masonic Lodge began meeting in 1857. Members of the Lodge and other citizens helped found Science Hill academy, which opened in 1858. The first school of higher education in Henderson County, the academy offered classes in arithmetic, geography, history, elocution, Latin, Greek, natural science, and logic. Educator A. J. Fowler (1815-1886) was instrumental in its founding and served as first principal. During the harsh years of the Civil War and reconstruction, families began moving away from Science Hill. The academy closed in 1872. By 1878 the Masonic Lodge had only 12 members, and its charter was surrendered. Science Hill became a ghost town, leaving only its history as a reminder of the community. (1984)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center — 17 mi
  A Texas Parks and Wildlife hatchery and visitor center in Athens where visitors can borrow tackle and fish a stocked pond, watch native species in gallery tanks and ride a tram around the hatchery.
• Purtis Creek State Park — 23 mi
  A 1,582-acre park straddling the Henderson and Van Zandt county line, built around a 355-acre lake with no-wake fishing, borrowed tackle, a 4.1-mile hike-and-bike trail and a nature path.
• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 29 mi
  A round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.

More markers nearby

• Judson Baptist Church — 4.1 mi
• Bethel Cemetery — 7.3 mi
• Carroll Springs Methodist Church — 10 mi
• First United Methodist Church of Malakoff — 11 mi