Site of Old Magnolia

A ferry license for the Magnolia crossing of the Trinity was issued in 1847, the year the first flatboat load went from here to Galveston, according to a Tyler newspaper feature. Congress ordered the first survey of the river on August 30, 1852. In spring 1867 as many as six steamers docked at once, and a fast trip carried 800 bales of cotton to Galveston in four days, against up to six weeks by wagon. The International Railroad reached Palestine in July 1872, and the last steamboat voyage on the Trinity ended in 1873.

What the plaque says

Site of Old Magnolia (one-half mi.S) Founded in 1840s as a ferrying point on the Caddo Trace; later became a major landing for flatboats and steamers on the Trinity River, where cotton and other products were shipped by a four-day trip to Galveston to be exchanged for flour, salt, and sugar. Magnolia -- named for a huge tree in center of town -- reached its zenith in 1863, when it had several hundred people and eight major stores. Focus of social life then was Haygood's Magnolia Tavern, where board and lodging for a man and two horses cost $2 a day. Haygood's was the scene of many gala parties feting riverboat passengers, for when a deep-throated steamer whistle blew a few miles from port, it signaled a rush of people from miles around eager to greet arrivals and collect long-awaited parcels. Growing river traffic spawned many towns like this, and from 1830 to 1880, Texas waterways were dotted with boats. From the first, though, the state's rivers were unsuited for extensive trade, because even the largest were shallow, winding, and often choked with debris. After 1880, trains replaced riverboats. An irony of the transition was that one of the last steamers to pass Magnolia, in 1872, carried rails for the tracks being lad through nearby Palestine. (1967) An irony of the transition was that one of the last steamers to pass Magnolia, in 1872, carried rails for the tracks being laid through nearby Palestine.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 11 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

• Green Bay A.M.E. Church — 1.3 mi
• Green Bay High School — 1.3 mi
• Fort Houston Cemetery — 6.7 mi
• Anderson County Poor Farm — 6.7 mi