Site of Palestine Service Men's Club, World War II

Hotel porters helped fill the Palestine club, according to a Texas A&M University Press history of East Texas in World War II: they invited servicemen stepping off trains to come in for refreshments, entertainment or quiet rest. The club ran from 1942 to 1946, and thousands of military personnel passed through Palestine's depot. In the fall of 1944 two mothers, Mrs. Alfred O. Peterson of Methuen, Massachusetts, and Leona Vorce of Kalamazoo, Michigan, wrote thank-you letters to Palestine residents. The Anderson County Historical Commission holds them.

What the plaque says

Site of Palestine Service Men's Club, World War II Since 1872, the railroad has been a defining aspect of Palestine. During World War II, with the town more than a hundred miles from the nearest military installation, the railroad gave local citizens the opportunity to show their support to trainloads of soldiers passing through the city. In June 1942, area residents organized a service group inspired by, but independent from, the United Service Organizations (USO). Zula Hanks oversaw the fundraising, chaperoning and management of the club, operated by scores of local women. Volunteers offered refreshments, letter-writing materials, music, dancing and conservation in the club's room at the O'Neil Hotel at this site across Spring Street from the railroad tracks. The women also took sandwiches and cookies to distribute to the soldiers unable to leave the trains. Additionally, the Palestine group financially supported a separate Negro Service Club that served African American troops who often rode at the back of the trains farther down the line from this point. Military service people from around the country voiced their gratitude for Palestine's hospitality through recorded messages on "Recordgrams" and in countless letters. The volunteers continued their outpouring of support through the final days of the war, and the last troop train came through town on January 1, 1946. Today, the story of the Palestine club demonstrated the community's commitment to World War II service on the home front. (2006)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 4.0 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

• Eilenberger's Bakery — steps away
• Anderson County in the Civil War — steps away
• Palestine Lodge No. 31, A. F. & A. M. — steps away
• Kolstad Jewelers — steps away