Sulphur Springs Loan and Building Association

The Handbook of Texas places the East Line and Red River Railroad at Sulphur Springs in 1879, though its Hopkins County entry says the line arrived in 1876. Jefferson businessmen promoted the road to protect their river port's trade from rival railroads, and Jay Gould bought it in 1881 and sold it to the Katy the same year. A second line, the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas, built through the county in 1887 and linked it with Sherman. Those dates frame the plaque's 1890 charter.

What the plaque says

Sulphur Springs Loan and Building Association Chartered on August 13, 1890, the Sulphur Springs Loan and Building Association is the oldest surviving savings association in the state of Texas. Charter members of the association included local business leaders Phil H. Foscue, W. F. Henderson, T. F. Gafford, L.. H. Avinger, M. G. Miller, O. M. Pate, John D. Williams, S. D. Crittenden, and R. F. Blythe. T. F. Gafford served as the first managing officer. Originally located in a two-story building southeast of the town square, the association responded to economic growth and development in the area brought about by the arrival of the railroad. Supporting both urban and rural building projects and home construction, the association has played an important role in Hopkins County history. Many of the area's businesses trace their roots to loans made by the association in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The association moved to new offices at this site in 1961. Among its public contributions are the support of numerous charitable and civic organizations through monetary assistance and the donation of meeting space. Benefits of the association's business practices can now be seen beyond the boundaries of Hopkins County in a number of northeast Texas communities. (1993)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Cooper Lake State Park — 15 mi
  Two units on Jim Chapman Lake, a Corps reservoir proposed in the late 1930s, stalled by a lawsuit until 1984 and dedicated in 1991, with a 10.5-mile equestrian trail and wildlife land around it.

More markers nearby

• First Christian Church — steps away
• City National Bank — steps away
• Site of the Union Stockade — steps away
• First United Methodist Church of Sulphur Springs — steps away