Wood County

The Handbook of Texas traces how Wood County changed after the Depression. The Rural Electrification Administration and the Wood County Electric Coop began bringing power to rural areas in 1938, and oil was found in 1941. By 1948 the county produced nearly 25 million barrels a year, and by 1984 it had produced almost a billion in all. Paved road grew from 49 miles and 1,000 registered cars in 1922 to 1,155 miles and 24,719 vehicles by 1982. The population fell from 24,183 in 1930 to 17,653 in 1960 before it began to climb again.

What the plaque says

Wood County Wood County Created February 5, 1850 Organized August 5, 1850 Named in Honor of George T. Wood 1795-1858 Member of the Congress of the Republic of Texas An officer in the Mexican War Governor of tExas 1847-1849 Quitman, the county seat

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Governor Hogg Shrine — 1.9 mi
  Quitman's 27-acre city park, once a state historical park, where two houses tied to James Stephen Hogg's marriage stand beside an arboretum, a nature walk and the grounds of the Old Settlers Reunion.
• Tyler State Park — 22 mi
  A 985-acre park eight miles north of Tyler, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941 around a 64-acre spring-fed lake, with more than 13 miles of trails.
• Lake Bob Sandlin State Park — 29 mi
  A 1987 state park on a 9,000-acre reservoir, where a Republic of Texas stockade called Fort Sherman stood in 1838 and the Caddo lived from A.D. 800 to 1860, now with fishing piers, trails and cabins.

More markers nearby

• Col. James A. Stinson Home — 1.8 mi
• J. H. Jones and the Old Settlers Reunion Grounds — 1.9 mi
• James Stephen Hogg — 2.2 mi
• First Election in Wood County — 5.8 mi