Shiloh, Gregg County, Texas

Last updated

Shiloh is a small unincorporated farming community on Shiloh Road near White Oak in north central Gregg County, Texas, United States. Located just south of the Upshur County line, Shiloh was established by formerly enslaved African Americans just after the end of the Civil War.

Contents

Early history

The area around Shiloh was a part of Mexico after Mexican Independence in 1821. Many Cherokee families passed through the region during the following decade, having been pushed further west out of their original lands. The Cherokees were forced out of the region by 1839 as many Anglo-Americans arrived in the area as well as some African Americans, some of them enslaved. [1] Through the mid-1800s, the region's main economic activity was cotton farming, and the lumber industry grew after the 1860s. [1]

Establishment

Shiloh was one of a number of Black communities to be settled in the county in the Reconstruction era. [1] According to local tradition, a formerly enslaved man, Butcher Christian, his former enslaver, Gideon Christian, and a noted post-Civil War church organizer, the Reverend John Baptist, established the Shiloh Baptist Church in 1871. [2] [3] Services began in a log sanctuary located on 3 acres (12,000 m2) donated by Butcher Christian. Gideon Christian, originally from South Carolina, had held thirty-two people enslaved in the area prior to the Civil War. According to the oral histories of local families, the Christian family conveyed land titles to a number of the emancipated people they had formerly held enslaved. [3]

Adjacent to the Baptist Church is an active cemetery with marked graves dating to 1882. The First Presbyterian Church was organized in Shiloh, Gregg County, Texas in 1838, but relocated to Clarksville in 1844. [3]

Shortly after the end of the Civil War, the newly free Black community established a one-room school in Shiloh that operated until the school was destroyed in a major storm in the 1890s. [2] Classes were held in the Shiloh Baptist Church. With funding from the Rosenwald rural school building program, which helped Black communities build schools across the South, the Shiloh community built a new two-room school erected in 1920. [2]

Oil Boom Growth and Decline

Beginning in the 1930s, an oil boom was the major driver of Gregg County's economy and population growth. [1] Revenue from oil discovered on the Shiloh Baptist Church land was used to build a new sanctuary on the site in 1936. In 1933, the community built a new brick school with an auditorium and separate junior high school wing. [4] The school expanded to include high school in 1937. [4]

By the 1960s, oil was the dominant industry of the region, and few farms remained. [1] Shiloh School closed in 1966, when area schools were desegregated and children from Shiloh enrolled in White Oak Independent School District. [4] The school building was later used for chemical storage until it was damaged in a 1993 chemical fire, possibly a result of arson. The building, on Shiloh Road, is marked by a historical plaque. [2] [5] Shiloh Baptist Church still serves the community with a variety of programs.

Shiloh's population declined after World War II. By the 1990s, the church and some of the early settling families remained, but much of the population had moved away. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smith County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Smith County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 233,479. Its county seat is Tyler. Smith County is named for James Smith, a general during the Texas Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rusk County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Rusk County is a county located in Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 52,214. Its county seat is Henderson. The county is named for Thomas Jefferson Rusk, a secretary of war of the Republic of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrison County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Harrison County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 68,839. The county seat is Marshall. The county was created in 1839 and organized in 1842. It is named for Jonas Harrison, a lawyer and Texas revolutionary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Gregg County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 124,239. Its county seat is Longview. The county is named after John Gregg, a Confederate general killed in action during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anderson County, Texas</span> County in Texas, United States

Anderson County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. Located within East Texas, its county seat is Palestine. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Anderson County was 57,922. Anderson County comprises the Palestine micropolitan statistical area. Anderson County was organized in 1846, and was named after Kenneth Lewis Anderson (1805-1845), the last vice president of the Republic of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wells, Texas</span> Town in Texas, United States

Wells is a town in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 790 at the 2010 census, and 853 at the 2020 U.S. census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Oak, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

White Oak is a city in Gregg County, Texas, United States. It was incorporated in 1960. The population was 6,225 as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henderson, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Henderson is a city and the county seat of Rusk County, Texas, in Northeast Texas. Its population was 13,271 at the 2020 census. Henderson is named for James Pinckney Henderson, the first governor of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Smith County, and the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the 33rd most populous city in Texas and 299th in the United States. It is the principal city of the Tyler metropolitan statistical area, which is the 198th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. and 16th in Texas after Waco and the College Station–Bryan areas, with a population of 233,479 in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longview, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Longview is a city in and county seat of Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. highways 80 and 259 converge just north of the Sabine River. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 81,638. Longview is the principal city of the Longview metropolitan statistical area, comprising Gregg, Upshur, and Rusk counties. The population of the metropolitan area as of 2021 census estimates was 287,858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Texas</span> Geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Texas</span> Region in Texas, United States

Northeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Texas. Geographically centered on two metropolitan areas strung along Interstate 20—Tyler in the west and Longview/Marshall to the east, the areas of Mount Pleasant, Sulphur Springs, Paris, and Texarkana in the north primarily along Interstate 30, and Jacksonville and Palestine to the south are also major cities within the region. Most of Northeast Texas is included in the interstate region of the Ark-La-Tex.

Stoneham is an unincorporated community in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The town was once a part of a colony operated by Stephen F. Austin and by 1900, the population grew to 250. Although a ghost town by 1970, the town has since grown in population.

Shiloh is a ghost town in Houston County, Texas, United States, just off FM 2110. It was founded by Stephen F. Box in 1834. During the 1840s, religious revivals were held in the town, and attendees from Houston camped in Shiloh. A local school was built in the 1850s. During the Civil War, the school was a draft post. After the war, the town declined. By the 1930s, Shiloh had a church and a few scattered houses. In the 1960s, the church remained, as well as very scattered houses. In 1973, a historical marker was placed in the town. Today, only the Methodist church remains.

Larissa is a rural community and abandoned townsite in northwestern Cherokee County, Texas, United States. Larissa lies west of U.S. Highway 69, off Farm to Market Road 855 and approximately halfway between Jacksonville and Bullard. Larissa is about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of the county seat of Rusk.

Spanish Camp is an unincorporated community in north central Wharton County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The community is located between Egypt and Hungerford along Farm to Market Road 1161 (FM 1161) near its intersection with Farm to Market Road 640 (FM 640). After the Mexican army of Antonio López de Santa Anna camped at the site in 1836, the community took the name Spanish Camp. In 1870 a church in the community was founded by former slaves and the congregation still existed in 2013.

Blackjack is an unincorporated community in Cherokee County, located in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 47 in 2000. It is located within the Tyler-Jacksonville combined statistical area.

New Hope is an unincorporated community in Cherokee County, located in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 50 in 2000. It is located within the Tyler-Jacksonville combined statistical area.

Bethel is an unincorporated community in Anderson County, located in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, 50 people lived in the community in 2000. It is a part of the Palestine, Texas micropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peyton, Texas</span> Unincorporated community in Texas, United States

Peyton is an unincorporated community in Blanco County, in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 30 in 2000.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Valenzuela, Beth (August 2018). Gregg County Survey Plan (PDF). Gregg County, TX (Report). Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Historical Markers of Gregg County" (PDF). Texas State Historical Association. Compiled by the Gregg County Historical Commission. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Long, Christopher; Allgood, Charlotte. "Shiloh, TX (Gregg County)". Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Shiloh School History" (PDF). Historical Marker Research Archives. Gregg County, TX. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Historical Markers Map". Gregg County Historical Commission. Retrieved August 21, 2022.

32°34′19″N94°51′44″W / 32.57194°N 94.86222°W / 32.57194; -94.86222

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.