East Texas History
A project by Sam Houston State UniversityEast Texas History is a free mobile app and web platform that places the past at your fingertips. Designed by the History Department at Sam Houston State University, the project seeks to highlight the distinctive people, places, and events that have shaped East Texas. Viewers may learn about the region through our interactive, map-based interface that includes historical stories, photographs, and oral interviews. Follow our progress on Twitter or connect with us on Facebook to learn more about the project or to become a participating author. Read more About Us
Featured Stories
Adolphus Sterne
Born to Emmanuel and Helen Sterne in Cologne, Germany, on April 15, 1801, Adolphus Sterne spent his childhood in a community torn by religious and political discord. While working in a passport office…
Goree Recordings
In his pursuit of folk music, John A. Lomax visited penitentiaries throughout the South specifically to document the music of African Americans that, because of racial segregation and the isolation of…
Wendell Harold Baker
The son of Jesse and Fannie Baker, Wendell Harold Baker (1922-2013) played a crucial role in the civil rights movement in Walker County. His parents provided him with a first rate public education,…
Featured Tours
John Lomax's East Texas Tour
12 Locations ~ Curated by Amy BertschThe Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1867
12 Locations ~ Curated by Zachary Doleshal, Ph.D., SHSU Public History Students of 2017Random Stories
Historic American Buildings Survey of Blount House
A month after the federal government authorized the Historic American Buildings Survey to document the country's historic structures, two teams of architects from Dallas headed to San Augustine to begin their mission in East Texas. Over four days in…
Historic American Buildings Survey of Garrett House
As New Dealers looked for work opportunities for the unemployed, officials at the National Park Service (NPS) identified a critical need for architects and architectural draftsmen to document historic buildings, like the William Garrett Plantation…
The Liberty Post Office and Its New Deal Mural
Located along the Trinity River, Liberty, Texas, is one of the oldest towns in the Lone Star State. Initially settled by Anglo-American squatters in 1818, the town became a key trading center by the time of the Texas Revolution. In 1837, local…
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Ima Hogg, a collector of American antiques, and architect John Staub collaborated on the mansion's design, combining elements from southern plantations, the Spanish creole architecture of Louisiana, and 18th century Georgian architecture.…
Sheppard-Watts Hospital
No longer standing, the Sheppard-Watts Hospital served the health and medical needs of Marshall's African American community for more than 40 years. East Texas native James R. Sheppard, M.D., opened the Sheppard Sanitarium, as the hospital was first…
Wood County Electric Cooperative
Just a minute’s drive from the 1925 county courthouse in Quitman, Texas, one may find the thoroughly modern, electric blue headquarters of the Wood County Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WCEC). Like many contemporary buildings, the WCEC headquarters was…