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
Grant's Colony
The story of Grant’s Colony complicates the narrative of the Reconstruction Era in Walker County, which is typically one of violence, despair, and intimidation. For while the Yellow Fever outbreak of 1867, the Walker County Rebellion of 1870-71, and…
Henry Truvillion Recordings
John A. Lomax first met Henry Truvillion, an African American in his mid-40s, in the company town of Wiergate in Newton County. Truvillion worked for the Wier Long Leaf Lumber Company which operated a large logging business in the East Texas…
Smithers Plantation Recordings
To collect authentic, undocumented folk music, John A. Lomax and his son Alan specifically sought out "made up" songs, ones that had been created and developed by everyday people. In 1934, while searching for the local and secular music of…
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
Origins and Construction of Houston Intercontinental Airport
In the mid-1950s, a team of local business executives and civic leaders, recognizing the need for a new airport, purchased more than 3,100 acres north of the Houston city limits. This purchase ensured that Houston, after making a formal decision to…
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In 1983, construction completed on a new 14,000 square foot chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS)--it cost over $1,000,000 to build and boasted a membership of over 300. It stands in stark contrast to the early days of the…
Jasper Recordings
In fall 1940, folklorist John A. Lomax and his wife Ruby visited Jasper where a friend introduced them to an elderly African American man they referred to as "Uncle Billy McCrea." Documented in most other records as Bill McCray, he had…
Gibbs Brothers and Company
Gibbs Brothers and Company is reputedly the oldest continuously operating family business in Texas that still resides on its original site. The business was established by Thomas Gibbs and Gardner Coffin in 1841 on the Huntsville town square. The…
Darrington Prison Recordings
In 1933 and 1934, folklorist John A. Lomax and his son Alan visited the Darrington prison farm to record the music of African American convicts. At Darrington, they captured not only the vocals of inmates who sang as they worked in rhythm, but also…
Ima Hogg
Born on July 10, 1882, to James and Sarah Hogg in Mineola, Texas, Ima Hogg watched her father rise to the pinnacle of Texas politics before turning his hand to business. She became the lady of the house at thirteen, following her mother’s early…