NechesLand.Com Received a Letter?
Anderson County

Anderson County.

Seat: Palestine · Frankston, Elkhart

The Texas State Railroad — near the Palestine depot. Established by the Texas Legislature in 1881 to haul iron ore to a state penitentiary foundry at Rusk, the Texas State Railroad is the only state‑owned railroad in the country. It now operates as a heritage steam line on the original 25‑mile right‑of‑way through pine forest between Palestine and Rusk.

Anderson County was created in 1846 and named for Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the last vice president of the Republic of Texas. The seat, Palestine, was platted the same year and named for Palestine, Illinois — the hometown of one of the original Anglo settlers. The Neches River runs through the county’s eastern third.

Palestine · Anderson County Courthouse

Continuous deed records since 1846.

The Anderson County Courthouse holds one of the oldest unbroken chains of deed records in East Texas, dating to the county’s organization in 1846. The current 1914 classical‑revival building is the fourth on the site.

Davey Dogwood Park · Palestine

Wild dogwoods every March.

254 acres of wild dogwood, Eastern redbud, and pine on the northern edge of Palestine, donated to the city in 1944 by J.W. Davey. The Dogwood Trails Festival, drawing visitors to the bloom each year since 1939, is one of the oldest continuously running festivals in Texas.

Frankston

Named for the postmaster’s daughter.

Frankston was incorporated in 1900 and named, by local account, for Miss Frankie Miller — the daughter of the town’s first postmaster. It sits on the western edge of the Neches watershed and was for decades the timber shipping point for the surrounding pine country.

Family roots in Anderson County?

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