Texas Historical Marker #11366
Enloe Mill. A major contributor to county and state history. Built about 1840 on Billums Creek, where the swift current made by inflow of Belts Creek would turn a water-wheel, to generate power. Mill took name from owner Benjamin Enloe, an 1837 settler who bought this property in 1849. Enloe, his son David and grandson George were known to several generations as mill operators. From this mill came lumber for the first frame courthouse in Woodville, built in 1852 while David Enloe was county sheriff. As people came from wide region to this mill, there grew up one of area's main roads (later known as Boone's Ferry Road), connecting Fort Teran with the Old Spanish Trail from Liberty to Nacogdoches and crossing present road at this point. Enloe's mill, one of 27 in Tyler County by 1857, produced essentials of life for settlers: Cornmeal for their bread, and lumber for erecting homes and other buildings. This mill also ginned cotton, their "money" product. Although long known for its raw materials rather than manufactured goods, Texas gained self-reliance from early landmarks such as Enloe's mill. #11366
?, Colmesneil, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #11365
Home of David Curlee Enloe. David Curlee Enloe built this house, 1852; brought his bride here April 4, 1853. Enloe was a teacher and trustee of Woodville College. Elected sheriff 1853, he served several years. Owned sawmill which cut lumber for the first Tyler County Courthouse. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967 #11365
?, Colmesneil, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #11367
Fort Teran Park. Named a historical site by the Texas Centennial Committee, 1936--101 years after closing of fort. Park was donated in 1966 to Tyler County Historical Survey Committee by Mrs. Winnie Wilson in memory of her husband, S. Earl Wilson, who preserved fort site. #11367
?, Colmesneil, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #11455
Sunny Dell Missionary Baptist Church. This church was organized on April 22, 1882, by pioneer settlers of the Sunny Dell community, a prosperous farming settlement of early Tyler County. Led by the Rev. Arnold Rhodes, the congregation had 14 charter members. James Sturrock donated land for the sanctuary. A leading church in the region for many years, the congregation declined as the area's population decreased. Services were discontinued in 1955, but homecomings are held here annually. Descendants of early members continue to live in the area and many have served as leaders of Tyler County. #11455
?, Colmesneil, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #11361
Colmesneil-Mount Zion Cemetery. According to local oral tradition, African American residents of Colmesneil began using this land for burial purposes as early as the 1850s. The property remained in the hands of absentee landlords until the 1930s, when the new owner allowed burials to continue at the site. The oldest legible tombstone in the graveyard is that of Henry Mitchell, who died September 11, 1859. There are a number of unmarked graves, however, and some possibly predate Mitchell's burial. Among the more than two hundred interments here are those of prominent members of Colmesneil's black community, including ministers, doctors, teachers, railroad employees, and veterans of World War I and World War II. Known as the Colmesneil Cemetery until 1972, the graveyard was renamed Mount Zion Cemetery to avoid confusion with another Colmesneil Cemetery in the city. The new name was taken from a combination of the names of two local churches with which the cemetery historically has been associated -Mount Hope Baptist Church and Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church. The cemetery serves as a visible reminder of the area's African American Heritage. #11361
?, Colmesneil, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #11467
Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church. Zion Hill Missionary Baptist church is one of the earliest churches to serve this area's African American community. In the early 1880s, a Freedmen's colony grew here in response to the availability of jobs at a newly opened sawmill. The Rev. George Durden and his congregation, with the assistance of the Rev. A. Venerable, moderator of the Trinity Valley Baptist Association, officially organized Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church in 1881. It was the first black church congregation in Colmesneil. Worship services were held in a log cabin built by the congregation until the early 1900s. The church has occupied several locations and has served not only as a place of worship, but also as a school for black children. In the early 1990s Zion Hill Missionary Baptist church was moved to a site east of the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks adjacent to the Odd Fellows Hall. In 1933, the church was rebuilt at this site six blocks southwest of its original location. For over one hundred years Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church has served the community witht a variety of worship and educational programs and maintained a leadership role in civic activities. #11467
?, Colmesneil, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #15459
W.T. Colmesneil House The town of Colmesneil began as two separate communities--Ogden in the north and Colmesneil in the south. The town of Ogden was the business center, and Comesneil grew up around the Texas and New Orleans Railroad tracks. The area boomed during the late nineteenth century, because the arrival of the railroads made it economical to build lumber mills in the area. The Yellow Pine Lumber Company was one of the most well-known mills. The towns of Ogden and Colmesneil consolidated under the name Colmesneil in early 1888. William Taylor Colmesneil, the man for whom the town was named, built this house in 1883. He was one of the first conductors on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, a passenger train that ran from Beaumont to Rockland. According to legend, Colmesneil had the house built facing the railroad tracks so that he could sit on the front porch and warch the trains go by. Colmesneil sold the house to Frank Patterson in 1885 and moved on with the railroad. He married Fannie Taylor in 1886, and one child, Charles, was born to the marriage. Colmesneil worked as a railroad conductor throughout his life and died in Evansville, Indiana in 1907. Cowners of the home after Patterson included J.E. Votaw, Dr. William Martin Van Buren Stewart, Robert L. Mann and Katherine Magouyrk. The original section of the shiplap siding house is a center-passage floor plan with a large room on either side of a hallway and tapered brick chimneys on the ends. Paired double-hung windows are aligned on either side of the chimneys and the entry door. An early addition of rooms and a new porch entry created a modified L-plan layout. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-2008 #15459
106 S. Pitzer, Colmesneil, TX, United States