Texas Historical Marker #08770
Site of the Kickapoo Battlefield. Here General Thomas J. Rusk with 200 Texans on October 16, 1838, attacked a band of hostile Indians and allied Mexicans, molestors of frontier settlements, and routed them. #8770
?, Frankston, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08738
Bethel Church and Cemetery. The Rev. James Madison McCarty (1802-1869) is the first Primitive Baptist minister known to have served in this area. In 1853 Bethel Primitive Baptist Church of Christ was established as a member of the Union Association organized by Daniel Parker. Church services were held one weekend a month. Members of the congregation participated in holy services of communion and foot washings during conference meetings. Singing for the services was performed in the non-instrumental sacred harp method. The church was the primary religious and social gathering place for the Sandflat community. The oldest documented burial in the Bethel Cemetery is that of the infant child of Daniel and Elizabeth Willingham Cook, who died on August 7, 1855. Among those buried in both marked and unmarked graves in the cemetery are veterans of the Civil War, World War I and World War II. After the railroad was built through the county in 1900, bypassing this area in favor of Frankston to the north, the Sandflat community began to decline. Worship services at Bethel Church ceased in the 1940s. The cemetery remains as a reflection of the area's heritage. (1994) #8738
?, Frankston, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08755
Frankston City Park. In 1900 the Texas & New Orleans Railroad built a line through this area and plotted a townsite here on land owned by Frankie Miller. The town was named for "Miss Frankie" who donated this site, known as the Town Square, for a city park. By 1908 a city park existed here, and a post office and many of the town's earliest businesses had opened around the park square. A gazebo, built about 1920, replaced a small bandstand and became the site of various local festivities and social events. The park square continues to serve as the town's social and business center. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995 #8755
?, Frankston, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08756
Frankston Railroad Depot. In 1900 the Texas & New Orleans Railroad, now part of the Southern Pacific line, platted the town of Frankston. The station was first called Frankport and the post office Ayres. Both were renamed Frankston in 1902 for Miss Frankie Miller, who gave land for a city park. In 1906 this frame depot was built. The railroad connected local farmers with distant markets and provided passenger service from 1903 to 1964. The depot was restored in 1976 as a museum. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1977 #8756
?, Frankston, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08758
Freeman Farm. William Franklin Freeman (1827 - 1892) and Elizabeth Ann Davis (1829 - 1856) were married in Alabama in 1846. After the birth of their first child in 1849 they came to Texas and settled two miles south of Kickapoo in Anderson County. They purchased land for a farm and in the 1850s built a homestead using hand-hewn lumber and bricks made at the site. The Freemans were successful farmers and owned more than 3,000 acres of land. The plantation was self-sustaining and was operated by the Freemans and the slaves they acquired. Tasks were completed in additional buildings located here including a blacksmith shop, an icehouse, cotton gin, syrup mill, smokehouse, and chicken house. They produced their own clothing and shoes using a spinning wheel, shoe forms and a cobbler's bench. Much of the furniture was produced locally including wardrobes, tables, chairs, pie safes and desks. The plantation served the Kickapoo area as a local post office. W. F. Freeman functioned as county commissioner in 1876, and as president of Kickapoo College in the 1880s. After his death, his second wife Bethena Oldham (1841 - 1904) managed the farm for many years. Their family continues to be active in civic affairs. (1993) #8758
?, Frankston, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #07159
John and Laura Miller House. John and Laura Miller built this simple center passage house on this 500-acre site prior to 1870. They had come to Texas from Alabama several years earlier with John's parents, Samuel and Martha Miller, who established a 7,000-acre plantation in the area. John died in 1872, and Laura continued to live in the home until 1900. The Miller family grew in prominence in the area. Laura's niece, Frankie Miller, gave a portion of the land surrounding Samuel and Martha Miller's original plantation house for a new town site when the railroad was built in 1900. The new town was named Frankston in her honor. Laura Miller moved to Athens to live with her daughter, Sallie Jack Murchison, in 1900. She leased her house to Homer Garrison, Sr., and his wife Mattie Milam Garrison. Their oldest son, Homer Garrison, Jr., was born in the Miller House in 1901. He joined the Texas Highway Patrol when it was organized in 1930, and became director of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and colonel of the Texas Rangers in 1938. During a distinguished 38-year career with the DPS, Garrison developed major programs including law enforcement training and communications, crime prevention, traffic safety and education. Honored for his outstanding contributions to the state of Texas, Homer Garrison, Jr., was buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin upon his death in 1968. The Miller House displays Greek Revival elements in its symmetrical facade and full-width porch graced by classically inspired box columns. Witness to generations of Anderson County history, the house and many of its original features evolved from the antebellum era to meet the needs of its occupants. (1999) #7159
?, Frankston, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08730
Anderson Campground. Located on a spring near Brushy Creek community, this area was first settled in the 1850s. In 1873 it was set aside for use as a religious campground by members of the local Methodist congregation. The land was purchased from E. S. Jamison of Galveston County for sixty dollars in gold. The tabernacle was built the following year of pine beams, sweet gum piers, and wooden pegs. Religious camp meetings were conducted here each summer. During the week-long services, residents of the surrounding area, representing several faiths, lived in tents on the grounds. The spring provided water for the campers and for baptisms. Although the meetings were primarily times of religious revival, they also allowed distant neighbors a chance to visit and exchange ideas. A sanctuary for the Brushy Creek Methodist Church, built here in the 1870s, was replaced by the present building in 1894. A parsonage for use by the circuit preachers burned in 1916. As rural life became more modernized, camp meetings declined in popularity. The last ones here were held in the 1930s. Still used for religious meetings, Anderson Campground is the site of an annual September homecoming. (1981) #8730
?, Frankston, TX, United States