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 Eutaw Posted by:  Raven
N 31° 18.125 W 096° 36.555
14R E 727543 N 3465548
A marker right off TX Hwy 7, about 1.4 miles East of Kosse (Limestone County), denoting the approximate location of the now extinct town of Eutaw -- a victim of the railroads choosing another nearby locale as terminus shortly after the Civil War.
Waymark Code: WMQQGB
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/18/2016
Views: 10
"Eutaw, two miles east of Kosse, was the most important town in southern Limestone County until the coming of the railroads after the Civil War. The town formed in the early 1840s during the Republic of Texas era and was said to have been named in honor of Eutaw, Alabama, birthplace of one of the new community's original settlers. The settlement's first church was the Salem Baptist Church, organized in 1855. Around the same time, L. E. Trevzant opened a local school. The town grew rapidly. By the eve of the Civil War it had four general stores, two churches, a tavern, a blacksmith shop, a stage depot, and a school. Adolph Harris, who later became famous as the owner of the A. Harris and Company department store in Dallas, opened his first store in Eutaw shortly after arriving there in the 1850s. A post office was opened at the community in 1856, and Nathan Gilbert was appointed its first postmaster. Eutaw's decline began shortly after the Civil War. In 1869 the Houston and Texas Central Railway established nearby Kosse as a terminus, and many residents of Eutaw, along with their businesses, moved to the new town. The Eutaw post office was closed in 1870, but the town itself continued to serve as the center for surrounding farms until after World War II. The Eutaw school survived until 1949, when it was annexed by the Kosse Independent School District. The Salem Baptist Church had disbanded by the early 1980s, and in 1988 only the church building marked the site of the town. The old cemetery was nearby. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Maggie Abercrombie, "Historical Sketch of Limestone County, Texas," American Sketch Book 6 (1878). Hampton Steele, A History of Limestone County, 1833–1860 (Mexia, Texas: Mexia News, n.d.). Ray A. Walter, A History of Limestone County (Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1959)." --- Source: the Texas State Historical Association's " Handbook of Texas Online" website.
Marker Number: 1509
Marker Text:
(Site of extinct town is .3 mile North)
Settled in 1840s. On Franklin-Springfield, Waco-Marlin stage routes. Post office 1856 with Nathan Gilbert postmaster. Eutaw Lodge No. 233, A.F. & A.M., was chartered 1859. Among early settlers were Henry Fox, Allen McDaniel, Charles C., Frank, and Wesley McKinley, and T. A. Polk. Town had churches, school, stores, blacksmith shop, wagon yard. The "Eutaw Blues" (Co. K., 12th Tex. Cav., C.S.A.) fought in Civil War, 1860s. Officers: Capt. A. F. Moss, 1st Lt.; A. H. McDaniel, 2nd Lt.; J. P. Brown.
Bypassed in 1870 by Houston & Texas Central Railroad, town died. Salem Baptist Church marks site.
(1973)
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