Sherman Riot of 1930 - Sherman, TX - Infamous Crime Scenes on Waymarking.com

This is a wonderful example of when human beings lose their sanity and go all-out tribal. The 1930 riot is a shameful incident in Sherman's history, and there are no memorials or signs here to tell the story.

The seeds were sown on May 3, 1930, when George Hughes, an African-American man described by his own acquaintances as "crazy", accosted the wife of the man who employed Hughes as a worker on their farm. He demanded that he be paid wages owed to him, but as the owner wasn't there, Hughes apparently was satisfied with slugging the wife before storming off. He led police on a chase, shooting at them, before surrendering.

Over the next few days, rumors and stories embellished Hughes's crime, and it became "a black man sexually assaulted a white woman" -- and worse -- fueled by an angry mob, which made threats in front of the county jail. For his protection, Hughes was placed in the courthouse's fireproof vault. The Texas Rangers were called in to provide security, and one of them, Frank Hamer, would be in the news in just a few years for leading the posse that caught Bonnie and Clyde. In any event, the mob grew uglier -- Hamer warned that there was no chance they'd be able to hold the trial for Hughes -- and stone-throwing turned into gasoline and matches, leaving the courthouse in a burning pile of rubble. One man was seen with a large knife, cutting fire hoses as a way to resist firefighter efforts to limit the damage. The mob dynamited the vault and dragged Hughes's corpse from it, hanging the body by the light of the moon, and violence against local blacks continued from there, wiping out homes and their business presence in Sherman. The National Guard had since been called in, and they were able to dispel the mob as they threatened homes owned by blacks, with some help from area white citizens who were a little more progressive in their thinking. Ironically, a white undertaker had to deal with Hughes's remains, as the black undertaker's business had been destroyed. Martial law was imposed on May 10, and it lasted for two weeks. Of the mob, one of the leaders was brought to trial and given two years in prison for arson, while the rest went unpunished. As for the old courthouse, it wasn't replaced -- with the current one -- for a few years, thanks to the Great Depression. Even in 2018, some scars remain.

Date of crime: 05/09/1930 Public access allowed: yes Fee required: no Web site: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/20/2018 WalksfarTX visited it