The Huntsville Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1867
Posted by: jhuoni
N 30° 43.607 W 095° 32.823
15R E 256113 N 3402094
Yellow Fever was responsible for the death of approximately 150 residents of Huntsville between August 9 and October 18 of 1867.
Waymark Code: WMY11C
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/30/2018
Views: 2
Yellow Fever epidemic of 1867 receives Texas Historical Marker
By Donna Coffen Walker County Historical Commission Nov 2, 2016
The Texas Historical Commission has recognized the Huntsville yellow fever epidemic of 1867 as a significant part of Walker County and Texas history by awarding it an official Texas historical marker.
Funds for the marker were obtained through a hotel occupancy tax grant. The Walker County Historical Commission prepared the research and application for the marker and will share that information with the public at a marker dedication on Saturday at Oakwood Cemetery.
Oakwood Cemetery is the home to many grave markers from the year 1867 when yellow fever, one of the most dreaded diseases of the time, struck people all across the county. An earlier epidemic occurred in 1853 due to mosquitoes carrying the disease from the Trinity River bottomlands northeast of Huntsville near Cincinnati.
In 1867, a stagecoach passenger who arrived sick from a coastal city, was said to have started the epidemic in Huntsville. Soon after his death on Aug. 9, the disease spread through Huntsville claiming many lives, including those of physicians and caregivers.
The historical marker dedication ceremony will be conducted at Oakwood Cemetery, located in Huntsville at Ninth Street and Avenue I, near the Sam Houston Gravesite, on Saturday at 10 a.m. An outdoor reception at Gillaspie Park, located across the street from Sam Houston’s grave, will follow. The rain site is at the County Museum at Gibbs-Powell House, located at 1228 Eleventh Street at Avenue M.
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