Clarksville, Texas: Gateway to Texas

"Take the last train to Clarksville..." Oh wait! Wrong Clarksville.

Our next stop is Clarksville Texas. It was an unscheduled stop. We were sitting in Mount Vernon, Texas when John said, "Hey, how far are we from Clarksville?" As it turns out, not far. We headed straight up US-37 for about 36 miles and there we were.

Clarksville was established in 1833 by James Clark and incorporated by the Texas Congress in 1837. It was often the first stop for most pioneers crossing the Red River, hence the tagline "Gateway to Texas".

Prior to the Civil War, Clarksville was booming as goods came by steamboat up the Red River to a port about 15 miles away and then hauled overland by wagon. It was also an center of education. There was the McKenzie College for men and the Clarksville Female Academy, both teaching higher education.

Clarkesville is the county seat for Red River County, so named for the river that defines it's northern border. There are about 3,200 people here. Red River county was one of the original counties of the Texas Republic.

The first courthouse was built with logs in 1850 followed by a brick courthouse in 1852. This courthouse was built in 1885. In the 1880's, the economy was booming to due cotton and the railroad. The town wanted to build a courthouse to reflect that. Unfortunately, it was too large to fit in the town square. So instead, it was built in a residential area, 3 blocks from the town square.

This is the old Red River County Jail Museum. The building was completed in 1889 as a companion to the courthouse above. They have the same design. The current jail is about 1/2 a block away and doesn't look half as sturdy as this building. The museum isn't open. I think it's a work in progress.

We decided to stop for lunch while we were in Clarksville. National chain options were lacking. There was a Sonic, Dairy Queen and McDonald's. Not even a Subway! We found this little gem on Main Street away from the town square. There was one girl that was waiting tables and one lady in the back cooking. We were one of four parties in the restaurant. As people left, others came in and they had some to-go business as well. So, not bad custom for small town Texas. The food was delicious.

Clarksville needs help. The median income is $23K a year. The town square buildings are mostly empty, which is unfortunate because the buildings look pretty cool. Not to mention the history of the town. There's no documentation of what occupied the buildings in the town square, which is sad as that is part of the history of the town itself.

As per one of the historical markers, there was this little tidbit of history. During the Civil War, there was the Donoho Hotel (on the town square) where the stagecoach stand was. This is where soldiers would catch the stagecoach to go home. You could catch the stagecoach to Marshall on M/W/F at 4 am. From there you could other stages or the train to other places. The stage to Dallas went every other day and took 4 days! to get there.

In the town square they have several historical markers. The one about the stagecoach mentioned above. There's one about the 5 signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence and about members of the Confederate Congress. They seem to be particularly proud of their Confederate history. That yellow building was Slaton Furniture.

More buildings in the town square. The left three windows of the red building was once occupied by the Transcontinental Saloon, owned by H. I Norris.

Can you see it?  Found this photo on the interwebs. Meanwhile, Red River County took a vote to determine if they should remain "wet" (it's okay to sell booze) or dry (booze is bad) and the vote was for dry. Norris packed his bags and headed to Bowie County.

The First National Bank Building. I've looked and looked and I can't find any information about this building or the bank that occupied it.

The First Presbyterian Church. While the congregation formed back in the early 1800's, this structure was built in 1905 replacing the prior structured that was built in 1899 that burned down in 1904.

This is the Courthouse Inn which is a Bed and Breakfast at the edge of the parking lot of the Red River County Courthouse. The house was owned by H.I. Norris (of saloon fame above). When he hightailed it over to Bowie county, he left the house to his "spinster" daughter. That is a horrible term. Anyway, she opened the house as a boarding house. 

This is the Lennox House built in 1897 by Charles Lennox. When his daughter, Martha, died in 1993. she left the house and it's contents to the historical society. I don't think they have tours but it would be cool if they did.

J.D. Tippit was from Clarksville. His name may sound familiar, especially if you're a conspiracy nut. J.D was the Dallas Police Officer that was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald when Tippit stopped him for questioning. He was a hero in World War II and was awarded a Bronze star. He was only 39.

As we drove around, it seemed like the town was very run down and depressed. There's a local grocery store. No national chains. Clarksville has so much potential. They need someone to come in and invest some money to save the town and preserve history.

John's dad owned land out here, which is what prompted the spur of the moment decision to come here. He had fond memories of camping out here with his dad and his brother. Of course they weren't camping in Clarksville proper and he couldn't tell you where their land was located, only that their "neighbor" was the Prince of Lichtenstein.

He remembered coming into town on one trip to get pizza. He thought for sure it was Pizza Hut. On our way out, we drove by and that Pizza Hut is no more. It now houses a Mexican restaurant called El Patron. And so it goes...