Crockett

Crockett, the county seat and largest community in Houston County, is at the junction of U.S. Highway 287 and State highways 7, 19, and 21 in the central part of the county. When Houston County was established in 1837, Andrew Edwards Gossett, an early settler from Tennessee, donated land for the county seat. Gossett and his father, Elijah Gossett, named the settlement for David Crockett, a former neighbor in Tennessee. Crockett is said to have camped near the townsite in January 1836 on his way to San Antonio. County officials chose the site because of its proximity to the Old San Antonio Road. The town was incorporated on December 29, 1837, and a post office opened there on March 31, 1838. During the early years mail was delivered twice a month, and a stagecoach ran at intervals from Nacogdoches. In 1839 raids by the Alabama-Coushatta and Cherokee Indians forced the town's residents to take shelter in the fortified log courthouse. Several early schools operated in the vicinity of Crockett, among them Crockett Academy, built a half mile east of the courthouse about 1855. Several early newspapers were published in the town, including the Crockett Printer, begun in 1853 by Oscar Dalton, and the Crockett Argus, first published in 1857.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.