Palo Alto College

San Antonio, Texas

SMALL TOWN HISTORY: Groesbeck, Texas

Jo Ann Flowers	Fall 1998
History 1302	Hines

Click on map to see larger view.

One town in Texas that comes out of the railroad age is a little town forty miles east of Waco, Texas, named Groesbeck. The population of Groesbeck is estimated at approximately 4,000. There is history in every aspect of this town: in its name, its architectural structures, and in the historical Fort Parker. Groesbeck is a slow growing town with few jobs.

This city operates under the aldermanic form of government with a Mayor as the Chief Executive Officer and five aldermen elected at large. The city is a general-law municipal corporation. It is organized and existing under the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Texas.

The original spelling was Groesbeeck after J.N. Groesbeeck and his Uncle Abraham both of Dutch descent. The spelling changed in 1905 during Theodore Roosevelt's Administration. The change was due to the need for brevity and an easier spelling. The railroad, however, kept the original for its station name. Abraham Groesbeck was a director for the railroad. He bought 984 acres in Elisha Anglin Survey from H. J. Buddington that were transferred to the Houston and Texas Central Railroad Townsite Company. This company laid out the town and named it in honor of the Groesbeecks. Abraham died in Houston in 1886. J.N. Groesbeeck was born in 1850 on the Lee Ranch just East of San Antonio. He fought in the Confederacy at the age of fourteen and was in the first graduating class of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He became a civil engineer and was a contractor/subcontractor in the building of the Texas Central Railroad. J. N. Groesbeeck died in San Antonio in 1916.

Groesbeeck became the county seat of Limestone County in 1871. The original county seat was Springfield, which died out due to the railroad by-passing the town. Out of Springfield came two towns, Mexia and Groesbeeck, as well as three historical sites, the Confederate Union Grounds, Old Fort Parker and the courthouse.

In the city of Groesbeeck, one will find many old buildings. One of theses buildings is the courthouse/city hall.

This building can be found in the heart of the city next to the Limestone Inn and First United Methodist Church. The beauty of these grounds includes other interesting items found around it, such as the wall of remembrance for the veterans of World War I and II along the right hand side, there is a World War I commemorative capsule that will be opened on December 7, 2041.

Further down on the lawn is a statue dedicated to the ones who died during the World Wars. The courthouse is a designated historical land marker inside the town. Another building is the municipal building. In this building there are too departments, the fire station and the police department.

Here you can see the side showing the police station. To the left side of this building is where the fire trucks are housed. This is the only old building in town that has a dual purpose. There are new buildings that can be found next to some of these old ones, such as the Limestone Inn. The Inn is right next to the courthouse. A room at singles rate is $29 and doubles rate is $32. For additional persons they add three dollars. The rooms are homey inside, making one's stay comforting. It has 110 units, facilities for the disabled, shopping near-by, an outdoor pool, and kitchen facilities, as well as near-by attractions.

One of the near-by attractions is Fort Parker State Park. This park is 1,485 acres of wooded and open parkland that offers natural beauty and varied recreational opportunities. The park has Navasota river and Lake Springfield (750 acres) for guests to swim and fish in. Camping, trailers and nature study can be done as well. The caretakers have a proposal in for a museum and theater for the telling of the story of the fort. The Cherokee and the Comanche Indians of Oklahoma occasionally hold Pow-Wows on the fort grounds.

Nearby is Old Fort Parker that has been rebuilt as close as possible to the original log fort that burned in 1836. John Parker and fellow settlers from Ohio and Illinois erected the fort in 1833 to protect settlers from Indian attacks.

In 1836, the fort fell under attack by Comanche Indians, five settlers were killed and others were captured. One captured was the nine-year-old granddaughter of the founder of the fort, Cynthia Ann Parker. She stayed with the Indians for 29 year and became the mother of the last great Comanche chief, Quanah Parker. The rest of her story can be found at the fort. The inside area of the fort has been built, according to records from the 1800 period.

Not far from the fort is the Old Fort Parker Cemetery. There is a monument in the center of this cemetery that lists the settlers' names and helps with the understanding of this area.

The Old Fort Parker Cemetery has a section that has graves dating back to the time right after the raid on the fort. One of these is the Welch gravestone that dates 1837 to 1877.

Many of the gravestones in this section have deteriorated to the point that caretakers have had to erect markers that say unknown. One old-timer named Grandma Vest, as everyone called her, said that these unknown graves had been marked with crude markers that appeared to be scratched in, instead of chiseled into the stones. Some were also made of wood.

As you can see, this area is rich with history. They do not have any plans of growing, but they are trying to keep the history alive in this town. The main square of town has cobbled roads. The main street has a number of churches on it and the courthouse brings out the grandeur of it all. they have even made the cemetery a place of historical learning. Their replica of the original log fort helps bring 1833 alive in the minds of all that visit this little city called Groesbeck, Texas. Here are maps to help you find this park.

Fort Parker State Park

Bibliography

Chamber of Commerce. Groesbeck: The Friendly City: Gateway to Lake of Limestone. 1933: Pamphlet.Stanton, Martha. City of Gorebeck. October 1988.

Stanton, Martha. How Groesbeck, Texas, Limestone County, Got it's Name. October 1998

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Fort Parker State Recreation Area. 1993: Pamphlet.

Turner, Jerry. How some places in Limestone county were named. Martha Stanton. 1998.

Please send comments to: Robert Hines

Return to Small Town Research Projects Index