Camp County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're rolling through Camp County now, and that name on every road sign, every courthouse document, every deed and deed of trust, it belongs to one man. John Lafayette Camp.

Born 1828, died 1891. Soldier. Lawyer.

Statesman. The kind of resume that makes a county want to carry your name forward. The marker says Camp County was formed from Upshur County, carved out and given its own identity on April 6, 1874.

Less than three months later, June 20, 1874, it was organized and ready for business. Now, John Lafayette Camp had already been busy by then. He'd stood in the Constitutional Convention of 1866.

He was serving as a state senator in 1874, the very year this county drew its lines and said, here we are. The county seat is Pittsburg, and it has been since the beginning. So next time you pass a sign with that name, Camp County, just know it's carrying a soldier, a lawyer, a statesman, and a man who was present at some of the most consequential moments Texas had to offer.

That's a lot of weight for two words. But out here, names earn their keep.

What the marker says

Formed from Upshur County. Created April 6, 1874; organized June 20, 1874. Named in honor of John Lafayette Camp (1828-1891), soldier, lawyer, statesman, member of the Constitutional Convention, 1866; state senator in 1874. Pittsburg, the county seat.