Corsicana

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas. The marker doesn't hold back, and neither will I. Now, it all starts the way so many Texas stories do — with the Legislature drawin' lines on a map.

In 1846, the Texas Legislature created Navarro County, and just about as fast as the ink dried, a committee was appointed to go find a place to plant a county seat. They looked the land over and settled on a hundred-acre tract. That tract became the city of Corsicana.

And the name — here's where it gets layered. The county was named for Jose Antonio Navarro, a Texas patriot. And Corsicana?

That name reaches across the Atlantic. Navarro's parents called Corsica their homeland, and so this little patch of Texas prairie carries that island's memory in its very name. The town's first government was a commission, and their job was as practical as it gets — map the place out and sell the lots.

Get people in. Get things built. One of the earliest settlers to answer that call was Hampton McKinney, and Hampton McKinney did not come to sit still.

He built himself a log cabin that somehow did the work of five buildings at once — home, school, post office, courthouse, and land office, all under the same roof. On top of that, he ran the McKinney Tavern, where early settlers and travelers alike could find a bed and a meal. Around him, a town was takin' shape.

A hardware store. A carpenter shop. A drug store.

A saddle shop. A saloon. A blacksmith shop.

The bones of a real, workin' community. Then 1871 arrives, and with it — the Houston and Central Texas Railroad. The marker calls what followed a period of tremendous growth, and you get the sense that's an understatement delivered with a straight face.

Trains change everything, and they changed Corsicana. The early 1880s brought the first free public schools. And then, late in the nineteenth century, the ground itself weighed in — an oil boom.

Corsicana didn't just participate in commercial oil production; it became a Texas pioneer in it. Pioneer in the use of natural gas for fuel and lighting too. A committee picked a hundred acres.

A man built a cabin that wore five hats. A railroad showed up. And the earth gave up oil.

That's Corsicana — a town that never seemed to get the message that it ought to slow down.

What the marker says

Soon after Navarro County was created by the Texas Legislature in 1846, a committee was appointed to choose a site for the county seat. The committee selected a 100-acre tract of land that came to be the city of Corsicana. The town was named for Corsica, the homeland of the parents of Texas patriot Jose Antonio Navarro, for whom the county was named. Corsicana was first governed by a town commission, whose duty was to map the area and sell lots. Early settler Hampton McKinney built a log cabin for his home, which also was used as a school, post office, courthouse, and land office. He also operated the McKinney Tavern, where many early settlers and travelers boarded. Other early Corsicana businesses included a hardware store, carpenter shop, drug store, saddle shop, saloon, and blacksmith shop. A period of tremendous growth was initiated in 1871 with the coming of the Houston & Central Texas Railroad. The first free public schools were offered during the early 1880s, and the late 19th century saw Corsicana in the midst of an oil boom. The city became a Texas pioneer in commercial oil production and in the use of natural gas for fuel and lighting and continues today as a leader in the area's growth.