Huron

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to give it its full due. Way out in Hill County, the story of Huron starts, as a lot of Texas stories do, with the U.S. Army.

The Army established Fort Graham in this area in 1849, and even though that fort closed just four years later in 1853, the presence of the troops stationed there had already done something lasting. It had prompted the development of settlements throughout this part of Hill County. Plant a seed, walk away, and watch what grows.

By 1860, James Monroe and Martha Louisa Neal, she being born a George, had moved to this immediate area with their family. A community called Elm Mott developed right around their property. Now the Neals were the kind of people a community is lucky to have.

Over the years, the Neal family donated land to local residents on which to build a school, teacher housing, a Methodist church, a tabernacle, and a Woodmen of the World hall. That is not a small list. That is a town taking shape, piece by piece, on the back of one family's generosity.

There was even a spot folks called Community Corner, a turn in the road that served as the settlement's social center. And Elm Mott found itself sitting right in the middle of things, the central stop between Whitney and Blum, two communities established as railroad towns in 1876 and 1881, respectively. Then, in the early 1880s, a widower named Jehu Gist arrived.

He came to Elm Mott with his sisters and his children, and he opened a general store that served the dispersed agricultural community spread out across those rolling Hill County miles. He later applied for a post office, which sounds like a simple enough thing until you hit the catch. He had to find a unique name for the town.

The postal service wasn't going to take just anything. Several suggestions were made and turned back, and then came the one that stuck. Huron.

The name of Gist's youngest son. The postal service approved it, the post office opened in the Gist store, and it operated there from 1897 to 1904. By the early part of the twentieth century, the Huron School was serving about two hundred students, and area residents were supporting three church congregations.

That is a living, breathing community. The school eventually consolidated into Blum and Whitney districts in 1949, and time has done what time does to small settlements everywhere. But Cedar Creek Baptist Church, established in 1888, is still standing.

It remains a spiritual and social center, a gathering place for area residents and for descendants of the early Huron families. The fort is long gone. The post office closed.

The school merged away. But the church holds, and in that holding, so does Huron.

What the marker says

The U.S. Army established Fort Graham in this area in 1849. Although the fort closed in 1853, the presence of the troops stationed there had prompted the development of settlements throughout this part of Hill County. By 1860, James Monroe and Martha Louisa (George) Neal moved to this immediate area with their family, and the Elm Mott community developed around their property. Over the years, the Neal family donated land to local residents on which to build a school, teacher housing, a Methodist church, a tabernacle and a Woodmen of the World hall. The turn in the road known as Community Corner was the settlement's social center, and Elm Mott became the central stop between the communities of Whitney and Blum, established as railroad towns in 1876 and 1881, respectively. In the early 1880s, widower Jehu Gist moved to Elm Mott with his sisters and children and opened a general store that served the dispersed agricultural community. He later applied for a post office, which required that he find a unique name for the town. After several suggestions, the postal service approved the name Huron, the name of Gist's youngest son. The post office operated in the Gist store from 1897 to 1904. In the early part of the 20th century, the Huron School served about 200 students, and area residents supported three church congregations. Huron students consolidated into Blum and Whitney districts in 1949, but Cedar Creek Baptist Church, established in 1888, remains a spiritual and social center, as well as a gathering place for area residents and for descendants of early Huron families. (2006)