DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll spin it out just the way it reads. Now, if you're rollin' through Livingston, you're sitting in the seat of Polk County — and that seat has been right here since 1846. Founded that year, incorporated in 1902, and it got its name courtesy of one Moses L.
Choate, who didn't just put his name on a petition — he donated the hundred-acre townsite itself. That's a man who put his land where his mouth was. In those early years, Livingston grew into something vital.
Vital — that's the word the marker uses, and it earns it. It became the trade, educational, and social center for the people working the sawmills and the boat landings along the Trinity River. You want to buy something, learn something, or just be around other human beings after a long week at a sawmill — Livingston was the place.
And speaking of being around people — early in the 1850s, the Old Andress Inn was the spot. Dancing, company, the good kind of noise. And among the guests on that dance floor?
General Sam Houston himself. Just let that sit for a moment. Sam Houston, dancing at the Old Andress Inn, right here in Livingston.
Now the marker points out something else worth your attention. Near Livingston is the only Indian reservation in the entire state of Texas — home to the Alabama-Coushatta tribe. The only one.
In all of Texas. The economy here has run on ranching and timber — agricultural through and through. But starting in 1930, major oil and gas development joined the story.
The land beneath all those pines started giving up something extra. And those pines — they matter enough that Livingston carries a title: Pine Forest Capital of Texas. Moses L.
Choate gave a hundred acres to start something. Turns out that something became the capital of the pines.
What the marker says
Seat of Polk County, founded in 1846; incorporated 1902. Named by Moses L. Choate, donor of its 100-acre townsite. It became vital trade, educational and social center for people of sawmills and boat landings on the Trinity River. General Sam Houston was among guests dancing at Old Andress Inn in the early 1850s. The only Indian reservation in Texas, for the Alabama-Coushatta tribe, is located near here. The economy is agricultural, based chiefly on ranching and timber. Since 1930 there has been major oil and gas development. Pine forest capital of Texas.