Old Coffeeville, C. S. A.

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Old Coffeeville, out in Upshur County, Texas. Now, there was a time, back in the 1850's, when a bend on Big Cypress Creek was about as lively a spot as you could find in that part of East Texas. Folks called it Coffeeville, and friend, it had everything a town could want.

A ferry crossing right there on the creek. An academy for the young and ambitious. Two dry goods stores, two groceries, a drug store, three doctors, a hotel, a Masonic lodge, and both a Methodist and a Presbyterian church.

Whether your soul needed saving or your wagon needed outfitting, Coffeeville had you covered. That is a town that knew what it was doing. Then the Civil War came along, and here is where the story earns its name.

While other towns up and down the region ran dry, Coffeeville kept right on selling coffee. When other towns had none. None.

You can imagine what that meant to people in those days, the small comfort of a warm cup when everything else was uncertain and hard. The town simply lived up to its name. But Coffeeville was doing more than keeping the coffee pot warm.

It was also host to a Confederate camp of instruction, one of three such camps established in all of Upshur County. That camp came to be in response to a call that went out on June 8, 1861, when Governor Edward Clark asked that camps like this be set up across the state, at the expense of local citizens, not the government, local citizens. And they answered.

Right there on Big Cypress, men were trained in the ways of infantry and cavalry. A ferry point, a thriving town, a cup of coffee nobody else could offer, and soldiers trained for a war that would change everything. That's Coffeeville's place in the story.

What the marker says

Ferry point near this site, on Big Cypress. Important town of 1850's, with an academy, 2 dry goods stores, 2 groceries, drug store, 3 doctors, Methodist and Presbyterian churches, a hotel and Masonic lodge. During Civil War, lived up to its name, selling coffee when other towns had none. Had a Confederate camp of instruction, one of three in Upshur County, established in response to June 8, 1861, call of Governor Edward Clark for such camps to be set up at expense of local citizens. Trained infantry and cavalry.