DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Point Pleasant, over in Gregg County. Now, before Gladewater and Longview ever had a name on a map, before the oil derricks went up and the whole world came rushing in, there was a place called Point Pleasant. And friend, getting there took a little doing.
It started, as so many things in East Texas did, at a river crossing. A man named L. B.
Camp had established a ferry crossing the Sabine River, about two miles to the west of this very spot. Camp was the first postmaster of the area, and in those early days the community went by the name Gilead. A biblical name for a biblical kind of country — piney, wild, and about as far from anywhere as a person could get.
From about 1850 until 1871, that post office held the whole region together. Then in 1852, the name changed to Point Pleasant, and a new postmaster stepped up — J. K.
Armstrong. Armstrong served until his death in 1860. After him came William W.
Walters, who died in 1885, and who ran the stage stop right where the post office sat. Then Claiborn Halbert took his turn, followed by Joshua W. Monk.
And last in line — the final keeper of the flame, so to speak — was Elisha A. Mackey, Point Pleasant's last official postmaster. Twenty-one years, that post office operated.
Twenty-one years of letters and packages and news from the outside world, serving approximately forty-eight families. The Deans, the Hendricks, the Moseleys — both Jarret Dean and James Hendrick, Mason Moseley and Augustus Moseley. A.
H. Abney, A. C.
Williams, Jacob M. Lacy, A. G.
Rogers, A. T. Wright.
Families who built lives out here, who buried their dead in the Moseley Cemetery, and who sent their children down the road to a school that went by the wonderful name of Possom Trot. Now Possom Trot — officially the Point Pleasant School — kept right on going long after the post office closed. Come 1908, it was still operating, with trustees R.
A. Hendrix, E. W.
Clements, and a Mr. Phillips keeping it running. A school with a name like Possom Trot has earned the right to outlast a few things.
But outlasting the railroad? That was a different matter. When the railroad came through in 1873, the new towns of Gladewater and Longview rose up like they'd been waiting their whole lives to happen, and residents began drifting away from Point Pleasant.
A community that had held on through twenty-one years of frontier life couldn't hold on against the pull of the iron rails. And then, in 1931, the East Texas oil boom conjured up Clarksville City right here at the site of the old Point Pleasant community. The land that once held a ferry crossing and a stage stop and a school called Possom Trot got a whole new chapter.
On the back of the marker, there's one more thing — a personal note, quiet and true: a dedication to Minnie Clements Phillips, born 1892, died 1973. Remembered here by her family, in the place her people helped build.
What the marker says
From about 1850 until 1871, a post office, which served the Point Pleasant community, operated near this site. The area was known as Gilead under the first postmaster, L. B. Camp, who earlier had established a ferry crossing the Sabine River (2 mi. W). when the name Point Pleasant was adopted in 1852, J. K.Armstrong (d. 1860) was named postmaster. Other postmasters who served Point Pleasant were William W. Walters (d. 1885), who operated the stage stop where the post office was located, Claiborn Halbert, and Joshua W. Monk. Elisha A. Mackey was Point Pleasant's last official postmaster. During its 21 years of existence the Point Pleasant Post Office served approximately 48 families including those of Jarret Dean, James Hendrick, Mason Moseley, Augustus Moseley, A. H. Abney, A. C. Williams, Jacob M. Lacy, A. G. Rogers, and A. T. Wright. The Point Pleasant School (called Possom Trot and still operating in 1908 with Trustees R. A. Hendrix, E. W. Clements, and Mr. Phillips) and Moseley Cemetery also served these pioneers. When the railroad came through in 1873, the new towns of Gladewater and Longview drew residents away from the Point Pleasant area. Clarksville City, created by the 1931 East Texas oil boom, later developed at the site of the Point Pleasant community. Incise on back: In memory of our mother Minnie Clements Phillips (1892-1973)