Redwater

Duane's take

The marker's the one telling this tale, and I'm just the voice carrying it down the road. Now before there was a Redwater, before there was even a Redwater to argue about naming, there was Mooresville — two miles to the east of where we're standing — settled back in 1840 by the Charles Moores family. Charles Moores himself was born in 1776 and died in 1852, and the community his family helped plant didn't outlast him by much.

By the time the next chapter of this story got going, Mooresville had simply disappeared. That next chapter started in 1875, when a town began to grow up near the Daniels and Spence sawmill. Mill towns attract mill workers, and mill workers — well, the folks of this particular settlement apparently weren't too concerned with Sunday mornings.

And so, with a wink at that reputation, they named the place Ingersoll, after the famous agnostic of that day, Robert Green Ingersoll, born 1833, died 1899. A man known across the country for his doubts, and now a town named in his honor out here in the East Texas pines. But then came the railroad.

A branch of the St. Louis Southwestern — known as the Cotton Belt Railway — arrived in the late 1870s, and with it came a different breed of settler. More upstanding citizens, as the marker puts it.

William Thomas Fagan built two more sawmills in the early 1880s. English-born Earnest Thomas Page, who came into this world in 1860 and lived until 1937, opened a general store that also housed the town's first post office, established in 1881. The town was filling out.

It was growing respectable. And respectable folks, it turns out, had thoughts about the name Ingersoll. The church-going townspeople objected — and they didn't just grumble quietly.

They suggested changing it to Redwater, for the color of spring and well water in the area. That red-tinged water running up from the ground, marking the land itself. A town vote in 1894 made it official.

Redwater it was, and Redwater it has been. The economy ran on farming and lumbering for decades, until 1941, when the Red River Army Ammunition Depot and the Lone Star Ordnance plant were built just north of town. And lumbering itself came roaring back in another form when the International Paper Mill opened in the 1970s, creating new interest in lumbering and tree farming.

But I'll leave you with 1914, because every town worth its name has a moment that tests it. A tornado came through that year and destroyed many businesses here. Redwater rebuilt.

Quickly, the marker says. A town that had already survived disappearing once — as Mooresville had before it — wasn't about to let a tornado write the ending.

What the marker says

The first community in this area was Mooresville (2 mi. E), settled in 1840 by the Charles Moores (1776-1852) family. It had disappeared before this town grew up near the Daniels and Spence sawmill in 1875. Because of mill workers' disregard for religion, the village was first named Ingersoll for the famous agnostic of that day, Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-99). A branch of the St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt) Railway arrived here in the late 1870s, attracting more upstanding citizens. William Thomas Fagan built two more sawmills in the early 1880s. English-born Earnest Thomas Page (1860-1937) opened a general store, which also housed the town's first post office (1881) Church-going townspeople objected to the name Ingersoll and suggested changing it to Redwater, for the color of spring and well water in the area. A town vote in 1894 made Redwater the official name. In 1914 a tornado destroyed many businesses here, but Redwater quickly rebuilt. The economy was based on farming and lumbering until 1941, when the Red River Army Ammunition Depot and Lone Star Ordnance plant were built just north of town. The opening of the International Paper Mill in the 1970s has created new interest in lumbering and tree farming. (1975)