Site of Truitt Community

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, out here in Shelby County, the land has a way of swallowing up whole communities, leaving nothing behind but a church, a cemetery, and a story worth telling. This is one of those stories.

It starts with a man named James Truitt, born in 1795, and it ends, well, you'll see how it ends. James Truitt came to this part of Texas as a pioneer settler, and the community that grew up around him carried his name. It was also called Willow Grove, which tells you something about the country, all shade and stillness and the kind of quiet that makes a man want to stop and put down roots.

And Truitt put down roots, all right. He wasn't just a settler scratching at the dirt. He was a Republic of Texas congressman, a state legislator, and a military company leader in the Regulator-Moderator War, which burned through East Texas from 1839 to 1844.

That was a conflict between two factions that made neighbors into enemies, and James Truitt was right in the middle of it, in a leadership role. The man was not shy about stepping into the fire. Around 1840, he and his eldest son Alfred M.

Truitt opened a store here along an early trade route. Alfred would go on to serve as a veteran of the Mexican War and the American Civil War, so you could say the Truitts had a habit of showing up wherever history was being made. But back to that store.

It sat along the road that pioneers used after crossing through Louisiana, heading west into Texas, and it became a stopping place. Travelers would pull up, rest their animals, restock their supplies, maybe hear a little news. One store, one family, one crossing point, and a community began to form around it.

Churches came. Schools came. Organizations took root.

The Truitt Masonic Lodge No. 149 was chartered in 1854. By 1856, residents were already gathering in homes for worship services, and the Christian Church that was founded in the Truitt community eventually became the First Christian Church of Center. Oral tradition holds that a school opened in Truitt by 1850, though the first written documentation puts the founding of Jim Truitt School in 1884.

James Truitt himself died in 1870, so he saw the community bloom, even if he didn't see what came next. And what came next had steel rails and a whistle. In 1884 and 1885, the Houston, Texas and Central Railway laid its tracks just north of Truitt, through what became the Joaquin community.

Now, when the railroad decides to go somewhere, everything follows. Residents followed. Businesses followed.

Institutions followed. The Masonic Lodge disbanded in 1886. The Truitt school consolidated with the Joaquin schools in 1921.

After 1900, the population went into a steady decline, slow and certain as a river finding a new channel. By the dawn of the twenty-first century, what remained of the Truitt community, that place also called Willow Grove where a congressman and a storekeeper and a father had planted something real, was marked by two things: the Willow Grove Community Church, and the cemetery beside it. A church and the people it couldn't forget.

That's what's left of James Truitt's town. Some places earn their silence.

What the marker says

Also known as Willow Grove, this early Texas community was named for its founder, pioneer settler James Truitt (1795-1870). Truitt was a Republic of Texas congressman, a state legislator and military company leader in the Regulator-Moderator War (1839-1844). He and his eldest son, Alfred M. Truitt, later a veteran of the Mexican War and the American Civil War, opened a store here along an early trade route about 1840. The store became a stopping place for pioneers moving west after crossing through Louisiana. As the population grew in the community that developed around Truitt's store, churches, schools and organizations were established. Truitt Masonic Lodge No. 149 was chartered in 1854. Residents were meeting in homes for worship services by 1856, and the Christian Church that was founded in the Truitt community eventually became the First Christian Church of Center. Oral tradition hods that a school opened in Truitt by 1850, but the first written documentation establishes the founding of Jim Truitt School in 1884. In 1884-85, the Houston, texas and Central Railway laid its tracks just north of Truitt, through what became the Joaquin community. residents, businesses and institutions began moving to the new railroad town, and the population of Truitt went into a stead decline after 1900. The Masonic Lodge disbanded in 1886, and the Truitt school consolidated with Joaquin schools in 1921. At the dawn of the 21st century, the Willow Grove Community Church and cemetery marked the site of the Truitt community. (2002)