Town of Shepherd

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker for the Town of Shepherd, in San Jacinto County. Pull up a log and listen close. Before there was a Shepherd, there was a riverbank.

Old Drew's Landing sat along the Trinity River, and settlers knew it well. Goods came in by water, and cotton, tobacco, and other products went out the same way, bound for distant markets. Not far off, a little community called Big Creek was putting down roots too.

Two rough-edged pioneer settlements, doing what pioneer settlements do. Then came the railroad men. Investors in the Houston East and West Texas Railroad looked at this stretch of ground and saw something worth platting.

One of those investors was Benjamin A. Shepherd of Houston, born in 1814. In 1875, Shepherd took it upon himself to lay out the townsite right here, and he named it for himself.

The town square went up on the west side of the H. E. and W. T. line, and that railroad pushed on through and was completed beyond this point in 1879.

Also in 1879, on December the twenty-second to be precise, the Shepherd Post Office opened its doors. Jack B. Noble was the first postmaster.

A town was in business. Now every young town needs certain things to hold itself together. A doctor, for one.

Dr. William Herbert Beazley, born in 1837, served as a pioneer physician in those early days. A place to sleep, for another.

Mrs. Jessie Fain ran an early hotel. And someone to teach the children.

Mrs. Jane Langham took on that task, holding the first public school session right inside the Methodist church building. Then there was James Ephraim Tribe.

A native of Canada, Tribe arrived in 1895, and the man did not come to sit still. Carpenter, coffin maker, millwright, wheelwright. If something needed building or fixing or fitting together, Tribe was your man.

He was a Baptist, and in 1896 he built a church edifice for that faith with his own hands. A man of many crafts, and faith to boot. But the name that traveled farthest from these east Texas woods belonged to Robert Scott Lovett, born right here in 1860.

Lovett became president of not one but two storied railroads, the Southern Pacific and the Union Pacific. And when the nation called during World War I, he answered, rendering outstanding civilian service at the national level. A distinguished native son, the marker calls him, and the record bears that out.

Shepherd grew up around the lumbering industry, a center of that trade for its time and place. And today, long after the timber era has passed, Shepherd still stands as an important market town of southeast Texas. From a Trinity River landing to a railroad platting to a carpenter who built his own church, this town put its story together piece by piece.

And it's still standing to tell it.

What the marker says

Originated in vicinity of Old Drew's Landing, a Trinity River port for settlers bringing in goods and shipping cotton, tobacco, and other products to markets. An early nearby community was Big Creek. Into these pioneer settlements came Houston East & West Texas Railroad investors, including Benjamin A. Shepherd (1814-1891) of Houston, who in 1875 platted townsite here, naming it for himself. The town square was on west side of H. E. & W. T., which was completed beyond this point in 1879. The Shepherd Post Office opened Dec. 22, 1879, with Jack B. Noble as postmaster. A pioneer physician was Dr. William Herbert Beazley (1837-1919); Mrs. Jessie Fain operated an early hotel; Mrs. Jane Langham taught first public school session, in Methodist church building. James Ephraim Tribe, a native of Canada, came here in 1895, was a carpenter, coffin maker, millwright, and wheelwright. A Baptist, he built a church edifice for that faith in 1896. Distinguished native son Robert Scott Lovett (1860-1932), became president of Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads and rendered outstanding civilian service to the nation during World War I. Once a center for the lumbering industry, Shepherd remains an important market town of southeast Texas.