DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Townsite of Tarrant, out there in Hopkins County. Now, every county needs a name, and every county seat needs a home. Hopkins County got both in 1846, when it was named for the family of one Eldridge Hopkins.
And it was that same Eldridge Hopkins who stepped up and donated the land for the county seat. Generous man. You'd think that kind of civic devotion would buy a town some good fortune.
Well. Let's talk about that. The town was named for General Edward H.
Tarrant — born 1796, died 1858 — Texas Ranger and veteran of the Mexican War. A name with some weight to it. The Tarrant Post Office opened in March of 1847, and the place was off to what looked like a promising start.
Work began on a two-story frame courthouse in 1851, though a shortage of funds put the brakes on that project for two full years before it was finished. Not exactly an omen, but worth noting. Because here's the thing about Tarrant — when it was good, it was genuinely good.
The town grew into a thriving frontier community. A tannery, a steam mill, a blacksmith shop, a brick kiln, a hotel. After 1851, a Masonic Lodge and a school.
Come the 1850s, a newspaper called the Texas Star was rolling off the press, and a Methodist college had opened its doors. That is not a small town scrapin' by. That is a county seat doin' county-seat things.
But Tarrant had a problem that no tannery or newspaper could solve. The town was encircled by creeks, and when the weather turned bad — which, this being Texas, it did — those creeks made Tarrant genuinely hard to reach. That inconvenience, year after year, was a slow leak in the hull.
Then came 1868, and a man named Captain Thomas M. Tolman. After the Civil War, Federal troops under his command had been stationed at Sulphur Springs to enforce Reconstruction laws.
And in 1868, the Captain made a decision that the people of Tarrant did not appreciate one bit: he transferred the county records to Sulphur Springs, where his troops were. The protests were local and apparently loud. But they didn't move the Captain, and they didn't move those records.
County government stayed in Sulphur Springs until civilian rule was restored in 1870. Now, you might think — alright, 1870, civilian rule returns, records come back, Tarrant bounces back. And for a moment, it did.
But that return was brief. Because in that same year, 1870, the State Legislature stepped in and named Sulphur Springs the permanent county seat. Permanent.
That word does a lot of damage when it lands on a rival town. Tarrant began to decline not long after. The courthouse, the Texas Star, the Methodist college, the hotel, the tannery — all of it, slowly swallowed up by time and circumstance.
What marks the site of Hopkins County's first county seat today is a rural community and an old cemetery. Some towns get to be the permanent answer. Tarrant turned out to be the question that led somewhere else.
What the marker says
Eldridge Hopkins, for whose family Hopkins County was named in 1846, donated this site for the county seat. Named for Gen. Edward H. Tarrant (1796-1858), Texas Ranger and Mexican war veteran, Tarrant Post Office was established in March 1847. A two-story frame courthouse was begun in 1851, but lack of funds delayed completion for two years. Tarrant quickly grew into a thriving frontier town with a tannery, steam mill, blacksmith shop, brick kiln, and hotel. After 1851, it had a Masonic Lodge and school. During the 1850s, a newspaper, the "Texas Star," began publication, and a Methodist college opened. Encircled by creeks, the town was difficult to reach in bad weather. The inconvenience of travel to Tarrant led Capt. Thomas M. Tolman in 1868 to transfer county records to Sulphur Springs, where Federal troops under his command were stationed after the Civil War to enforce Reconstruction laws. Despite local protests, county government remained there until civilian rule was restored in 1870. The return to Tarrant was brief, because the State Legislature in 1870 named Sulphur Springs as permanent county seat. Soon Tarrant began to decline. A rural community and old cemetery now mark the site of the first Hopkins County Seat.