Our Towns

Colfax

The place now known as Colfax has undergone several name changes during its history.  In its early days, a log cabin was built about a mile south and a little east of the present site of Colfax.  Although never an organized church, religious services were held in this cabin and the area was known as Cold Water.
In the late 1870s, Elisha Tunnell tore down a building between Van and Garden Valley and hauled the lumber to the present site of Colfax.  He erected a building which was used as both a school and a church.  The community was then called Tunnell’s Chapel.
In 1877, the Methodist and Cumberland Presbyterian Churches jointly owned a tract of land at Tunnell’s Chapel, on which they built a brush arbor to be used as a place for holding church services and camp meetings.  A tabernacle about 60 feet square was erected in 1885 for use as a church and for camp meetings and civil purposes.  On the east, south and west sides, a number of cabins for campers were built.  The community became widely known as the site of mass-attended religious camp meetings and ultimately the religious center of that part of the county.
The cemetery is located on a portion of a five-acre tract of land donated by Mr. A.L. Kellam in 1883.  The first burial in the cemetery was of Elisha Tunnell in 1884.  Two churches and three schools have also been built on this land.
A post office was established on May 18, 1870, with Martin Weaver as postmaster.  The last post office was discontinued on February 15, 1905, and moved to Canton when John Stephen Thorn was postmaster.  At one time the post office also served as the stagecoach station for the Bradfield Stage Line that traveled the Garden Valley-to-Canton road, originating in Marshall and continuing on to Dallas.
Now known as Colfax, named in honor of United States Vice President Schuyler Colfax, the community at one time had several businesses, among them the Thorn cotton gin; a blacksmith shop; harness shop; Will Bailey’s general store; Warren Jackson’s mercantile; George A Reeves’ gin, grist mill and saw mill; and Jack Kellam’s syrup mill.
When the Van oil field opened in 1929 and the new Van school system was completed, the Colfax school began sending some of its students to Van, later consolidating with that school and closing the local school.  Colfax is now a quiet, residential community and many descendants of those early pioneers still live there.  Some still worship in the Methodist and Baptist churches.  However, residents must go to nearby towns to shop.  Each year at the Colfax homecoming held at the Methodist Church, memories are renewed and all are reminded of their proud heritage.

Edgewood

Settlement in the area of present-day Edgewood began in the 1840s along the Dallas to Shreveport road. The Texas and Pacific (T&P) Railway completed a line to the area in 1873.  In 1874, the rail company laid out a switch, siding and section house and named it Stephenson.  One-half mile away, to the west of Stephenson, the town of Edgewood appeared around 1875.
Edgewood was platted, a post office granted and the old Star Route (presently known as State Highway 859) connected Edgewood and Canton.  By 1881, Edgewood had a hotel and blacksmith and was firmly established as a T&P stop.  The new railroad town attracted new settlers from Mississippi and by 1895, the wooden shanties began disappearing and were replaced by brick buildings.  The population had soared to 650.  A town lot was deeded in 1879 to the city by the railroad land company for a church and a schoolhouse.
Edgewood established itself as a cotton trader’s paradise with the population flourishing from 1900-1920, at which time cotton prices fell to just pennies. The Great Depression hit in 1929.  After the depression, tomatoes were the big cash crop, with Edgewood being referred to as the “Tomato Capital of East Texas.”
World War II brought all this to a sudden halt, with families being torn apart due to the war effort.  The economy withered and remained stale until the Northeast Gas Field was discovered in 1960.bbWith the opening of the rich gas field, farmers became ranchers, new homes were built, and a new school soon opened with integration in full swing.
In 1976, during activities commemorating the U.S. Bicentennial, the Edgewood Historical Society was formed.  It acquired a double log cabin and installed the building in a lot in Edgewood as a living history exhibit.  The idea was a success, and became the foundation of the Heritage Park Museum, a focal point of Edgewood and a tourist draw in North East Texas.  Covering three city blocks, the site is home to numerous community celebrations.  This outdoor museum encompasses 20 authentically restored and furnished structures representing rural life in East Texas from the 1800’s to the 1920’s.  The project continues to grow.
The second Saturday in November is the yearly highlight of the Heritage Park Museum.  The Edgewood Heritage Festival brings tourists and history buffs from far and wide, and is the major fundraising effort in the Society’s goal of maintaining this priceless architectural exhibit.  During the rest of the year, the park is open on Thursday through Saturday from 9am until 12pm.  Admission is $5 per person, and tours are available by calling the office at 903-896-1940.
The population of Edgewood as of the 2010 Census was 1,441.

Edom

The Edom post office was established on May 8, 1855, and David O. Roark was appointed postmaster.  During the ensuing years, various postmasters served and post offices were discontinued and then reestablished.  Edom was not only a business center in those early days, but also supported some industrial establishments.  About the year 1856, the Kirby brothers, established a wagon factory.  A boot, shoe and saddle shop was opened, where a superior grade of goods was sold.  The town also included Baptist and Methodist churches, a hotel, masonic Lodge, sawmill, cemetery and a tanyard.  The first person buried in the Edom cemetery was William Featherston in 1857.
Local saloons filled with lumberjacks, freighters and traders as the community became a stopover on the Tyler and Porters Bluff Road.
In 1866, Lester Murphy opened a school.  Some of his distinguished pupils were Little Prairie Flower, the child of Cynthia Ann Parker.  After their rescue, Cynthia Ann and her daughter were temporarily located with Mrs. O’Quinn, a sister of Cynthia Ann, who was living in Edom at that time.
By 1914, the town had a cotton gin and four general stores.  Throughout the years, various schools were established.  In 1938, students from the tenth and eleventh grades in Edom began attending Van schools.  Enrollment fell in Edom to such an extent that, by 1966, the school closed completely and was consolidated with the Van Independent School District.  The Edom school building was renovated and is now used for community functions.
Artisans in pottery, silver jewelry, glassware, macramé, and leather goods who settled in the town in the 1960s began Edom’s annual arts and crafts fair in 1972.  The community was incorporated in 1966 with 300 residents.
Every year, the town hosts “April in Edom” and the October “Edom Festival of the Arts.”  The festivals showcase local artists, from jewelry makers, painters and potters to culinary creations and musicians and dancers.
The Edom Historical Society operates a museum and the local theater group presents plays and dinner theaters in the old school building.  The town has several very popular restaurants and is a big draw for tourists, who visit the unique shops and small boutiques selling one-of-a-kind goods.  The local blueberry farm is also a big attraction.
Edom’s population in 2010 was 375.

Fruitvale

Fruitvale is on U.S. Highway 80 and the Union Pacific Railroad, in the center of the fruit-growing district of the Sabine River valley in northeastern Van Zandt County.
Fruitvale came into being around 1876, after the Texas and Pacific (T&P) Railway installed a siding and switch and named the stop Bolten Station.  By 1885, it was known for its crossties and cordwood cutting supplies.  Each time a post office was granted, Fruitvale’s name was changed in Washington, D.C.  First it was Towles in 1886, then Riley in 1899, and Speed in 1900.  In 1903, the name “Fruitvale” finally settled the matter of what the town would be called.
The turn of the 20th century saw a dramatic increase in the planting of fruit orchards and of fruit and vegetables being shipped via the rails.  The first fruit nursery was operated during the 1870s and 1880s, promoted by Sykes Wheeler, brother of Benjamin Wheeler, for whom the town of Ben Wheeler is named.
Fruitvale was incorporated in July 1965, when it had 150 residents.  Fruitvale continued to grow in the 1960s.  It established its own independent school district on Sept 1, 1964, and by 2000 was listed in a Texas A&M study as in the top 100 schools in the nation.  In 2013, the community’s population was 418; it also has nine businesses and three churches.

Grand Saline

Grand Saline is the third-largest city in Van Zandt County and is located roughly 75 miles east of Dallas and 35 miles northwest of Tyler, the two nearest metropolitan areas.  It is part of the greater Tyler/Longview area.  The town derives its name from the large salt deposits located southeast of the city, and a large salt mine, the second-largest in the world according to some sources, which Morton Salt company owns and mines just south of the city.
Grand Saline’s first settlers were the ancient Caddo Indian tribes, who discovered and made use of a large salt prairie south of the town’s present-day location.  The Native Americans used evaporated salt from the brine stream that flows over the flats as a commodity they traded for other needed goods.  In 1839, the tribes had been forced out of the area.  Only a few short years after the Indians left the salt prairie behind, a new group of settlers arrived.  A settler named John Jordan and others brought their families and set up a primitive salt works.  Just as the Caddo had done before, they used the brine stream they could see to boil and evaporate the water and harvest the salt left behind.  The first community named Jordan’s Saline quickly became the center of Van Zandt County and was, for a while, the county seat.
During the American Civil War, the salt works at Jordan’s Saline were considered indispensable to the Confederate war effort.  The salt produced was used in the process of tanning leather and purifying and preserving food stuffs.  Following the war, the Texas and Pacific Railway was extended from Marshall to Dallas.  A parcel of land was donated to the railroad and a depot was built and the stop was named Grand Saline.  The City of Grand Saline was officially incorporated in 1895 and the community of Jordan’s Saline faded into history as its residents moved north to the bustling new city.
In 1920, Morton Salt acquired all of the salt companies in Grand Saline and by 1931 was producing 500 tons of salt per day.  In the 1930s, Grand Saline had 12 petroleum supply companies and five lumber companies.  In the Depression years, local sewing rooms made garments for the poor.  During World War II, a worker’s strike at Morton Salt led the town to form the Grand Saline Industrial Foundation to attract new businesses to town.  Their efforts produced clothing manufacturers, sulfur processing and meatpacking companies.  Grand Saline was also known for its Lone Star Hotel, which was, for a brief time, the home of Hollywood starlet Louise Fazenda, the wife of Warner Brothers executive Hal Wallis.
Agriculture, farming and ranching have long been a major part of the economic life in Grand Saline as well.  Over the years, Grand Saline has produced crops such as sweet potatoes and other “truck crops.”  A cotton gin built south of town in 1890 marked the beginning of many years of cotton production.  Poultry, livestock, dairy products, lumber an Ice House all played a role in the formation and history of the town.
As of 2010, the Grand Saline population was 3,136.

Martin's Mill

Martin’s Mill today is a thriving community with an award-winning school. Lying in the valley of Cream Level Creek, the community was established before the Civil War, a mile southeast of its present site.
When the post office was established on January 14, 1879 (John C. Burrage as first postmaster), the post office application requested the name of “Free State.”  However, the application shows the name “Martin’s Mill” written above the name “Free State.”  Perhaps this was in appreciation for the services rendered to the community by Rev. John R. Martin who settled on a farm near the community in 1857 and operated a grist mill in the area for many years.  The post office was discontinued on July 31, 1955 and moved to Ben Wheeler.
John Burrage was also the first to operate a general merchandising store at Martin’s Mill.  He and John Bob Wallace owned and operated a store for many years, with Mr. Wallace traveling the dangerous route to Jefferson and Shreveport for supplies.  He not only had to deal with swollen creeks and rivers because of the lack of bridges, but hungry wolves as well.
Churches serving the community included the Holly Springs Methodist Church, founded in 1852, and the Liberty Community Baptist Church, founded in 1870.  The town reported a population of 75 in 1890 and 40 in 1892.  The community’s first school, a log house built in 1875, served as a community center and church as late as 1900.
A.G. Dean founded a school at Martin’s Mill in the early 1900s, which he named Lexie Academy, for his daughter Lexie.  Lexie Dean Robertson was later named Poet Laureate of Texas.  A Texas historical marker honoring her was erected on the school grounds in a place chosen by the students.  In 1905, Martin’s Mill had two schools, one for 35 black students and one for 72 white students.  The local schools were consolidated to form Martin’s Mill Independent School District in 1964.  The school today is thriving, being renowned both academically and in sports.
Besides the Burrage and Wallace store, Martin’s Mill boasted several businesses around the turn of the 20th Century. Byron Burnett and brothers ran a general store, Mack Barber had a family grocery, and there were two gins, one run by a Mr. Harrison who had purchased it from John Martin, and one owned by John C. Burrage.  Later, Brock Brothers established a mill, gin and sawmill and ab Smith had a blacksmith shop and livery stable.  The community was served by two physicians, Dr. T.G. McEachern and Dr. M.L. Cox.
Today, the residents of Martins Mill are hardy people who treasure the memory of those early days, as evidenced by the “Wall of Memories’ pictures in the local Corner Store.  There is a fire station that houses South Central Van Zandt’s volunteer fire department, a Centurylink station, an organic worm- mulch business, and many churches of numerous denominations.  It is unincorporated but growing rapidly.