Nigton, Texas
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Nigton is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Trinity County, Texas Trinity County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13,602. Its county seat is Groveton, Texas, Groveton. The county is named for the Trinit ...
, United States. In
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, the population was 87. It is located within the
Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. Its population was 45,941 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville United States micropolitan area, micropolitan area ...
micropolitan area.


History

The town was founded in 1873 by former slaves. Jeff Carter, a civic leader and former slave during the early years of the settlement, suggested the name Nigton. In 1894, a post office was established. By 1896, the community had three churches, a
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
and gin, a wagon maker, a shoemaker, and a reported population of 500. The post office was closed on April 30, 1932. In the 1940s, a church and store remained. It had a population of only 10 residents. In the 1990s, the population began to grow, reporting 34 residents in the
1990 United States census The 1990 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 248,709,873, an increase of 9.8 percent over the 226,545,805 persons enumerated during the 1980 census. Approximatel ...
, many of whom were descendants of the original settlers. By the 2000 United States Census, the population was 87. In the
2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...
, the precinct where Nigton is located was the only precinct in Trinity County where the majority of votes were for Democratic candidate
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
. This makes Nigton a voter island in a predominantly conservative Republican county and region. In 2017, a historical marker was erected for the community. East of Apple Springs, in Trinity County's northeast, African Americans established the freedom colony of Nigton after becoming free. Many continued working as farm laborers, participating in sharecropping or running their own farms or ranches near their previous plantations. African Americans began to acquire more land in the 1880s, and the town started to develop a rich agricultural and civic environment. The well-planned farms, premium
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
, hogs,
poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...
,
produce In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...
, and excellent level of living of Nigton were well known. One of the first alumni of
Wiley College Wiley University (formerly Wiley College) is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the ...
in
Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...
was the progressive politician and landowner Jefferson Calhoun Carter (1855–1936). After he died in 1936, he continued to foster community pride. The Mayo Baptist Church, Pine Grove Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (also known as Ligon Chapel), St. John Union,
Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...
, and several retail establishments and shops were all created by the community. Having been excluded from white festivities, the community organized its own sporting competitions and
Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the End of slavery in the United States, ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's n ...
celebrations, which included
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
, and neighborhood
barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
s.


Geography

Nigton is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 2262 and 2501, 17 miles southwest of Groveton in northeastern Trinity County.


Education

Nigton had its own school in the 1940s. A school named Pine Island School was built on property donated in 1888 as part of the community's commitment to education. In 1927–1928, the neighborhood won a Rosenwald grant for a school and generated more than $5,000 through bonds and donations. With four teachers and a
shop Shop or shopping may refer to: Business and commerce * A casual word for a commercial establishment or for a place of business * Machine shop, a workshop for machining *"In the shop", referring to a car being at an automotive repair shop * Reta ...
space, programs were provided for children in elementary through high school, serving as a county training facility. Professor Wayne Wright Johnson, a renowned educator and researcher, taught there from 1910 to 1950. He died in 1969. He was a
botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
student at Prairie View A&M College when he graduated, and he later became the principal of the Nigton school. He was dedicated to Nigton's education. Today, the community is served by the
Apple Springs Independent School District Apple Springs Independent School District is a public school district based in Apple Springs, Texas ( USA). Finances As of the 2010–11 school year, the appraised valuation of property in the district was $29,249,000. The maintenance tax ra ...
.


Notable person

Larry Gossett, Democratic politician and activist, was born in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
to
sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...
s who moved there from Nigton.


References

Unincorporated communities in Trinity County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas