Zavala was a town in

Jasper County Jasper County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. All are named in honor of Sergeant William Jasper, a hero of the Revolutionary War. Five counties share a boundary with a Newton County, named for John Newton John ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

(United States) founded in 1834. Named for empresario

Lorenzo de Zavala Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Sanchez (October 3, 1788 - November 15, 1836), known simply as Lorenzo de Zavala, was a Mexican and later Tejano physician, politician, diplomat and author. Born in Yucatán under Spanish rule, he was clo ...

, the town was founded on land owned by Thomas Huling and situated along the

Angelina River The Angelina River is formed by the junction of Barnhardt and Shawnee creeks northwest of Laneville in southwest central Rusk County, Texas. The river flows southeast for and forms the boundaries between Cherokee and Nacogdoches, Angelina and ...

. The approximately 40 families who lived in the town survived by farming or logging. The town last appeared on a list of communities in the county in 1878 and has since been abandoned. It is not to be confused with the city of Zavalla, which lies only 20 miles to the northwest, in

Angelina County Angelina County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in East Texas and its county seat is Lufkin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,395. The Lufkin, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Angelina Cou ...

History

In 1829 the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

government granted empresario

land in eastern

. The land grant covered an area that is now Jasper County. Thomas Huling purchased some of this land, and in 1834 founded the town of Zavala, named for the empresario, and also known as Muster Point. The town was incorporated on December 24, 1838, by the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

, and a post office was erected in 1839. In the 1840s, a fire destroyed much of the town, including the courthouse, many homes, and most of the town records. In 1847, Huling sold much of the town, as well as of land in Jasper County, to Englishman Jerich Durkee in exchange for $1000 and 5000 "tin boxes of Green Mountain Vegetable Ointment." Although the post office was discontinued in 1856, the town remained on a list of Jasper County communities as late as 1878. It has since been abandoned. All that remains of the town is a cemetery which includes a granite marker commemorating the town's previous existence.

Geography

The town was located in Jasper County, Texas, approximately northwest of

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

and north of Beaumont, and west of the Sabine River, which marks the border between Texas and Louisiana.Truett (1996), p. 76. Positioned "on a rise near the east bank of the

Angelina river The Angelina River is formed by the junction of Barnhardt and Shawnee creeks northwest of Laneville in southwest central Rusk County, Texas. The river flows southeast for and forms the boundaries between Cherokee and Nacogdoches, Angelina and ...

", Zavala lay along the Beef Trail, which ran from Texas into

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The landscape was very wooded, featuring loblolly pines,

shortleaf pine ''Pinus echinata'', the shortleaf pine, is a species of pine native to the southeastern United States. Description The tree is variable in form, sometimes straight, sometimes crooked, with an irregular crown. The tree reaches heights of with a ...

s, and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

trees.Truett (1996), p. 189.

Demographics

At its peak, approximately 30–40 families lived in Zavala. Although Durkee promised to settle immigrants in the area, he was unable to attract enough families to enable the community to survive.

Economy

Many of the town's residents were farmers. Others worked in logging. Trees would be cut and floated down the Angelina River to the

Neches River The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, ...

, with Beaumont as their final destination.Truett (1996), p. 80. At one point in the town's history, a railroad line either went through or came very near the town.Truett (1996), p. 83.

Footnotes

References

* {{Jasper County, Texas Ghost towns in East Texas Geography of Jasper County, Texas