Tennessee Colony 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 Anderson County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had a population of 300 in 2000. It is located within the

Palestine, Texas Palestine ( ) is a city in and the County seat, seat of Anderson County, Texas, Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named after Palestine, Illinois, by preacher Daniel Parker (Baptist), Daniel Parker, who had migrated from that ...

micropolitan area.

History

Tennessee Colony was established in 1847 by settlers from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, who named their settlement for one of their home states. The first settlers who settled in the community had the last names Shelton, Avant, Hank, and Seagler. The community's fertile soil and moist climate made it feasible to grow

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

, and several plantations were established, including the Jackson Plantation, which, at one time, was one of the largest

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

. They were extremely successful. A post office was established at Tennessee Colony in 1852. Before the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, as well as after, the community fell victim to racial tensions. Two white men from

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

named Cable and Wyrick were accused of plotting a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

uprising in 1860, suspected of encouraging slaves to kill most of the community's white residents by poisoning the water supply in the settlement. They were tried and hanged soon after. The nearby city of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

had the community's first railroad built there. As of 1884, Tennessee Colony boasted a population of 200 and three churches, a steam-powered

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

, and a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

. As the community's businesses moved to the nearby city of

, the community's population plummeted over the next few decades. There were a few grocers and

s in the area, and it eventually received a telephone connection. It functioned as a small cultural port in the 20th century. The population declined to just 100 people by 1914, rose again to 300 in 1927, but again declined during the 1930s. In 1941 there were 150 people in Tennessee Colony. A total of 21,000 acres of land was purchased just southwest of the settlement by the

Texas Department of Corrections The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...

in 1965, and the first medium-security

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

facility named the

Coffield Unit The H. H. Coffield Unit (CO) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas. The prison, near Tennessee Colony, is along Farm to Market Road 2054. The unit, on a plot of land, is co-located ...

was built in the community and held approximately 2,000 prisoners. It reached its population zenith of 400 by that year. Then the

Beto Unit The George Beto Unit (B) is a men's maximum security prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice located in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas, US. The unit is located along Farm to Market Road 3328, south of Tennessee Colony. The ...

, the community's second prison, was finished in 1984. There were factories built for fabricating metal, as well as building concrete blocks and highway signs, in these prison facilities. It also had thriving

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

and

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

operations. It had a steady population of 120 from the 1970s to 1990. It had a population of 300 in 2000. It currently has two historical markers, with one honoring the community, and the other commemorating the community's cemetery. It was reported that the community's first businesses included a general store, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop, and a cabinet shop. Cotton was shipped on a ferry on the Trinity River. The community traded goods to cities as far as

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Circuit riders held church services in their homes before the first log church was built, presumably in 1838. Another was built later on. A

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 ...

was established in 1857. Another building that was used as a church, a school, and lodge was completed in 1860 and closed in 1948. Most of the community's current residents are descendants of the original settlers. Although Tennessee Colony is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 75861. On November 15, 2015, a deadly

mass shooting A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

took place at a campsite between Tennessee Colony and Palestine, where six people were killed by an intoxicated neighbor upset about losing his family's land. The shooter, William Hudson, was charged with capital murder and was sentenced to death by a Brazos County court on November 15, 2017. The

Los Mexicles Los Mexicles is a Mexican street gang based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. It is allied to the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose t ...

street gang was founded in the community.

Geography

Tennessee Colony stands along

Farm to Market Road 321 A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

, northwest of

, in the northwestern part of Anderson County.

Education

A log school opened in Tennessee Colony in 1851, and the name of the teacher was Mr. Grant Kersky. A man named Seymour tried to open a school for

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

children when he arrived in the community in 1869, but the white settlers ardently opposed this and forced him to leave. It had a school in 1884. Today the community is served by the Cayuga Independent School District. Schools in the community were classified as "outstanding" and were also taught by a teacher surnamed Hooker as well as Professor Sydney Newsome. They were supported by schools from Palestine and other nearby communities. The founders of

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

were alumni of the school.

Government and infrastructure

Three major

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...

correctional facilities, the George Beto Unit, the

, and the Mark W. Michael Unit, are located near Tennessee Colony and use the community's name in their mailing addresses. They are all co-located with the Louis C. Powledge Unit and the Gurney Unit, which use

mailing addresses.

Notable person

Mel Hall Melvin Hall Jr. (born September 16, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1981 to 1992 with the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees, and in 1996 with the San Fra ...

, former baseball player serving a 45-year prison sentence at the

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Anderson County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas 1847 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1847