Details for Cheeseland

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5005006985

Data

Marker Number 6985
Atlas Number 5005006985
Marker Title Cheeseland
Index Entry Cheeseland
Address
City Lufkin vicinity
County Angelina
UTM Zone
UTM Easting
UTM Northing
Subject Codes German immigrants/immigration; ghost towns
Marker Year 1981
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark No
Marker Location 9.2 mi. N of Lufkin on US 69, then W 2.3 mi. on SH 7, then N 3.5 mi. on Old Homer-Alto Road
Private Property No
Marker Condition In Situ
Marker Size 18" x 28"
Marker Text In 1844 Jacob Ferguson Humphrey (d. 1882), a native of Wales, built a log cabin and stockade in this area. The community that grew up near his homesite became known as Cheeseland before the Civil War. The name was chosen because of the special cheese made and sold here by German natives Caroline and Wenzell Hillenkamp. Located on the Old Homer and Alto Road, an early mail route, and the site of a post office, Cheeseland remained an active settlement until the nearby development of wells in the 1880s. A few traces of the pioneer community remain. (1981)