I was exploring NE Cherokee County and I found on the county map two historic Markers to visit. North of New Summerfield on State Hwy 110 I turned East on county road 4713. I did not know that the intersection is the center of the of Blackjack. (The current Blackjack Baptist Church is by that intersection.) The name Blackjack came from the many Blackjack Oak trees there; and the early settlers cut those oak trees to build their log cabins.
Maybe a quarter mile on CR 4713 I turned South on Cherokee County Road 4714 (a rough road) to the dead end at the Fitch Cemetery (serving the Most of the burial stones were from the Fitch family including some current stones. Now a smaller stone caught my attention because it had a historic marker for Robert Graves Standler. Robert fought in the US War of 1812 and the Texas Independence in 1836. On my way out I stopped at an old building by the cemetery.
According to Robert Standler founded the Community of Blackjack with his extended family in the 1840s.
In 1875 the Blackjack Baptist Church was established. In 1916 the first general store was open for business. Around 1919 peaked with about 100 people, two stores, a cotton gin, and a school. After World War 2 (1945) the school closed with the students attending classes in Troup, Texas, about 25 miles to the North. In 1961 the last store closed. Now this has less then fifty people.
Characters
Write Comment
