DANVILLE FARMS — It was named by farmers who arrived from Danville, Kentucky.
When it was established about 1847, Danville became one of the earliest settlements in what later became Gregg County. Also known as New Danville, it thrived during the Civil War with three or four stores, several saloons, a blacksmith shop, sawmill and a hand-fed gin powered by two mules, according to John Whitehead, a member of the Gregg County Historical Commission.
The community continued to prosper until the early 1870s, when the International-Great Northern Railroad bypassed Danville, Whitehead said.
Many of its residents followed the railroad to the new town of Kilgore. The Gum Springs Presbyterian Church moved here in 1875, and the Danville Cemetery is located in its place on Danville Road.
“There is not much left: A few houses and the memories — that’s all,” Whitehead said Saturday.
He, other members of the historical commission and Danville Farms owners Evelyn and Lloyd Bolding sought to memorialize the settlement by successfully seeking a state historical marker at U.S. 259 South past Danville Road.
The Boldings were hosts to a dedication ceremony Saturday that drew more than 50 people, including some descendants of the Danville pioneers, at the Bolding Barn off Danville Road. The ceremony took place inside the building instead of the busy highway where the metal marker was placed this past week.
Danville was not a “compact” community, Whitehead said before the hour-long ceremony. He said pioneer S. Slade Barnett obtained 320 acres from the then-Republic of Texas and started selling off lots.
Whitehead wrote the narrative for Danville that the commission submitted to the Texas Historical Commission. The process started started five years ago, Sarah Albertson, who served as marker chairwoman for the commission, said during the ceremony.
“What you need to do for a marker is you research it and you find the historical significance,” Albertson said.
The state commission approved the text for the marker in 2017, she said, and the next step was finding a sponsor to cover the costs of the marker.
The Boldings gladly obliged. Evelyn Bolding, who bought the farm with her husband 40 years ago, said she took an interest in the history and families in the areas. She fed her interest by reading old documents and studying maps.
“I think I should have been a landman,” she quipped.
The marker is in the “perfect location” to perpetuate the memory of Danville, Bolding said.
It became the 112th State Historical Marker in Gregg County, said Gem Meacham, a member of the county historical commission and master of ceremonies at the event.
Meacham introduced Albertson, Bolding, Whitehead, historical commission Chairman Johnny King, Kilgore Mayor Ronnie Spradlin and Gregg County Pct. 3 Commissioner Gary Boyd. Spradlin introduced a city resolution and Boyd unveiled a photo of the marker.
Event organizers also introduced some descendants who attended, including Ken Norris of Kilgore, 99-old-old Wilson Dickson of Kilgore and his 94-year-old sister, Louise Dickson Sims, of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Norris, whose great-grandfather James Allen Norris arrived after the Civil War, said, “It is important to remember our ancestors and what they did.”
He said the ceremony was “great” and “very enlightening.”
Dickson Sims said her ancestors arrived from North Carolina in 1890 and she grew up two miles away.
She said her husband, Jim Sims, is buried in the cemetery and she wants to be buried there as well.
