Lufkin, Texas

Pre-Foundation

By 1820 Anglo settlers had started to arrive in the Angelina County. The Burris Family established themselves in the area.^[8] Before Lufkin was officially founded, a band of night riders allegedly lynched Jim Burris, John D. Gann, William Anglin, and another man for opposing the Confederate cause.^[9]

Railroad era 1882-1890

The city was founded in 1882 as a stop on the Houston, East and West Texas Railway; it is named for Abraham P. Lufkin, a cotton merchant and Galveston city councilman. Lufkin was the father-in-law of Paul Bremond, president of the railroad, which developed the town. Lufkin continued to grow because of its proximity to the railroad and its lumber industry. The history of Lufkin can be divided into three main eras, the railroad era, the timber boom, and the golden era of expansion.^[7]

The railroad era lasted between 1882 and 1890. In 1881, the area that is now Lufkin was little more than a small settlement known as Denman Springs. A railroad surveying team began to plan a route through Angelina County, with a possible route through Homer, Texas, which at the time was the county seat. According to legend, the men in the surveying team began to get rowdy in the saloon in Homer, which led to their arrest. They paid their way out the next morning, but this infuriated the chief surveyor. He ordered the team for the rail line to bypass Homer and go by Denman Springs. Conveniently, the new route went through the property of Lafayette Denman and his son, Dr. A. M. Denman, who as the legend goes, had hosted the surveying team a few days earlier. This legend is most likely not true since the prospectus in 1879 already had the railroad planned to bypass Homer and go through the future site of Lufkin.^[7]

The railroad officially arrived in 1882, and the company began to advertise the sale of lots of land in Lufkin. During this time, many of the businesses and professionals from Homer began to relocate to Lufkin to be closer to the railroad. Some of the first stores in Lufkin included S. Abram's general store, Joseph Kerr's grocery and saddle shop, and W. H. Bonner's general store, all located on Cotton Square, which became the center of most economic activity in Lufkin. Behind the depot, which was on the cotton square, cotton was stored before being shipped on the railroad. The town continued to grow, and acquired a post office in 1882 with William A. Abney as postmaster. Soon after in 1883, a telegraph line was strung connecting Lufkin to Nacogdoches by telegraph. On October 15, 1890, the town was officially incorporated. The first mayor of Lufkin was J. M. Smith, who was the owner of Smith Hotel; he was elected on November 15, 1890. Even before the incorporation of Lufkin, the courthouse was sought to have been moved. By a vote in 1885, though, the courthouse remained in Homer. In November 1891, a fire of mysterious origin destroyed the courthouse in Homer. This prompted a petition from the citizens of Lufkin asking for a new election to be held to decide if the courthouse should be relocated to Lufkin. The election was held on January 2, 1892, and the citizens decided to relocate the courthouse to Lufkin.^[7]

1890s, early 1900s, and timber boom

The timber boom lasted between 1890 and 1920. Three main lumbering families are recognized for much of the economic prosperity in Lufkin – the Kurths, the Hendersons, and the Wieners. Joseph H. Kurth Sr., was a German immigrant, who had operated a sawmill in Polk County, Texas. He moved to a small settlement north of Lufkin known as Keltys. In 1887, Kurth obtained a sawmill from Charles L. Kelty. He was soon joined by S. W. Henderson Sr., and Sam Wiener, both of Corrigan, Texas. In 1890, the men started the Angelina County Lumber Company. The company became the forerunner of the lumber industry in East Texas, and led to much of the economic prosperity in Lufkin. At the peak of the three families' activities, nearly a dozen sawmills and several other industries were operating.^[7]

In 1895, Walter Johnson was lynched for alleged rape,^[10] and in 1924, a mob attempted to lynch Booker T. Williams, but he escaped with the help of the local sheriff.^[11] Williams was ultimately executed by the state.^[12] By the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan had established a Klavern in Lufkin. In September 1922, over 1000 klansmen gathered in public in front of 5000 spectators in an initiation ceremony. Large parades for the Klan were held throughout the 1920s.^[13][14]

In May 1932, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker robbed a gas station in Lufkin and stole a car with a child sleeping in the backseat.^[15][16]

Golden era of expansion 1938–1945

The golden era of expansion occurred between 1938 and 1945. In the late 1930s, two of the principal industries in Lufkin, the Southland Paper Mill, later known as Abitibi Bowater Inc. which closed in 2007,^[17] and Texas Foundries opened. These companies provided much of Lufkin's industrial growth. The largest industrial employer was Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company,^[18] later known as Lufkin Industries; it ceased operations in 2018.^[19][7]

From 1943-1945 Lufkin was home to three WWII POW camps^[20] and held up to 300 German prisoners who worked for Southland Paper.^[21]

Cultural expansion and mid-to-late twentieth century

In early Lufkin history, most daily life revolved around churches, schools, and sports activities, but this began to change between 1965 and 1983, when Lufkin began a cultural expansion. Improvements included the Kurth Memorial Library, new museums, a civic center, Angelina College, a new federal building, a country club, municipal and city parks, two shopping malls, and the Lufkin Independent School District.

Before 1970, Lufkin schools were segregated with separate schools for different races.^[22] After a series of court challenges started in 1964 were resolved, in 1970 the LISD was integrated. A federal court order in place from 1970-2000 enforced integration.^[23][24]

Lufkin celebrated its centennial in 1982.^[7]

Recent history

Debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster fell over the Lufkin area on February 1, 2003.^[25]

A Little League Baseball team from Lufkin, locally known as the Thundering 13, won the U.S. Championship at the 2017 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.^[26] There have been many community tributes to the team.

National forests and grasslands

The headquarters of all four United States National Forests and two United States National Grasslands in Texas are located in Lufkin. They are the Angelina, Davy Crockett, Sabine, and Sam Houston National Forests, and the Caddo and Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands.

Climate

Lufkin is a humid subtropical climate that generally has relatively high temperatures with evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. Generally, this climate is seen on the eastern side continents between 20 and 35°N or S latitude. During summer, these regions over low-latitude ocean waters are generally under the influence of hot, maritime overflow from the western side of subtropical anticyclonic cells. These higher temperatures can lead to warm, oppressive nights. Due to an increase in thunderstorms, summers in Lufkin are usually wetter than winters. Additionally, tropical cyclones can increase precipitation during the summer. Cold months are usually mild and frost is uncommon.^[29]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 34,143 people, 13,223 households, and 8,277 families residing in the city; the median age was 37.4 years.^[33]

24.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 88.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 84.9 males age 18 and over.^[33]

98.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.8% lived in rural areas.^[34]

Of those households, 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 39.9% were married-couple households, 18.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.^[33]

There were 14,679 housing units, of which 9.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.6%.^[33]

Crime

In 2018, Lufkin's crime rate was 4,666 crimes per 100,000 persons, which was an overall decrease by 2% from 2017; 134 violent crimes and 1,403 property crimes were reported.^[36]

Festivals

Texas State Forest Festival and Southern Hushpuppy Championships run in September.^[38] The festival brings net profits to the city of US$60,000.^[39]

Points of interest

• Crown Colony Country Club Golf Course, third-rated golf course in Texas by the Dallas Morning News
• Downtown Walking Tour, a tour through historic downtown Lufkin Ellen Trout Park, a public park with a lake and playgrounds
• Ellen Trout Zoo, public zoo owned by the City of Lufkin with more than 500 animals^[40]
• First United Methodist Church
• Lufkin Azalea Trail, 1.9-mile (3.1 km) public nature trail
• Medford Collection of American Western Art, the contemporary art collection at the Lufkin City Hall
• Museum of East Texas, exhibits on regional history and art
• Naranjo Museum of Natural History
• Pine Valley Raceway, ¼-mile drag strip located ten miles southwest of Lufkin.
• Pines Theater, refurbished multiuse facility in downtown, seats 459
• Texas Forestry Museum features exhibits about forestry of the Lufkin and East Texas area.

• 
  Ward R. Burke United States Courthouse
• 
  Texas Forestry Museum
• 
  Replica of a sawmill worker's house at the Texas Forestry Museum
• 
  Pines Theater
• 
  Naranjo Auditorium

Federal government

Lufkin falls under Texas's 17th congressional district,^[42] which is currently represented by Republican Pete Sessions.^[42] The senators who represent Texas are Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, who are both Republicans.^[43]

State government

In the Texas House of Representatives, Lufkin falls under district 57 and is represented by Republican Trent Ashby, who is a resident of Lufkin.^[44] In the Texas Senate Lufkin falls under district 3 and is represented by Republican Robert Nichols.^[45]

Municipal government

According to the city's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Lufkin's various funds had $38.8 million in revenue, $43.7 million in expenditures, $85.7 million in total assets, $5.3 million in total liabilities, and $14.9 million in cash and investments.^[46]

The City of Lufkin has a council-manager form of government. The city is divided into six city council districts, and the mayor is elected by a citywide vote. All elected positions are elected on a nonpartisan ballot, as required by Texas law. The city council's responsibility is to make all legislative and policy decisions, while the responsibility of the city manager is to decide all administrative decisions.^[47]

The mayor is Mark Hicks; the city manager is Kevin Gee.^[48]

Newspaper

• The Lufkin Daily News

Television

• KTRE: KTRE Channel 9 (ABC)
• KYTX: KYTX Channel 19 (CBS)
• KFXK-LP: KFXL Channel 30 (FOX)
• KLNM-LD: Millennium Communications (AmericaOne) Digital 42.1 and 42.2(AMGTV)

Radio

Transportation

Lufkin is served by U.S. Highway 69, U.S. Highway 59, State Highway 94, and State Highway 103.

Lufkin will be served by the extension to Interstate 69, which is planned to run from the Canada–US border at Port Huron, Michigan, to the Texas/Mexico border.^[58]

General aviation service is provided by Angelina County Airport.

The Coach USA bus lines serve Lufkin, carried under the Kerrville Bus Company.

Brazos Transit District (formerly Brazos Valley Transit Authority) provides regularly scheduled public bus service in the Lufkin area.^[59]

The Angelina and Neches River Railroad (A&NR) runs through Lufkin. It has an approximate length of 20 miles (32 km) and connects with the Union Pacific Railroad lines.

Health care

Lufkin is served by two hospitals: CHI St. Luke's Health Memorial (formerly Memorial Health System of East Texas at Lufkin), which includes the Arthur Temple Sr. Regional Cancer Center, and Woodland Heights Medical Center.