Navarro County, Texas

Navarro County, located in north central Texas, is surrounded by Henderson County on the northeast, Freestone County on the southeast, Limestone County on the south, Hill County on the southwest, Ellis County on the northwest and the Trinity River. Corsicana, the county seat, is located forty-five miles southeast of Dallas on Interstate Highway 45.

Cities, Towns & Communities

Angus | Barry | Blooming Grove | Chatfield | Corsicana – county seat | Dawson | Emhouse | Eureka | Frost | Goodlow | Kerens | Mildred | Mustang | Navarro | Oak Valley | Powell | pelham | Purdon | Pursley | Retreat | Rice | Richland

History

Navarro County 1858. The Pacific railroad line runs through the centre of this county. Its organization is of recent date, but it has already become quite populous. This is a prairie country, with timber on the streams : soil is excellent for all the grains, and more especially for wheat. It is said that three times as much wheat is sown this year (1857) as last. Corn is worth seventy-five cents per bushel ; the wants of recent emigrants keeping up the price much above the cost of production. Pork usually sells for about four cents per pound. The expense of getting goods from Houston is 121 cents per pound.

Navarro County was created on April 25, 1846; the new county included all the portion of Robertson County within the east bank of the Brazos River to the northwest corner of Limestone County. It also extended to the Trinity River and north to Dallas County. It was named Navarro County in honor of José Antonio Navarro, a Texas patriot. The county seat remained at Howe’s home until his death in 1847. On February 8, 1848, a committee voted to set up a permanent county seat at the halfway point between Porter’s Bluff and Dresden. Rev. Hampton McKinney was already living at the site and later constructed the McKinney Inn at the location. On February 25, 1848, Thomas Smith donated 100 acres of land at the McKinney site, and C. C. Taylor was employed to construct a town plot. José Antonio Navarro chose the name Corsicana in honor of the Isle of Corsica, his father’s birthplace.Over the next twenty years the original Navarro County was divided into the following counties: Limestone in 1846, Ellis in 1847, Tarrant in 1847, part of McLennan in 1850, Hill in 1853, Johnson in 1854, Parker in 1855, Palo Pinto in 1856, and Hood in 1866.

County Histories

History of Navarro County, 1933, by Annie Carpenter Love.

Navarro County History, 5 vols., 1975-84, complied by Wyvonne Putman.

History and Photographs of Corsicana and Navarro County, 1959 (rev. ed., Navarro County History and Photographs, Corsicana, 1962) by Alva Taylor.

A Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon Counties, Texas, 1883. Digital book on line from The Portal to Texas History.

Location

Corsicana, TX 32° 5′ 43.548″ N, 96° 28′ 7.9428″ W

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