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A . F . & A . M . FORREST LODGE NO . 19
One of 25 lodges started during the Republic of Texas , Forrest Lodge No . 19 , Ancient Free and Accepted Masons , was chartered on Jan . 11 , 1844 . It is the eighth oldest lodge in Texas .
Among its early members were Sam Houston and Texas historian Henderson Yoakum . Another outstanding member , William Martin Taylor ( 1817-1871 ), is known as “ The Father of the Texas Work ”. He published a handbook called “ Taylor ’ s Monitor ” which brought uniformity to Texas Masonic ritual .
The upper floor of a store owned by Alexander McDonald , the first worshipful master , served as an early meeting place . A two-story lodge hall on the north side of the square , built in 1850 , was destroyed by fire in 1881 and was replaced by a brick building near the corner of University and 11th Street in 1883 . The present property was acquired in 1896 and the new structure dedicated in 1909 . — The lodge is located at 1030 10th Street .
HUNTSVILLE SPRINGS
Kentucky native Pleasant Gray and his wife Hannah ( Holshouser ) left Tennessee with their two children in 1834 and in 1835 settled here on land granted to them as part of Mexico ’ s colonization effort . At that time natural springs located nearby served as a campsite for the area ’ s Bedias Native American tribe and for immigrants passing through the region . After establishing a trading post near the springs with his brother Ephraim , Pleasant Gray subdivided his land into home and business lots and advertised the property in Alabama , Tennessee , New Orleans , and various steamboat offices . Settlers soon arrived and a town developed which Gray named after Huntsville , Alabama , a former family home . The area ’ s bountiful springs were observed in the Texas chronicles written by British scientist / adventurer William Bollaert in 1843-44 . Huntsville was incorporated in 1845 . For many years townspeople were accustomed to using spring water captured in a trough near the springs . In 1893-1894 the city dug an artesian well within a few feet of the springs to provide water for municipal distribution and an ice factory . Shortly thereafter the watering trough at the spring fell into disuse , and the spring itself was boarded over .
— The marker is located in Founders Park , near the intersection of 10th Street and University Ave .
CAPTAIN JOE BYRD CEMETERY
Located a few blocks from the first prison in Texas , the Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 3,000 inmates who died while incarcerated within the Texas System . The first inmate to be interred here was laid to rest in the 1850s . During the first 100 years of the cemetery ’ s use , inmates were buried among weeds and trees with no record of their death other than the grave marker .
Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery is the only active cemetery in Texas for inmates whose bodies are unclaimed by family . More than 100 people are buried here each year . — The cemetery is located at 380 Bowers Blvd .
Photo by James Hulse of Medina , Texas
28 | WELCOME TO HUNTSVILLE 2024