The History of Garrison, Texas
Garrison sits on U.S. Highway 59 in northeastern Nacogdoches County, about eighteen miles northeast of Nacogdoches, on the rolling Piney Woods country near the Attoyac River. Its history is a classic East Texas railroad-town story — a depot platted on a captain's land, a town that grew on timber and coal, and a small community that quietly made Texas history.
Here's how Garrison came to be.
A Captain and a Railroad
Around 1884, Capt. J. H. (Jim) Garrison bought 387 acres of land on the Attoyac River. The Houston, East and West Texas Railway had reached Nacogdoches and was seeking a right-of-way east toward the Sabine River. On August 29, 1884, Garrison and William Craig conveyed 125 acres to the railroad — eleven of which were reserved for a depot site and right-of-way — and the rest was surveyed, laid off in blocks, streets, and alleys, and offered for sale. The new town around the depot took the captain's name.
The first business to open was Garrison's own office, which furnished wood and crossties for the railroad from Lufkin to the Louisiana line. An A. I. Simpson sawmill, the Greenwood Hotel, a general store, and cotton gins soon followed. The first train rolled into Garrison at berry time in 1886, and the depot town was on its way.
Coal, Clay, and Timber
Garrison grew on the natural wealth of its corner of Nacogdoches County. The early economy drew on mineral springs, coal, fireproof clay, and the surrounding timber. Coal was mined here in two stretches — from 1896 to 1902 and again from 1917 to 1929 — and the woods kept the tie and pulpwood businesses busy for decades.
The population reflected the growth: about 500 people by 1896 and roughly 1,000 by 1915, in the railroad-and-resource boom years. Later, the Acme Brick plant became Garrison's largest employer through the 1980s, drawing on that same legacy of local clay. Through booms and quieter times, timber, ties, and pulpwood remained the steady backbone of the local economy.
An Old Town and a First
Garrison incorporated on May 18, 1890, and lays claim to being the oldest continuously incorporated community in Nacogdoches County — Nacogdoches itself having let its corporation lapse around 1900. For a depot town barely six years old at incorporation, that's a point of local pride.
Garrison's most distinctive moment came in 1937, when Maud Irwin was elected mayor and became the first woman mayor in Texas. Today Garrison is a small town of well under a thousand people, still strung along U.S. 59 between Nacogdoches and Carthage, anchored by its Bulldog schools and the quiet Piney Woods that have always surrounded it.
Timeline
1884
Capt. J. H. (Jim) Garrison buys 387 acres on the Attoyac River and conveys 125 acres to the railroad; the depot town takes his name.
1886
The first train arrives in Garrison 'at berry time'; sawmills, a hotel, a store, and gins follow.
1890
Garrison incorporates on May 18, later claiming to be the oldest incorporated community in Nacogdoches County.
1896–1902
Coal is mined at Garrison; the population reaches about 500 by 1896.
1915
The population peaks around 1,000 in the railroad-and-resource boom years.
1937
Maud Irwin is elected mayor of Garrison, becoming the first woman mayor in Texas.
Notable People
Capt. J. H. (Jim) Garrison
The town's founder and namesake, who bought 387 acres on the Attoyac River around 1884 and conveyed land to the railroad for a depot, around which the town of Garrison grew.
Maud Irwin
Elected mayor of Garrison in 1937, she became the first woman mayor in Texas — the town's most distinctive claim to history.
FAQ: History of Garrison
Garrison is named for Capt. J. H. (Jim) Garrison, who around 1884 bought 387 acres on the Attoyac River and conveyed land to the Houston, East and West Texas Railway for a depot. The town that grew up around that depot took his name.
Garrison began as a railroad depot town in 1884–1886, when the first train arrived 'at berry time' in 1886. It incorporated on May 18, 1890, and claims to be the oldest incorporated community in Nacogdoches County.
Maud Irwin of Garrison became the first woman mayor in Texas when she was elected mayor of the town in 1937 — Garrison's most distinctive historical claim.
Garrison grew on mineral springs, coal, fireproof clay, and timber. Coal was mined from 1896–1902 and 1917–1929, the tie and pulpwood businesses stayed important, and the Acme Brick plant was the town's largest employer through the 1980s.
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