The History of Malakoff, Texas

Settlement in the Malakoff area dates back remarkably early. The first settler was Jane Irvine, a widow from Alabama who immigrated with her family before 1835 — before Texas independence — and built a gristmill on Caney Creek. A small community known as Caney Creek grew up around the mill, the seed of the future town.

This was frontier country in what would become Henderson County, organized in 1846 and named for James Pinckney Henderson, the first governor of Texas. The Caney Creek community grew slowly through the mid-19th century, a typical East Texas farming settlement built around its mill and its land — until a quirk of postal history gave it a far more exotic name.

Around 1854 the community applied for a post office, suggesting the names Mitcham or Purdon. Both had already been used elsewhere in Texas, so postal officials in Washington offered an alternative: Malakoff, after a Russian fortification — the Malakhov Kurgan — that played a pivotal role in the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War, then raging in Europe and much in the news.

It was an unusual choice for a small Texas farm town, but it stuck. The name connected this quiet East Texas community to a famous battle half a world away, giving Malakoff a distinctive identity that has endured ever since.

Malakoff's most famous chapter is an archaeological puzzle that has never been fully solved. In 1929 the first of three apparently carved stone heads was reportedly found deeply buried in a gravel deposit near Malakoff by quarry workers. Two more would follow. The crude facial features carved into the heavy stones sparked debate and wonder.

Some commentators have placed the finds in the Archaic period, perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, noting a vague resemblance to the colossal heads made by the Olmec civilization of Veracruz, Mexico. Their true age and origin remain debated, but the 'Malakoff Heads' — and the so-called Malakoff Man — made the town a name in Texas archaeology. Today Malakoff is a working-class community of around 2,300 near Cedar Creek Lake, with deep ties to farming, the trades, and the area's energy industry — and a history far richer than its size would suggest.