Linden, Texas
(Cass COUNTY)

The Cass County Courthouse reflects the county’s history in many ways. First, it was constructed in 1861, and Texas seceded in February, so the courthouse is considered “antebellum.” It is the only functioning antebellum courthouse in Texas, meaning the structure is also the longest–tenured courthouse in the state. There was an interruption in service during the 1930s for repairs made because of a fire, so Bexar County claims its structure as the “oldest continuously operating courthouse in Texas.” Fine, as long as everybody gets a ribbon. But Cass County has been there the longest. 

The courthouse also harkens back to the era of the self-sufficient men, as Cass County Chief Justice Stephen Ames designed the building himself. That design incorporated a classic revival style with prominently featured pillars on the front. The materials were basically all local. A courthouse restoration project completed in 2012 renewed the building to its 1930s condition, but with intentional reveals of the 1861 finishes. We saw one anomaly. The lot on which the courthouse sits is unusually sparse, particularly for a region renowned for its trees. All in all, a lovely bit of history.

Wright Patman Lake is the big drawing card. Cass County shares the Corps of Engineers lake with Morris County to the north. The state park and the Corps of Engineers’ offices are on the Cass County shore to the south. The state park and a variety of local parks have boat ramps. The only full-service marina is Kelly Creek Marina and Campground. Kelly Creek is on the north shore of the lake. 

At nearly 20,000 acres, the lake is big enough for every water activity, but fishing dominates. The Corps of Engineers, the state park, and several private facilities ensure camp and RV sites are available. A complete list is in the Shop Local section. With or without a guide, you should be able to find largemouth and white bass, channel, blue, and flathead catfish, and crappie. Out of the water, there are about five miles of good hiking and biking trails. 

The Atlanta History Museum best tells the county’s story. We do the history and the famous people in the history section. It does not give much away to say that the original slaveholding and Texas Reconstruction portions of history are sobering. Still, a redemption story is available through local celebrity Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to earn pilot’s wings. The museum is open Wednesday-Friday, 1:00 pm–5:00 pm, and Tuesday by appointment. You can make arrangements at (903) 650-2382. The small-town, downtown experience is more fulfilling in Atlanta than in Linden, so spend time wandering after your museum trip or bagging your limit at the lake. O’Farrel Vineyard offers a country winery experience. 

Hughes Springs takes its name from its mineral-rich springs, which rejuvenated the weary. The springs are still there, but today, the rejuvenation comes from the beautiful city park, eye-popping wildflowers in the spring, and a collection of cozy eateries with a vibrant atmosphere. Take a drive over with the top down if you can. 

Linden is the next stop if you are a courthouse hunter. Try to be there during business hours so you can see the inside of this one. The town square is not much more than the museum, with some exceptional murals and a lunch stop. Finally, hunting is also a Cass County activity. If you can find a lease or a guided hunt, dove, duck, hog, and whitetail deer are the targets.

Atlanta has more choices when it comes to food. Luigi’s is the likely date night stop for Italian or pizza. Casual eateries include Jack’s Fine Foods, the Rabbit Patch, and Potato Patch for cafe-style meals. East Texas barbecue hot spots are Texas Bar-Be-Que, Rickey’s Rib Shack BBQ, and Tommy’s. Seafood is more likely to be lake food at Catfish King. Tex-Mex occupies a ton of square footage at Uncle Juan’s, Amigo Juan, La Luna, and Ginger’s Tacos & More. Yang’s China Buffet rounds out the list with Asian flair. For an after-meal treat, save room for something from The Sweet Spot. 

Hughes Springs has an embarrassment of riches in the hospitality department. Don Juan’s Mexican Restaurant is the biggest and offers terrifically fresh Tex-Mex. You can get breakfast all day or high-value country specials at the Wildflower Inn & Restaurant.  Snack Shack has a full menu of well-prepared cafe items.  Swat’s J.B.’s Hot Links specializes in all-beef spiced sausage.  The delicious crust is the thing, and it’s nearly irresistible at Venice Pizza House. Mojo’s Sweet Shop is the palace for a topper or an espresso to avoid the food coma.  And simple pleasures are the best at Granny’s Kitchen (in a simple house like Grandma’s) or The Mill (pizza and burgers at a gas station, but better than you think).  

In Linden, located within a red brick building on Houston Street, Venice Pizza delivers pizza in the Venetian style, complete with fluffy crust. For the I can’t believe I ate that burger, burger and other delicacies, it is Fire and Knives. If you’re craving good Mexican food, another Uncle Juan’s Mexican Restaurant location offers a menu with good options. Fry-Way 59’s calling is seafood and chicken; it has an assortment of great fried dishes.

Queen City has one notable—the Break of Day Breakfast Shop and Lunch Shop. The name sort of says it all. 

We begin with the most surprising. In Hughes Springs, Texas, there is a storefront for Tooters, a very high-end musical instrument repair and resale company. Specialty work you would have difficulty finding in Houston is available in Hughes Springs? Maybe the upset of the week there.  As long as we are in Hughes Springs, let’s stay there. The Street Corner, cleverly hidden in the S &S Auto Supply Store, is for women’s apparel; Daniel Antique Company is for…antiques; and Sandbar Leather and Gifts sells leather and gift items. Glad we could clear that up for you.  

Downtown Atlanta’s boutiques and vintage shops offer the most robust shopping. Cobblestones is the all-in-one boutique where mom, daughter, and grandma will all find something. Luci’s Boutique focuses on clothing for women, girls, and babies, while Terri’s Treasures exclusively covers children’s clothes. Rocking is the go-to for Western wear. Antiques and vintage are plentiful at Rabbit Hole, Camelot Manor, and Cass County Junktion.

If you want knowledge rather than things, you can find Wright Patman fishing guides at Lake Wright Patman Guide Service, Gennings Crappie Guide Service, and Morning Strike Guide Service. Book a private event at  Boggy Creek Outfitters for the thrill of the hunt.

Texas Ten has an idea- why doesn’t someone open a classy, hip boutique hotel in this beautiful part of Texas? The Wildflower Inn in Hughes Springs is your best bet.

This is an area where Cass County excels. The choices around the lake are many:

Atlanta State Park has campgrounds and RV spots.

The Corps of Engineers offers RV spots and camping facilities at Clear Springs Campground, Piney Point Park, and Kelly Creek Landing. 

Private facilities on the lake include Rocky Point Park. 

Outside of the lake, there are the following.

RV Corral

Double H RV Park

RV Parks 

Almost Heaven RV Park

Amazing Acres

Avinger Station 

Hawks Nest RV Park

Just Like Home RV

Lost Lake RV Park 

Love’s RV Hookup

Red Pine Estates RV Park

Linden participates with its neighbors, Hughes Springs and Avinger, in the annual Wildflower Trails of Texas. Held in late August, the town celebrates the event with many activities, including a 5k run, a classic car show, a parade, quilt and art shows, and a garden club.

Each April and October, Atlanta hosts a large “Maker’s Market” that draws crafts, foods, and other vendors from all over the surrounding area.

Indian Hills Country Club is a delightful nine-hole semi-private course with alternate tees for an 18-hole experience. The course is short and not terribly challenging, but scenic. The clubhouse and facilities are first-rate, and some events are open to non-members.

Indian Hills Country Club

801 O’Farrel Dr.

Atlanta, TX 75551

(903) 796-4146

Bowie County next door has a full complement of courses.

Almost all of us would drive east, and a fair majority would drive north to get to nearly the far right, top corner of Texas. If you are traveling to the east by way of I-30, southbound State Highway 8 will land you in Linden after 35 miles pass. From points farther east, US 59 travels south from 1-30 at Texarkana to Atlanta before veering slightly west into Linden. Approaching from the south, you will likely exit I-20 at Marshall, Texas, and take US 59 to Linden, or State Highway 43 to Atlanta. Pulling back to the state as a whole, the drive from the state’s geographic center in Brady should be right at six hours in an east-northeast direction. Windshield time from other Texas cities is here. 

It is challenging to fly with major carriers to Camp County. American serves the regional airport at Texarkana, which is a 45-minute drive to Lindne but closer to Atlanta.  Shreveport’s airport is about an hour away from Linden or Atlanta, but adds flights from Allegiant, Delta, and United to service by American. The closest large airports are Dallas Love Field and DFW International. Both are three hours to the east on a good traffic day in Dallas.  Love handles Alaska Air, Delta, and Southwest, while DFW has every major carrier except Southwest. 

Smaller craft can choose from the Hall Miller Municipal Airport in Atlanta, Boon Lovelace Airport in Linden,  or larger operations in Mt. Pleasant or Marshall, each 40-45 minutes away.

For centuries before the arrival of Europeans to the area now known as Cass County, the Caddo Indians lived here with an amazingly advanced agricultural culture. The French visited in the late 1680s as the first European explorers and remained here through 1719. After suffering European diseases and intrusions from more aggressive Native American nations, bands of Delaware, Kickapoo, and Shawnee replaced the Caddos in the 1820s. The settlements of these later tribes were short-lived, and their homes were abandoned due to Anglo settlements by the mid-1830s.

One of the earliest Anglo settlers was Reece Hughes, who returned to Texas with his brother after being chased out by Indians on an earlier buffalo hunt.  He built a cabin and settled on a parcel of land near three mineral springs in the 1840s; Hughes Springs is named after him.  Cass County was formed from land previously a part of Bowie County in 1846, with the original seat in Jefferson, moved in 1852 to Linden. Jefferson got its revenge when Cass County lost the land that is now Marion County.

With its fertile land and long growing season, those who settled in Cass County were Southern planters used to the antebellum way of life, with a labor force primarily made up of enslaved individuals. Indeed, pre-war, the majority of the county’s population was enslaved.Cotton was the primary cash crop, and residents relied on corn and hogs as their primary foods.  As farming production grew, this area became a supply port and shipping center for produce.  

The name of the county indicates the turmoil of the era. Cass County was named in honor of Michigan Senator Marion Cass, an outspoken advocate for the annexation of Texas. Cass generally had Southern sensibilities despite being from Michigan, but they only went so far. He served as President Buchanan’s Secretary of State but resigned when Buchanan acceded to Southern demands regarding Army posts in the South. The county’s name changed to Davis County in 1861 during the Civil War in honor of President Jefferson Davis of the Confederate States of America.  The post-war Republican-controlled state government changed back to “Cass” in 1871.

Not surprisingly, in the winter of 1860-1861, Cass County voted overwhelmingly in favor of secession. The County saw no actual fighting, but like most of the South, it experienced economic hardships. The more significant economic changes occurred during Reconstruction, with the end of slavery and the loss of the captive labor force. Property values plummeted when slave labor was no longer available to make cotton farming economically viable.

For over sixty years after Reconstruction, however, Cass County kept a primarily agricultural economic base, with cotton as its main cash crop. Sharecropping rather than slavery made the process tenable, if not as profitable as it had once been.

A shift occurred in the 1920s as the area’s other natural advantage–trees– grew to prominence.   The 1930s ushered in a new sector to Cass County and others in Texas.  The exploration of the Rodessa oilfield brought the oil and gas industry to the area, and though Cass County was never a significant producer, oil production continued for a decade.  The Depression brought more changes to farming, and as small farms failed and tenant farmers lost their leases, fewer but larger farms remained.  By the early 1980s, the county’s farmers turned towards livestock production, primarily beef and poultry.

Today, manufacturing continues to expand. Regional employers include Lone Star Steel, Red River Arsenal, and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant. The main plants for these businesses are in surrounding counties, but the mineral resources that drew Reece Hughes to the area in the 1840s are essential to the business.

In summary, the county’s economic life was long intertwined with race; it would be disingenuous to avoid the problems that resulted from those connections and their inherent injustice or to pretend that the problems had vanished. Still, Cass County is full of success stories. 

The earliest was Scott Joplin, born in Cass County in 1868, and America’s most famous ragtime composer. Joplin’s family history is complicated, but the best information puts him in Cass County until he was about ten and in Texarkana after that. Next came Bessie Coleman, who overcame incredible odds to become the first African American woman aviator in the United States. She performed in shows across the United States until a training accident took her life. Another larger-than-life music personality, T-Bone Walker, was born in Cass County in 1910. A blues performer and early innovator on the electric guitar, Walker’s best-known song is Stormy Monday (but Tuesday is just as bad). His larger impact is who he influenced, basically everybody, but particularly, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Steve Miller, the Allman Brothers, and so on.

Given the size of the county, those three by themselves would be astonishing, but they are far from the area’s most famous alumni. Television superstar Ellen Degeneres went to high school in Atlanta, and rock royalty Don Henley grew up in Linden. The fact that Country Western superstar Tracy Lawrence was born in Atlanta seems like a sidenote rather than the headline it should be. Someone needs to start a Cass County Walk of Fame with stars handed out. 

Today, Cass County has a population of 28,454, with an ethnic make-up of 75% Caucasian, non-Hispanic, 16% African American, 6% Hispanic or Latino, and the remaining two or more races.  Median income, poverty level, and post-secondary degrees significantly trail state and national averages. Like almost all East Texas counties (and rural Texas counties in general), politically the area was staunchly conservative Democrat for a century following the Civil War, with a drift towards the GOP in the 1970s and 1980s to what is now deep red.

Primary Sources: 

Texas State Historical Society

Census Bureau

254 Texas Courthouses

Famous People from Cass County

Texas Beyond History

Primary Sources:

OTHER: ATLANTA