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Why Stop: A Guide to
Texas Historical Roadside Markers by Betty Dooley Awbrey
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Old Town of
Port Caddo (site built in and around Caddo State Park) Ancestral
homes of Texas Caddo Indians, this region gained a distinctive
character in the 19th century. From 1806 to 1845 it lay in an area
disputed by various countries and designated, from 1819, as the
"Neutral Ground". Settlers living here were far from neutral,
however. They became independant and resisted paying taxes levied by
any "outside" authority. Port Caddo, founded 1838 on Caddo Lake,
soon grew to importance, and its rowdy reputation grew too. As ship
crews, gamblers, and indians filled it’s streets. Meanwhile, new
towns and roads sprang up nearby. Continuing upheaval led to the
assassination of the tax collector in 1840 and townsmen joined in
the factual "Regulator-Moderator War" from 1840 to 1844. When Texas
proposed to join the union in 1845. Port Caddoans saw a chance to
end their problems and voted strongly in favor of Statehood. From
1845 to the 1850’s, Port Caddo thrived growing to 500, but then
declined as the Port of Jefferson and the county seat of Marshall
drew away business. With the end of the Great Planations after the
Civil War, falling of the water level in Caddo Lake and coming of
the railroad to nearby Karnack (1900), Port Caddo gradually faded
out of existance. | |
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