Palestine, Texas Palestine Palestine City Hall Palestine City Hall Location of Palestine, Texas Location of Palestine, Texas Palestine (/ p l sti n/ pal-e-steen) is a town/city in Anderson County, Texas, in the United States.
As of the 2010 census, the town/city population was 18,712. It is the county seat. Palestine was titled for Palestine, Illinois, by Daniel Parker. Palestine is a mostly small town positioned in the Piney Woods equidistant from the primary airport metros/cities of Dallas, Houston and Shreveport and is notable for its natural beauty characterized by a magnificent dogwood floral blooming season, for 23 historical sites on the National Register of Historic Places and is the end of the Texas State Railroad, a steam and diesel barns exhibition operating between Palestine and Rusk.
Palestine was one of the East Texas suburbs that received much of the debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, where seven astronauts were killed. Palestine's NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (renamed after the shuttle crash), has flown 1,700 high-altitude balloons for universities and research agencies.
2.1 Lake Palestine In 1846, the Texas Legislature created Palestine to serve as a seat for the newly established Anderson County.
Palestine, Texas was titled so by Micham Main, who titled the new town with respect to his hometown of Palestine, Illinois. Historical map showing layout of Palestine, Texas in 1885 The Texas State Railroad is a state park that allows visitors to ride trains pulled by diesel and steam locomotives between the park's Victorian-style depots and through the forests of East Texas.
In 1906, the line reached Maydelle, and by 1909, the line was instead of when it reached Palestine.
Regularly-scheduled train service ceased in 1921, the line was leased to various barns companies until 1969, and the Texas Legislature turned the barns into a state park in 1972.
The International Railroad and the Houston and Great Northern Railroad met in Palestine in 1872 and consolidated in 1873 to turn into the International and Great Northern Railroad (IGN).
The IGN assembled a primary depot in 1892 and a undivided passenger coach shop, in 1902, making Palestine an meaningful locomotive and coach location.
Today, the Palestine Car Shop is one of only two car shops on the Union Pacific Railroad that perform heavy modifications and repairs to freight cars.
The Palestine workforce has more than 100 employees. Oil was identified at Boggy Creek, east of Palestine, in 1928 which added to and diversified the town's economy.
Palestine became a center for oil-well servicing and supplies in support of other producing fields found later elsewhere in Anderson County.
Construction of the earth-filled Blackburn Crossing Dam, creating Lake Palestine as a reliable origin of water, was begun in 1960, instead of in 1962.
Palestine is positioned near the center of Anderson County at 31 45 29 N 95 38 19 W (31.757925, -95.638473). Several numbered highways converge on the city, including U.S.
Highways 79, 84, and 287, plus Texas State Highways 19 and 155.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 19.6 square miles (50.7 km2), of which 19.4 square miles (50.2 km2) is territory and 0.19 square miles (0.5 km2), or 1.06%, is veiled by water. Palestine, Texas Lake Palestine is a contaminating lake created by the assembly of the Blackburn Crossing dam on the Neches River in 1962.
The Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority owns and operates Lake Palestine.
The City of Palestine has a water contract for 25 million gallons of water per day, served by a channel dam, 13 miles of pipeline and a water treatment plant which the City operates for water coming into the city. Palestine is at a crossroads of a several arterial highways converging in Palestine: Texas 19.svg State Highway 19 from Huntsville to the South and continues on to Athens and Paris Texas 155.svg State Highway 155 emanating from Palestine northeast to Tyler Texas 127.svg Loop 127 is entirely inside Palestine Texas 256.svg Loop 256 encircles downtown Palestine The Anderson County Courthouse is positioned in Palestine.
It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1988 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 28, 1992.
According to the city's most recent audited Annual Financial Report, the city's general fund had $12.8 million in revenues, $12.7 million in expenditures, $3.6 million in total assets, $0.4 million in total liabilities, and $1.3 million in cash in investments. Palestine is served by the general aviation Palestine Municipal Airport, positioned on the northwest edge of the city.
Palestine was served by Trans-Texas Airlines (later known as Texas International Airlines) amid the 1940s and 1950s using Douglas DC-3 airplane .
The Water Treatment Plant operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, treating and pumping an average of 3 million gallons of water per day between Lake Palestine and town/city residents.
Palestine is represented in the Texas Senate by Republican Robert Nichols, District 3, and in the Texas House of Representatives by Republican Byron Cook, District 8.
Senators from Texas are Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz; Palestine is part of Texas' US Congressional 5th District, presently represented by Republican Jeb Hensarling.
With almost 3,500 students the Palestine Independent School District is the biggest school precinct in Palestine. The precinct comprises: Palestine High School, grades 9-12 Palestine Junior High, grades 7-8 Located on the edge of the town/city is the Westwood Independent School District.
Innovation Academy, charter school of The University of Texas at Tyler, began in 2012 with grades 3-6.
Trinity Valley Community College operates TVCC-Palestine just north of the town/city limits at the intersection of US 287 and State Highway 19.
In addition to offering academic transfer courses the Palestine ground offers vocational-technical programs in vocational nursing, cosmetology, mid-management, computer science, criminal justice, company and office technology, fire science, legal assistant, emergency medical technician and paramedic programs and also trains correctional officers for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The University of Texas at Tyler also operates a ground in the city.
A new $9.6 million 50-acre (200,000 m2) ground opened in 2010, fall semester. The UT Tyler Palestine Campus presently offers courses in Nursing, Business, Education, Health and Kinesiology and History. Palestine is served by the daily Palestine Herald-Press, established in 1849 as the Palestine Advocate, now owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.
The 25,000-square foot Civic Center is owned and directed by the City of Palestine.
The Museum for East Texas Culture, positioned in Reagan Park, is homed in a 1915 schoolhouse.
Exhibits include small-town Palestine historical noteworthy citizens , affairs and locations, an authentic vintage classroom, a log cabin and barns memorabilia.
The Texas State Railroad Society Museum, positioned in the downtown Carnegie Library, displays model trains, small-town history and artifacts and train memorabilia.
The Gus Engeling Wildlife Management Area, positioned 20 miles northwest of Palestine is a 10,000-acre a wildlife research and demonstration region for the Post Oak Savanna Ecoregion, a natural resource observe birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, fishes and vegetation. Palestine welcome sign off U.S.
Elton Bomer, former state representative and former Texas Secretary of State Jackson, state chairman, Louisiana Republican Party, 1929-1934; born in Palestine in 1892 Todd Staples, 11th (current) Texas Commissioner of Agriculture and former member of both homes of the Texas State Legislature The Palestine Visitor Information Center at the entrance to the downtown precinct is positioned in a former barns depot.
"Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Palestine city, Texas".
Original Platmap of the City of Palestine, TX Portal to Texas History A Memorial and Biographical History of Navarro, Henderson, Anderson, Limestone, Freestone and Leon Counties, Texas.
"Palestine, Texas", found in the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities Palestine City Directory, 1898-1899.
Anderson Co., TX - "A HISTORY OF PALESTINE" "Texas State Historical Association".
City of Palestine 2015 Audit Retrieved 2016-09-01 City of Palestine FY2016-17 Budget Retrieved 2016-09-01 "City of Palestine - Palestine Airport".
"City of Palestine - Palestine Utilities".
Palestine The Palestine Herald, Palestine, Texas - Paving the Way "University of Texas at Tyler Palestine Campus" (digital).
"Palestine Chamber of Commerce- Texas Theatre".
"Palestine Dulcimer Festival".
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palestine, Texas.
Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclop dia Britannica article about Palestine, Texas.
City of Palestine official website Palestine, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, Palestine Historic Photos of Palestine Texas hosted by the Portal to Texas History Palestine Independent School District University of Texas at Tyler - Palestine Campus Trinity Valley Community College - Palestine Campus Municipalities and communities of Anderson County, Texas, United States
Categories:
Cities in Anderson County, Texas - Cities in Texas - County seats in Texas - Micropolitan areas of Texas - Palestine, Texas - Populated places established in 1846 - 1846 establishments in Texas
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