Kingtown, Texas, (Nacogdoches County) USA

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According to TSHA (Texas State Historical Association) Kingtown was named for land developer Alton King who purchased fifty acres on (the North side) the Angelina River in 1943. A residential community was established when King opened a camping area in 1943. In the 1950s he was selling lots for homes. When they damned up the Angelina River creating the Sam Rayburn Reservoir (around 1960) that attracted many new residents and increased the property values.

I was driving down Texas FM 226 Southbound and saw a sign for Kingtown. I turned West on Nacogdoches County road 552, following the signs for the Kingtown Landing Liquor Store, passing by a private deer hunting lease on the North side of the county road.

note: These free county road maps in East Texas are generally accurate, but sometimes do not jive with what you see.

I made a stop at the Kingtown Volunteer Fire Department and asked if I could shoot their fire trucks, and they said yes. Then before I could leave they invited me into their fire station and gave me permission to shoot inside their station. There was many things of interest inside. Most impressive to me was their plaque for working on the very large recovery effort for the unfortunate Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. (I was working in Galveston, Texas then.) They confirmed what I herd about a very long-very loud sonic boom as the doomed shuttle entered the atmosphere in East Texas.

Then they brought out the plaque for L R Ekman, the founder of the Kingtown Volunteer Fire Department in 1973.

I was told that the sign for Kingtown was only placed on Texas FM 226 only a year ago. Kingtown was always a community, and never had a post office. I asked about their large wood smoker- food cooker. They told me that they had a nice Bar-B-Que lunch before I arrived. Daaang, I was a day late and a dollar short (LOL).

I passed the boat landing but did not drive down in my borrowed car.

Then I finished my shoot outside of the Kingtown Landing Liquor Store. They just had beer and wine products inside with no rum or other liquor products any more. I do not know when the Kingtown Landing Store was established. They could not sell any spirits there until about 1972 as Nacogdoches County was a dry county. Many of our SFASU students (including me) registered to vote in Nacogdoches making the county wet. (Hot dang!)

My compliments to the Kingtown Volunteer Fire Department.

completed

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Photos

Kingtown sign
Texas Hwy 226, Southbound view

Kingtown Landing alcohol store sign
by hwy 226, Southbound view
County Road 552

Kingtown Landing alcohol store sign
by hwy 226, Northbound view
County Road 552

Kingtown Landing turn sign
County Road 552

Kingtown Landing turn sign, goose
County Road 552

Kingtown fire truck
firefighter want-to-be

Kingtown fire truck
with fire wood

Kingtown Fire Department
wood smoker-cooker

Kingtown Fire Department
fire danger moderate

Kingtown Fire Department
neat sign

Kingtown Fire Department, neat firefighter signs
start inside office

LR Ekman founder Kingtown Fire Department, 1973
plaque

Kingtown Landing
antique CONOCO sign