Goodman Bridge, aka Mount Sterling, Nacogdoches County, Texas

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August 22nd 2020

Published: October 27th 2020

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walterman9999

Mt Sterling Historic Marker

I wanted to check out locations in nearby Southern Cherokee County, Texas; and the (long closed) Goodman Bridge Liquor Store by the Goodman Bridge was on the way. I drove West on Texas Hwy 225 (inside the Nacogdoches Loop 224 is named Durst Street), and passed the de-funked town of Alazan.

This time I took Nacogdoches County road 789. Driving down the dirt road I saw an old abandoned racecar # 12. Not far from that old car was the Goodman Bridge Liquor Store. Very near the liquor store was the Goodman Bridge linking Nacogdoches County with Cherokee County. Long ago in my college days at SFASU, that liquor store was open to business (building in poor shape); but later was permanently closed.

According to TexasExcapes.com, in 1835 John M. Durst (1707-1851) served as a Texas representative in Mexico and learned of the impending movement into Texas by the armies of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Durst rode 960 miles to warn the anglo settlers of the coming Mexican army. John Durst became the "Paul Revere of the Texas Revolution". Then in 1837 the settlement of Mount Sterling by the Angelina River was founded by John Durst; by an

Alazan Country Store

TX Hwy 225 (long closed)

old abandoned Spanish Mission. Durst built a fortified home, a sawmill and a gristmill (for grinding grain to flour); both powered by the Angelina River. Durst built a toll bridge connecting the two counties. Around 1837 to 1840 Mt. Sterling, Texas had a post office. The internet pics of the Goodman Bridge and liquor store came from TexasEscapes.

Mt. Sterling was a dangerous place and Durst abandoned the settlement in 1840, then the site was abandoned. The forces of the 1838-1839 Vicente Cordova Rebellion roamed several East Texas counties killing Texans; and that was mainly blamed on the East Texas combined Cherokee Nation. Vicente Cordova was a hispanic citizen of Nacogdoches who wanted Texas to return to Mexico. (In September 2021 I found the Mt. Sterling Historic Marker in the weeds not far from the Goodman Bridge Liquor Store.)

The Cherokee Nation (under the peaceful Chief Duwali) had a treaty with the Republic of Texas for permanent rights to what now is Cherokee, Smith, and part of Anderson and Van Zandt Counties. Starting in 1837 the anglos started taking land and settling on Cherokee land. Some of the Cherokees did kill some of the anglo invaders; as the

Alazan Methodist Church

TX Hwy 225

anglos did kill the Cherokee people. John Durst did take in anglo settlers in his fortified house in times of attack.

In 1929 the Goodman (truss) Bridge was built with wooden planking over the Angelina River. (I have driven over the old bridge long ago.) In the early 2000s the bridge was unsafe to use and was closed. A new concrete bridge was built over the river; and later the old Goodman Bridge was renovated and moved to Pecan Park in Nacogdoches.

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