Carthage, Texas

Carthage, Texas
City
City of Carthage
The historic Hawthorn-Clabaugh-Patterson House is now used for offices of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce.
Motto(s):  "Country at its best!"
Location of Carthage, Texas
Coordinates: 32°9′23″N 94°20′32″W / 32.15639°N 94.34222°W / 32.15639; -94.34222Coordinates: 32°9′23″N 94°20′32″W / 32.15639°N 94.34222°W / 32.15639; -94.34222
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Panola
Area [1]
• Total	10.68 sq mi (27.67 km2)
• Land	10.66 sq mi (27.61 km2)
• Water	0.02 sq mi (0.06 km2)
Elevation	312 ft (95 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	6,779
• Estimate  (2019)[4]	6,431
• Density	603.28/sq mi (232.92/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	75633
Area code(s)	903 Exchanges: 265.690,693,694
FIPS code	48-13108[2]
GNIS feature ID	1353900[3]
Website	www.carthagetexas.com

Carthage is a city and the county seat of Panola County, Texas,^[5] United States. This city is situated in East Texas, 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Dallas and near the Louisiana state line. Its population was 6,779 at the 2010 census.

History[]

Carthage was founded in 1847, two years after Texas was admitted to the United States. During the Civil War, men from Carthage and Panola County served as Confederate soldiers. African-American resident Milton M. Holland, formerly enslaved, served as a Union sergeant and earned a Medal of Honor.^[6]

After the war, population growth was slow, but large amounts of cotton, corn, sweet potatoes, oats, and sugarcane were produced in the county. The city began to expand in 1888 when a railroad reached Carthage, along with telegraph and telephone lines.^[7]

During the Great Depression, a gas field was discovered near Carthage. After World War II, this gas field was developed and proved to be the largest in the United States. The city flourished, with the population increasing from about 1,300 to 5,000. During this period, a courthouse and a high school were built. Panola County Junior College was founded and built in Carthage. KGAS-AM 1590 began broadcasting in 1955. As a result of the higher population, Panola General Hospital was established.^[8]

On August 22, 1998, the grand opening was held for the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame, located in Carthage.

Geography[]

According to the United States Census Bureau, Carthage has a total area of 10.5 square miles (27 km²), of which 10.5 square miles (27 km²) are land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) (0.4%) is covered by water.

Demographics[]

As of the census^[2] of 2010, 6,779 people, 2,628 households, and 1,745 families resided in the city. The population density was 645.6 people per mi² (249.2/km²). The 2,909 housing units averaged 277.0 per mi² (106.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 69.5% White, 21.1% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 6.5% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 11.0% of the population.

Of the 2,628 households, 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.6% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.6% were not families. About 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city, the age distribution was 24.6% under 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 35.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.

As of the 2000 Census, the median income for a household in the city was $31,822, and for a family was $37,031. Males had a median income of $33,080 versus $21,473 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,332. About 11.8% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education[]

The City of Carthage is served by the Carthage Independent School District. Also, the two-year Panola College, a community college, is located across from Carthage City Hall.

Points of interest[]

The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame is located in Carthage, which also houses the Tex Ritter Museum. The Jim Reeves Memorial is located on the outskirts of Carthage, east on U.S. 79. Reeves and Ritter were from the nearby unincorporated communities of Galloway and Murvaul, respectively.

The Footprints in the Sand monument is a 14 feet (4.3 m) bronze sculpture of Jesus carrying an old man, representing a poem by that title. It is located on the southwest loop in Carthage. Carthage resident Bob Harness is the sculptor.

The old Panola County Jail is now operated as a museum; it is located on North Shelby Street. Panola County Heritage Museum is located at 100 East Sabine Street across from the gazebo in downtown Anderson Park.

Lake Murvaul is 15 miles (24 km) west of Carthage on Murvaul Bayou.

Notable people[]

• Jacke Davis, professional baseball player
• Milton M. Holland, former slave, served as a Union Army sergeant during the American Civil War, and was the first native Texan to be awarded the Medal of Honor.^[6]
• Philip Humber, MLB pitcher for five teams; pitched a perfect game for Chicago White Sox against Seattle Mariners on April 21, 2012
• Mildred Fay Jefferson, first African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School; founding member and former president of the National Right to Life Committee
• Derek Wayne Johnson, award-winning film director, screenwriter, and film producer
• Margie Neal, newspaper publisher and first woman elected to Texas State Senate.^[10] A Texas Historical Marker in the center of town recognizes her achievements.^[11]
• Perfect Stranger, a 1990s country band
• Jim Reeves, singer
• Brandon Rhyder, singer
• Tex Ritter, singer, actor, father of John Ritter
• Jack Boynton Strong, Texas state legislator and businessman
• Bernie Tiede, mortician who was convicted of murdering friend and widow Marjorie Nugent; he was the subject of a dark comedy film, Bernie (2011), starring Jack Black

Media[]

Carthage is served by two local radio stations: KGAS 1590 AM and KGAS 104.3 FM, and by a local newspaper, The Panola Watchman. The nearest media market of notable size is in nearby Shreveport, Louisiana.

1996 murder of Marjorie Nugent[]

After losing her husband, widow Marjorie Nugent, an 81-year-old resident of Carthage, became friends with Bernie Tiede, the assistant funeral director in town. In late 1996, townspeople did not see her, but thought perhaps she had moved to join her out-of-town family. When the family could not reach her, they filed a missing-person's report. Nine months after her death, her friend and companion, 39-year-old Bernie Tiede, was brought in for questioning by police and confessed to killing her. He claimed she had emotionally abused him.^[12][13]

He shot her four times in the back with a .22 rifle in November 1996. A mortician, he cleaned her body and placed it in a freezer in her house, where it was not discovered until 1997. Tiede continued his community activities for several months after her death. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. After a habeas corpus challenge, he was paroled on a $10,000 bond in 2014, but in 2016, Tiede had a resentencing hearing, and was sentenced to 99 years to life.^[12][13]

Panola County District Attorney Danny Buck Davidson said initially that few in the community questioned no longer seeing the elderly woman. He said, "That's what you do when you're a con guy and you move in. He had her cut all ties, so ultimately the only person she had to rely on was him. Mrs. Nugent was a human being. She didn't deserve her fate at the hands of Bernie." Tiede apparently killed the wealthy woman to get control of her money, spending an estimated $3 million of Nugent's $10 million. Davidson said Tiede used some of it for philanthropy: "He sent people to college. He donated to musicals, plays and bought instruments at the college. That was all done with Mrs. Nugent's money. After she was in the freezer, he really jumped out there as a benefactor."^[12]

An article about these events in Texas Monthly by Skip Hollandsworth was adapted for Bernie, a 2011 dark comedy film which he co-wrote with director Richard Linklater. It starred Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey, and was highly praised.^{[citation needed]}

Climate[]

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen climate classification, Carthage has a humid subtropical climate, Cfa on climate maps.^[14]

Carthage welcome sign

Federal Building/US Post Office in downtown Carthage

Anderson Park is located in the center of downtown Carthage.

Central Baptist Church in downtown Carthage

The Esquire Theater in Carthage hosts Country music on Saturday evenings.

First State Bank and Trust Company in downtown Carthage

Historical marker commemorating Colored Town, a black business section that had its prime from 1940-1965, from East Panola to Live Oak streets

References[]

External links[]

• Carthage, Texas
• The Carthage_TX community on LiveJournal.com
• The 1997 Nugent murder