The iron ore soil looks untillable. Old tree stumps give evidence of where part of the mighty East Texas forest once stood. The homes and businesses that dot the area bring memories of a different time.  One thing noticeable is the fact that all the people are black. The town has a population of 200 people.

Moore Station is one of the few all black towns in the state.  And it always has been, ever since 1876 when Anderson and Lucinda Moore donated a plot of land for a Methodist Church and school. The land borders on Flat Creek where the creek now runs into Lake Palestine. Such was the beginning of Moore Station. Now, over 100 years later, the family history committee of the Henderson Count Historical Commission is attempting to put together the trials and tribulation of the citizens of Moore Station.

Mrs. Estell Corder, chairman of the family history committee, has spent much time in piecing together the history of Moore Station through scraps of information gained by interview and research.

After the War Between the States, quite a few previous slaving holding men were left without there main asset, black people. Some of these mem had moved to the safety of Henderson County from out of state during the conflict.

When the war was over and the…..

From accounts that the Historical Society have been able to put together, after a time of rejoicing for the new found freedom, many became fearful that the previous white masters would harm them.

Together, they retreated to the “high ground” that the Moore’s had donated. Through the years, the community has stayed. In the early years, the livelihood of the mem was composed of hunting, trapping, hiring out as farm hands and selling logs for firewood. Hard work that doesn’t bring in much money. For the women, bringing up the family has been the main responsibility.

After irrigation made cotton a big crop in West Texas, many of the residents would pack up and move west during the harvest season. Then they would return to their homes during the balance of the year.

Frank Cumby and his wife Pearlie have spent all their married life in Moore Station. Both are 78, and both often think back about their life in the community.

Mrs. Cumby was 14 when she and her family moved to Moore Station. Her dad moved the family because he knew that, “No one would bother us up here like they did down in the old Union Community.” (The Union Community was located west of Moore Station, toward what is now New York)

Mrs. Cumby said that the blacks were having trouble with the Klu Klux Klan everywhere except at Moore Station. This verifies Mrs. Corders’s statements regarding how well both white and black people got along at Moore Station.

Of course, according to Mrs. Corder, the land was so bad at Moore Station that the whites didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

Mrs. Cumby’s uncle, Gramma Tatum, ran the general store and cotton gin. She said that they were able to fit in to the community, “quite well.”

Pearlie and Frank both remember the one room school house which each attended. “We toted water from the Lone Star Spring to the school house”, said Mrs. Cumby. The spring was in back of the Green Douglass’ farm, whose ….

From the accounts of the Cumbys, the life of the community centered around the school and Uncle Tatum’s store. Most of the writer records were kept by Tatum’s father, Charlie. When his house burned, the records went with it.

Several years ago the community became incorporated and elected its first and only mayor, Matthew Wallace. Wallace, a newcomer who came to Moore Station 20 years ago, says that he expects the community will go on pretty much as it always has, looking after itself.

Searching through records in the Clint W. Murchison Memorial Library, nothing could be found about this unique community. Mrs. Corder said that the Historical Commission will continue to dig and bring out more about the black culture in the county.