"Palestine History" a Palestine Travel Page by leafmcgowan

Palestine, in the heart of Anderson County, where the gateway of the flat blackland prairies meet the hilly forests of East Texas. It was the frontier where David G. Burnett started a colony and it evolved into Houston County later to be divided into two counties (Anderson and Houston) on March 24, 1846 becoming named after Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the last president of the Republic of Texas from 1844 until annexation in 1845. This city, as a county seat, is one of the oldest and most historical cities in East Texas. Nestled amongst beautiful pines and dogwood trees, the area has a long history of land owners, enterprising merchants, historic railroads, agriculture, hunting, and politics. The railroad came in 1872 which joined together two towns into one. A mineral ridge running north and south divided the rolling wooded surface of the county's 1068 square miles from which the area runs west to the Trinity River and East to the Neches River. The average temperature to the area is 76 degrees with an altitude of 400-525' above sea level. Notable for its peanuts, watermelons, peaches, vegetables, fruits, can syrup, dairy farming timber, etc.