Centerville

CENTERVILLE, TEXAS (Henderson County). Centerville, a former county seat, was twelve miles northeast of Buffalo, six miles west of Eustace, and sixteen miles northwest of Athens in Henderson County. On March 14, 1848, the Texas legislature reduced the size of the county and ordered a survey to determine the new center, which was northeast of Buffalo and between North and South Twin creeks. James H. Starr donated 100 acres for the town of Centerville, and voters selected it as the county seat. On September 11, 1848, the first court session was held in the town, and Centerville was divided into lots and blocks. A post office was established there on January 18, 1849, but was discontinued on June 19. By May of the same year the county court had been moved back to Buffalo, where it remained until October 1850, when, after further reduction of the county to its present size, Athens was designated the county seat. As a result of these changes Centerville was abandoned. In 1991 the old townsite was on the shore of the huge Cedar Creek Lake, in an area that was booming with development.