Sumpter

SUMPTER, TEXAS . Sumpter, a ghost town five miles east of Groveton in central Trinity County, served as the first seat of government after the county was established in February 1850. The home of Solomon Adams, the first white settler in the area, was designated the temporary site for various courts until permanent facilities could be erected. Meanwhile, the state legislature appointed the first commissioners to organize the town, which the legislators named for either the community or the county of Sumpter, Alabama. Although a post office opened in December 1851, the town was not formally laid out until November 20, 1855. With the hope that the area would become a railroad center, business and professional men flocked to Sumpter, which was incorporated on January 11, 1862.