RANDOLPH, TEXAS (Houston County). Randolph, also known as Old Randolph, on the old Kennard-Crockett Road twelve miles east of Crockett, was among the earliest settlements in Houston County. It was established in 1838 by Cyrus Halbert Randolph,^qv for whom it was named. The settlement was situated on the mail route from San Felipe de Austin and became an important stage stop on the road from Louisiana. A school opened there in 1850, and a post office was established in 1858. By the early 1860s Randolph had several stores, a saloon, a barbershop, a blacksmith, and a Masonic lodge. Currie's Company, later part of Hood's Texas Brigade,^qv was organized there shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War.^qv During the early 1860s the Randolph community challenged Crockett for the county government, but after the Civil War Randolph began to decline. Its post office closed in 1881, and by 1900 it was abandoned. During the early 1990s only a cemetery remained.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Houston County Cemeteries (Crockett, Texas: Houston County Historical Commission, 1977; 3d ed. 1987). Marker Files, Texas Historical Commission, Austin.

Christopher Long