- As many as 7,000 people attended the annual reunions held at the Confederate Reunion Grounds.
- Archeological evidence suggests that Native Americans used the area as early as 6000 B.C.
- Although no Civil War battles were fought in Central Texas, three out of every four free men in Limestone County served in the Confederate Army. One in two Confederate soldiers became casualties of the war: killed, wounded, missing or by developing chronic conditions that led to eventual death.
- An octagonal dance pavilion constructed in 1893 is preserved at Confederate Reunion Grounds and is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places for its unusual architecture.
- Visiting guests at reunion gatherings gave lectures on Stonewall Jackson, past battles or memorialized the Confederate dead. One early guest speaker was Nicholas Blain of Fairfield, a former slave and Confederate veteran who served with his owner, George Blain, with the Company G, Seventh Texas Infantry, during the Civil War.
- Hokey Pokey, an ice cream confection that vendors made in large barrels, was sold for 5¢ a slice as a cool relief from the hot summer days of July and August.
- In November 1920, wildcatter Albert E. Humphreys struck oil in Limestone County and Mexia became a boomtown at the center of one of the largest oil fields in the world. Affectionately known as “The Colonel,” Humphreys was a devotee of Confederate history. While other Texas reunion grounds faded away with the demise of older veterans, Humphreys brought improvements and a surge of renewed activity to the Confederate Reunion Grounds, including the Pure Oil Company clubhouse and a large bathhouse on the creek.
- The 1920s pump house was equipped with a 55,000 barrel standpipe, water tank and water system that supplied water to the oil drilling rigs of the Pure Oil Company. Current equipment in the pump house includes a Cooper-Bessemer gas engine and a Goulds (or Buda) pump.
- If you are traveling the Prairies and Pineywoods Wildlife Trail West, you will find Confederate Reunion Grounds at site number 23 on the map. The Prairies and Pineywood Wildlife Trail is one of four trails on the Great Texas Wildlife Trails developed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Last updated: 8/13/2010 7:38:46 AM