THE CITY OF ORANGE

THE FIRST KNOWN SETTLERS IN WHAT IS NOW THE CITY OF ORANGE WERE JOHN AND ELIZABETH HARMON, WHO ARRIVED IN 1828 WITH THEIR THREE CHILDREN. KNOWN FIRST AS GREEN'S BLUFF, THE SMALL FARMING COMMUNITY THAT DEVELOPED ALONG A BEND IN THE SABINE RIVER WAS SELECTED AS THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT WHEN ORANGE COUNTY WAS CREATED IN 1852. THE TOWN WAS CALLED MADISON FROM 1852 UNTIL 1858, WHEN THE NAME ORANGE WAS ADOPTED. THE EARLY ORANGE ECONOMY WAS BASED ON THE LUMBER AND SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRIES. LED BY PROMINENT PIONEER AREA LUMBER MEN AND AIDED BY THE ADVENT OF THE TEXAS AND NEW ORLEANS RAILROAD IN 1876, ORANGE WAS RECOGNIZED AS THE LEADER IN EAST TEXAS SAWMILL ACTIVITY BY THE 1880s. THE DEEP WATER PORT AND THE AVAILABILITY OF LUMBER MADE THE CITY AN IDEAL LOCATION FOR THE SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY, WHICH REACHED ITS HIGHEST PRODUCTION LEVELS DURING WORLD WARS I AND II. FOR MANY YEARS THE CITY OF ORANGE HAS MAINTAINED A FULL RANGE OF SERVICES FOR ITS CITIZENS. PUBLIC SCHOOLS HAVE OPERATED SINCE THE 1880s AND ELECTRICITY WAS INSTITUTED IN 1890. ORANGE'S SHIPBUILDING AND PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRIES CONTINUE TO MAKE THE CITY A LEADING COMMERCIAL CENTER IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

JOHN HARMON

BORN IN 1790 IN ST. MARTIN PARISH, LOUISIANA, JOHN HARMON LIVED AT POSTE DE ATTAKAPAS, A SPANISH FORTIFICATION AT THE PRESENT SITE OF ST. MARTINVILLE. A VETERAN OF THE STATE'S DEFENSIVE ACTIONS DURING THE WAR OF 1812, HE WED ELIZABETH COMPSTOCK CLARKS IN 1813. SOON AFTER THE BIRTH OF THEIR FIRST CHILD IN 1816, THE HARMONS SOLD THEIR ST. MARTIN PARISH LAND AND MOVED WEST. ALTHOUGH NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT THEIR ACTIVITIES OVER THE FOLLOWING DECADE, IT IS KNOWN THEY HAD SETTLED ALONG THE EASTERN BANK OF THE SABINE RIVER BY 1826. THE NEXT YEAR, HARMON DECIDED TO RELOCATE IN THIS AREA. HE BUILT A MASSIVE RAFT OF CYPRESS LOGS WHICH TRANSPORTED A HOUSE, A WAGON, A PAIR OF OXEN, A HORSE, A COW, FARM TOOLS AND SUPPLIES, AND HIS FAMILY, WHICH NUMBERED FIVE. THE HARMON FAMILY RAFT ARRIVED HERE ON JANUARY 1, 1828. WEARY FROM THEIR JOURNEY, THE FAMILY FEASTED ON WILD GAME AND LATER DECIDED TO MAKE THEIR HOME IN THE AREA. THEIR ARRIVAL AT THE PRESENT SITE OF ORANGE MARKED THE BEGINNING OF PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. LATER, WHEN THE TOWN DEVELOPED, JOHN HARMON WAS A SADDLER, A CIVIC LEADER, AND A PROMINENT LANDOWNER. HE DIED IN 1874, BUT HIS CONTRIBUTIONS AND PIONEER SPIRIT REMAIN VITAL TO THE AREA'S HERITAGE.

MADISON LODGE NO. 126, A.F. & A.M.

HUGH OCHILTREE (1820-91), GEORGE A. PATTILLO (1796-1871), AND OTHER LEADING CITIZENS ORGANIZED THIS LODGE ON APRIL 30, 1853. COL. OCHILTREE HAD COME TO TEXAS IN 1839, FOUGHT IN THE MEXICAN WAR, AND HELPED DEVELOP THE TOWN OF MADISON (NOW ORANGE). PATTILLO SETTLED IN THE COUNTY IN 1830, WAS A LOCAL OFFICIAL OF THE MEXICAN COLONY OF TEXAS, A REPUBLIC OF TEXAS CONGRESSMAN, AND A VETERAN PUBLIC LEADER. THE LODGE WAS CHARTERED UNDER THE NAME BY WHICH THE TOWN OF ORANGE WAS KNOWN FROM 1845 TO 1858. OFFICERS FOR THE FIRST YEAR WERE WILLIAM SMITH, WORSHIPFUL MASTER; PATTILLO, SENIOR WARDEN; OCHILTREE, JUNIOR WARDEN; A.H. READING, SECRETARY; I.H. HUTCHINGS, TREASURER; S. FAIRCHILDS, SENIOR DEACON; N. SMITH, JUNIOR DEACON; CHARLES SAXON, TILER. MADISON LODGE SPONSORED THE TOWN'S FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL, 1854-1879, PROVIDING HOUSING ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF THE LODGE HALL WHERE CHURCH SERVICES WERE ALSO HELD FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. IN 1865, A HURRICANE DESTROYED THE ORIGINAL LODGE BUILDING. A SECOND WAS ERECTED IN 1878. THE PRESENT BUILDING, WITH BANQUET ROOM, OFFICES, AND OTHER APPOINTMENTS, WAS COMPLETED IN AUGUST OF 1926.

MOVED FROM SECOND LODGE SITE AT 5th AND ELM AFTER SALE OF PROPERTY TO NEW, BUT CONTINUING LOCATION OF ORIGINAL MADISON LODGE #126, A.F. & A.M.