Mauriceville, Orange County
Mauriceville was established in the wake of construction of two railroads: the Texarkana and Fort Smith Railroad in 1898 and the Orange and Northwestern Railroad in 1902. The town was named for Maurice Miller, son of the first president of the Orange and Northwestern Railroad. J.P. Hilliard sparked the community’s marketing and cultural center at the junction of the railroads by building the first general mercantile and feed store. When the post office was established on November 2, 1906, he was the first postmaster. The business district also included a two-story station house and a two-story hotel owned and operated by John D. And Mary Elizabeth Warrell that catered to railroad workers and teachers. The community continued to grow as several mills in the area prospered. The community’s first school was organized in 1889 and in 1929, the Lemonville and Cherry Grove (Gist) schools became part of the Mauriceville District. The First Baptist Church of Mauriceville, originally known as Friendship Church, was organized during the summer of 1900 with Wiley Wilkinson and John (Savan) Frederick as charter deacons. Services were held in the Hobson School. Around the same time, a Baptist Church for African Americans was organized a few yards behind Hilliard’s store. As local mills closed, the population wavered. In 1969, the Mauriceville District consolidated with Little Cypress. Mauriceville is a reminder of the early timber and transportation industry which spurred the town’s growth and continuance.