The log cabin that James Henry Francis Thomas, Jane Lucretia Oates, and their children constructed in 1886 represents some of the early architecture of Huntington and Angelina County, Texas. It was a landmark location along the Angelina & Neches River Railroad for railroad workers and business people. It is part of our collective heritage as descendants of the pioneers who settled the beautiful Piney Woods, and should be the center piece of Centennial Park.

Now, this precious cabin, a treasure of Angelina County and Huntington history, is in danger of being destroyed. The cabin currently sits on privately owned property. The owners are very understanding and want to see the cabin relocated and preserved just as we do. We think Centennial Park in Huntington, is the right place to preserve this emblematic structure of early East Texas architecture and culture.

We need your help to convince the Huntington City Council that this historic structure is worth preserving as part of the local history and heritage. Will you help us by signing this petition today? Time is running out and soon the cabin will have to be destroyed to make way for new construction.  Thank you so much for your support.

Here are ten reasons why the Thomas log cabin deserves to be preserved:

1.  It was constructed in 1886.
2.  It has historical relevance to the history of Angelina County and the Angelina & Neches River Railroad.
3. The anchor home of the area known as Thomas Crossings. It represents the early settling and organizing of Angelina County as part of the new State of Texas. 
4. The Thomas log cabin is located on Marion’s Ferry Rd. and was one of the only home sites along the Angelina and Neches River Railroad shortline running between the sawmills in Keltys (Lufkin), through Alco, and eventually Chireno.
5. The cabin was a well-known rest-stop for businessmen and workers on the A&NR Railroad. J.H.F. Thomas died in 1901, but his wife, Jane, continued to live in the cabin for the remainder of her life. She supported herself in part by opening her home to travelers. Workers would stop at the Thomas cabin as a source of cool, clean water and a place to rest in the shade of the large, covered porch, or perhaps get a home-cooked meal.
6. James Henry Francis Thomas, the father and builder of the cabin was a Civil War veteran. He served in the Texas 22nd Infantry, Company D, under Colonel Richard Hubbard.
7. Henry Samuel Thomas Sr, son of J.H.F. Thomas, helped to build the cabin. He went on to build many of the early homes in Huntington. He also fashioned ceremonial furniture for the Homer Masonic Lodge. His sons would grow up to become master builders of papermills around the globe, the Galveston Causeway, and many public buildings and civil engineering structures throughout Angelina County and the state of Texas including the state’s first research nuclear reactor at Texas A&M University.
8. Three future mayors of Huntington came from the original Thomas family that built and occupied the cabin. Boley Bronson Thomas, Vela Curtis Francis Driver, and Mitchell LeMoine.
9. All three of Henry Samuel Thomas Sr’s sons and grandsons of J.H.F. Thomas were Worshipful Masters of the Homer Masonic Lodge.
10. The Cabin was featured in a multi-page article in the Huntington Zavalla News (pages 1, 3, and 6) on Thurs, March 6, 1986.

Thank you!