Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site - Mexia, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 31° 38.003 W 096° 33.451
14R E 731651 N 3502391
On the edge of the Navasota River, Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site commemorates a place where Confederate Civil War veterans and families reunited from 1889–1946.
Waymark Code: WM15C62
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/05/2021
Views: 3
Texas Historical Commission"Beginning in the 1880s, Civil War veterans, Union and Confederate alike, wished to celebrate the camaraderie and memory of their war experiences and sacrifices. In spite of the strife and hardships of post-war Reconstruction, a strong sense of brotherhood persisted. Small groups of Limestone County Confederate veterans met informally to socialize and reminisce, and in 1888 they began meeting annually in the spot where Jack's Creek enters the Navasota River, known then as the “Pen Campmeeting Grounds.” The next year, they organized the Joseph E. Johnston Camp of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), named for the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and Tennessee. The chapter became the 94th affiliate of the rapidly expanding UCV.
“The object shall be to perpetuate the memories of our fallen comrades, to administer to the wants of those who were permanently disabled in the service, and to aid the indigent widows and orphans of deceased Confederate soldiers, to preserve and maintain that sentiment of fraternity born of the hardships and dangers shared in the march, bivouac and the battlefield.”
— From the 1889 Constitution of Camp 94 UCV
In 1892, veterans and families began purchasing lots at $5 each to pay for the first 20 acres of land purchased by Camp 94 UCV for a sum of $200 from the Mexía family. Each purchaser received a deed for camping privileges at the reunions. Added to the 20 acres purchased in 1892, were tracts purchased from several individuals including African American families who had worked the fields as former slaves or who had migrated to the area after Emancipation.
By the end of World War I, the gatherings continued but on a smaller scale. In 1946, the charter of Camp 94 expired and the grounds fell into disuse. In 1965, the Joseph E. Johnston Camp No. 94, C.S.A. was permanently chartered as a nonprofit corporation; and in September 1983, the corporation donated the Confederate Reunion Grounds to the state of Texas. The Confederate Reunion Grounds continues to serve as a gathering place today."