Sabine Farms

Sabine Farms was one of several experimental farming communities administered by the Resettlement Administration (later the Farm Security Administration) to aid people displaced by the upheaval of the Great Depression. Sabine Farms was one of only three such communities in Texas and one of thirteen nationwide designated for African Americans. In these group settlements, farmers were offered parcels of land for a minimal price, as well as social and recreational advantages, and also benefited from facilities and services such as community centers, schools, cooperative markets and training and supervision from social workers and extension agents. At Sabine Farms, the portions of land sold to families for farming surrounded a complex of public buildings known as the “Community Center” included an auditorium, library, church, school, dormitories, mess hall, sweet potato curing house, trade school, store and workshop. An African American Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp built the community center of rough-hewn logs.

When the federal government ended the project in 1944, the Sabine Farms property was put up for sale. Residents formed the Sabine Farms educational society and joined with Bishop College in Marshall to purchase the site. Under the guidance of the college, the community continued to thrive and provide residents with much-appreciated and well-utilized agricultural and social resources.

After Bishop College released its administration of Sabine Farms during the early 1960s, many of the activities at the community center slowed or ended. Most of the buildings at the site have now been lost. The portions of structures that remain serve as tangible evidence of the vibrant community once located at this site.

(2008)