Site of Smithfield

Settled in the 1830s, Smithfield was a community and steamboat landing on the Trinity River. One of the area's first settlers was S. C. Hiroms of Kentucky, who arrived in 1830 and made his home on high ground above the Trinity. Hiroms and A. B. Carr of Memphis, Tennessee, are credited with establishing the town of Smithfield. In 1840, Hiroms was appointed postmaster of Smithfield. A stagecoach stop on the Liberty-Nacogdoches Road and a Trinity River port, Smithfield was a trading site for Coushatta Indians, trappers and settlers in this part of what became Polk County. A. B. Carr's son, John F. Carr, came to Smithfield in 1839 and established a cotton gin, grist mill and several sawmills. He also built steamboats, including the "John F. Carr," which saw service in the Battle of Galveston during the Civil War. Smithfield served during the war as a staging area for Confederate troops. By 1871 the post office at Smithfield was discontinued. With the coming of the Houston, East and West Texas Railway to Polk County in 1881, riverboat and stagecoach transportation declined. The population of Smithfield shifted to the north, where a new post office with the name of Ace opened in 1915 with Asa C. Emanuel as the postmaster. Although little physical evidence exists to identify Smithfield, its history is an important part of Polk County's heritage. (2001).