Our History

The Story of Huntington and McMullen Library History 

The town of Huntington began in 1900 because of railroads. First, the Texas and New Orleans railroad was being built from Beaumont to Dallas.The three railroads made Huntington a good shipping center for lumber and farm products.

The town was named “Huntington” to honor Collis P. Huntington, an important railroad builder.

At the time the railroads were being built, Mr. A. E. Blount of Nacogdoches and Mr. W. J. Townsend of Lufkin bought the land that is now Huntington. The land was valuable for farming and the railroads provided transportation to market. The property was divided into city lots which were auctioned off in June of 1900. Hundreds of people came out to the sale and lots were sold to the highest bidder. A huge picnic was held under a large oak tree on Spruce Street, one block east of the present day McMullen Library on Main Street.

The town of Huntington began to grow. This early picture of the town shows the post office, the first bank, Dr. Stewart’s drug store and office. Farther down the street were several saloons, boarding houses, and other businesses.

Transportation between Huntington and Lufkin was provided by C. S. McMullen with a horse and buggy. Later he extended service to Zavalla and then to Beaumont using buses.

The first school was started in 1900. Classes were held in a church building. In 1914 Huntington began construction on a beautiful two story brick school building.

At first the sports teams were called the Yellow Jackets. When new yellow uniforms were ordered, a mistake was made, and the uniforms were red. So, the team changed the name to “Demons”. During a tight game, the opposing team yelled “you red devils.” The team liked that and changed their name to the Huntington Red Devils.

In 1953 the McMullen Memorial Public Library was built in memory of the nineteen young men who lost their lives in World War II. It was also built to honor the McMullen family who were pioneers in the building of Huntington.

In 2000, the town of Huntington was 100 years old. The town celebrated with a big birthday party that included a parade, carnival, bull riding and other activities. Thousands of visitors attended this centennial celebration. Money was donated to build a new park along the original railroad track. It is called Centennial Park.