Quitman, named for John Anthony Quitman, Governor of Mississippi and a  prominent citizen of the United States, was founded in 1850 and was the site selected for the  County seat.  During its first years as County seat an influx of immigrants from Southern States arrived and it quickly became the trading center of the county.

The first Masonic Lodge in the county was organized on January 5, 1852 and operated with a dispensation from the Grand Lodge until 1855 when a charter was granted.  The Lodge held its first meeting September 20, 1852 and was named Flora Lodge No. 119.

Wood County Courthouse, built in 1883

Quitman boasted the first hotel in the county and was built a short time after the town was founded.

The annual Old Settlers Reunion is held each August at the Gov. Hogg Shrine Park in Quitman.  The Reunion was first conceived by James L. Ray in 1898 and held its first meeting in 1899.  People come from all over the United States during the Reunion and on Saturday there  is a fiddling contest.

Also on the park grounds is the restored James A. Stinson Home and The Honeymoon Cottage, both restored and refurbished by Miss Ima Hogg.

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Wood County Historical Society, Wood County Texas