Editing Huntsville, Texas (section)

==History==
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[[File:Downtown Hunstville TX 1870s.jpg|thumb|left|Downtown Huntsville in the 1870s]]
[[File:University Ave Hunstville TX 1870s.jpg|thumb|left| Downtown Huntsville in the 1870s]] The city got its beginning ''circa'' 1836, when Pleasant and Ephraim Gray opened a trading post on the site. Ephraim Gray became first postmaster in 1837, naming it after his hometown of [[Huntsville, Alabama]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n163 164]}}</ref>

Huntsville became the home of Sam Houston, who served as president of the [[Republic of Texas]], Governor of the State of [[Texas]], governor of [[Tennessee]], [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]], and Tennessee congressman. Houston led the Texas Army in the [[Battle of San Jacinto]], the decisive victory of the [[Texas Revolution]]. He has been noted for his life among the [[Cherokee]]s of Tennessee, and— near the end of his life — for his opposition to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], a very unpopular position in his day. Huntsville has two of Houston's homes, his [https://www.huntsvilletx.gov/163/Cemetery grave], and the [http://www.samhoustonmemorialmuseum.com/ Sam Houston Memorial Museum]. Houston's life in Huntsville is also commemorated by his namesake Sam Houston State University, and by a {{convert|70|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="samstatue">[http://www.samhoustonstatue.org/ Huntville Statue and Visitors Center, www.samhoustonstatue.org]. Retrieved February 9, 2010.</ref> statue. (The towering statue, ''[[A Tribute to Courage]]'' by artist [[David Adickes]], has been described as the world's largest statue of an American hero,<ref>[http://www.samhoustonstatue.org/ Huntville Statue and Visitors Center, www.samhoustonstatue.org<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090405170249/http://www.samhoustonstatue.org/ |date=April 5, 2009}}</ref> and is easily viewed by travelers on [[Interstate 45]].)

Huntsville was also the home of [[Samuel Walker Houston]] (1864–1945),<ref>[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhobs Handbook of Texas Online] accessed April 29, 2007.</ref> a prominent African-American pioneer in the field of education. He was born into [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] on February 12, 1864, to [[Joshua Houston]], a slave owned by Sam Houston. Samuel W. Houston founded the Galilee Community School in 1907, which later became known as the Houstonian Normal and Industrial Institute, in Walker County.

In 1995, on the grounds of the old Samuel W. Houston Elementary School, the [[Huntsville Independent School District]], along with the Huntsville Arts Commission<ref>[http://wynnehomeartscenter.com/art_tour.html Art Tour of Huntsville] accessed April 29, 2007. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929175809/http://wynnehomeartscenter.com/art_tour.html |date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref> and the high school's Ex-Students Association, commissioned the creation of ''[[The Dreamers (sculpture)|The Dreamers]]'', a monument to underscore the black community's contributions to the growth and development of Huntsville and Walker County.

After a book display at the Huntsville Public Library generated a controversy among city officials in 2022, the library removed two book displays. Following the removal of the book displays, the city decided to privatize the library.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bookriot.com/huntsville-public-library-privatization/ |title=HUNTSVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY (TX) PRIVATIZED AFTER PRIDE DISPLAY |last=Jensen |first=Kelly |date=December 21, 2022 |website=Book Riot |access-date=January 25, 2023}}</ref>