Huntsville by Littlejohn

Huntsville.  By Jeff Littlejohn and the Walker County Historical Commission. Charleston, SC:  Arcadia Publishing, 2009. 128 pages, b & w photographs, ISBN 9780738571331, $21.99. http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/   Jeff Littlejohn teaches history at Sam Houston State University. He, James Patton, the Commission, the Arts Commission, the Sam Houston Memorial Museum, and the Thomason Archives have produced a delightful and diverse work. The city is as old as the Republic of Texas.  Sam Houston found favor with the city's Walker County and had three homes there - in the forests and the urban cluster.  The place was a place of rich agricultural endeavor as the early African American population could well attest.   The spires and castellated towers of the churches demonstrate the well organized spiritual life.  Structures of Sam Houston State University and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice stand in mute testimony to the drives for education and civil obedience, both of which have served to enhance community abundance. The two most interesting photos are the 1930 aerial view of the college and the several images of the prison facilities.  The Dairy Queen life of the 1950's reminds this viewer of the lesser juvenile crimes contemplated in Marshall in the same time period.  The sawmill shots recall the more modern images recalled while in Texas and Alaska working for college money.  All in all, a well-produced work - balanced and insightful, if restrained.