About 1836, a fort and stockade were built on the public square of the town of Houston, then in Houston County, for protection against Indians by order of General Sam Houston, Commander-in-Chief of the Texan Armies. The fort was abandoned about 1841, and the town was abandoned in 1846 in favor of Palestine, the new seat of Anderson County. The site is now part of the historic home of John H. Reagan, called Fort Houston.