Palestine, Texas Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Modern era=== In 1914, the county's fifth courthouse was completed. It is still in use. One of the many historical sites is [[Sacred Heart Catholic Church and School|Sacred Heart Catholic Church]], which was designed by [[Nicholas J. Clayton]]. In 1928, oil was discovered at Boggy Creek, east of Palestine. The production of oil resources added to and diversified the town's economy. Palestine became a center for oil-well servicing and supplies in support of other producing fields found later elsewhere in Anderson County.<ref name="Texas State Historical Association - About Palestine">{{cite web|url= https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hep01|title=Texas State Historical Association |access-date= September 16, 2016}}</ref> Construction of the earth-filled Blackburn Crossing Dam on the [[Upper Neches River]], creating Lake Palestine as a reliable source of water, was begun in 1960, and completed in 1962. A municipal water authority manages this resource. The dam was enlarged from 1969 to 1972 to 75 feet high, and 5,720 feet long.<ref name="Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority - About Blackburn Dam">{{cite web|url= http://www.unrmwa.org/aboutus/blackburndam.html|title= Upper Neches River Municipal Water Authority|access-date= September 16, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161009020959/http://www.unrmwa.org/aboutus/blackburndam.html|archive-date= 2016-10-09|url-status= dead}}</ref> About 40% of the content from the 2003 [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster]] was recovered, seven astronauts were killed in the accident.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/10/dairy-survived |title=Diary Survived Shuttle Accident, Goes On Display |quote=cardboard-covered, three-ring bound .. found wet and crumpled .. field .. Palestine, Texas. |author=Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides |date=October 2008}}</ref> Debris from ''Columbia'' was found in and outside Palestine and other East Texas towns.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=LATimes.com [[Los Angeles Times]] |title=Pride Turns to Grief and Disbelief in Israel |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-feb-02-na-israel2-story.html |date=February 2, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.universetoday.com/19198/astronaut-diary-survives-columbia-accident/|title=Astronaut Diary Survives Columbia Accident |date=6 October 2008|publisher= Universe Today}}</ref> Palestine's [[NASA]] [[Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility]] (renamed in honor of the shuttle crew), has flown 1,700 high-altitude balloons for universities and research agencies. On November 15, 2015, a [[Gun violence in the United States|mass shooting]] took place at a campsite several miles northwest of Palestine. Six people were killed by an intoxicated neighbor who was upset about losing his family's land. The shooter was charged with capital murder.<ref>{{cite web |author=KLTV Digital Media Staff |url=http://www.kltv.com/story/30528560/sheriff-six-killed-in-campsite-homicide-suspect-charged |title=Sheriff, six killed in campsite homicide, suspect charged |website=KLTV ABC|date=November 16, 2015 }}</ref> He was convicted and sentenced to death by a [[Brazos County, Texas|Brazos County]] jury on November 15, 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/man-convicted-of-killing-6-in-texas-gets-death-penalty|title=Man convicted of killing 6 in Texas gets death penalty|work=Associated Press|agency=KEYE-TV}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page