Merryville sits three miles from the Sabine River and the Texas line, and its museum tells the story nobody else tells: the Grabow Riot of 1912, when a gun battle between striking timber workers and company guards at the Galloway Lumber Company mill killed four and wounded forty. It was one of the deadliest labor incidents in Southern history, and it broke the Brotherhood of Timber Workers — the only integrated labor union in the early-20th-century South. The museum keeps the original IWW organizer photographs, Galloway mill ledgers, and spent shell casings pulled from the mill yard. Burr's Ferry on the Sabine, where Confederates skirmished with Union patrols in 1864, is six miles west.
- ·The Grabow Riot of July 7, 1912 killed four and ended the Brotherhood of Timber Workers — the only integrated Southern labor union of its era
- ·Museum holds original IWW organizer photos, Galloway Lumber ledgers, and recovered shell casings from the mill yard
- ·Merryville is three miles from the Sabine River and the Texas state line
- ·Burr's Ferry, site of an 1864 Civil War skirmish, is six miles west on LA-8
- ·Visitor tip: open Fri–Sat, donation-based; pair with a drive to Burr's Ferry overlook
Memories
Editorial content compiled with AI assistance. Place details verified against public records.