WELCOME to Trinidad

Trinidad (2020 population 860) is in western Henderson County along the Trinity River, with which the city has a close, historical relationship. Many know Trinidad for the soaring State Highway 31 bridge over the waterway, which was built in the early 1970s in hopes of making the river a navigable canal to Dallas.

Settlement around Trinidad started before 1840, when O. M. Airheart ran the local ferry across the river. Zach Smith operated a ferry four miles north of the present townsite. By 1844 the town recorded a general store and a saloon. It became known as Trinity Switch, for its location on the Trinity River, when it became a station on the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (also known as “The Cotton Belt Route”) in 1880.

When residents applied for a post office in 1880, the name Trinidad was chosen (instead of Trinity Switch) to avoid duplication with another post office with the same name. Records suggest, however, that the Trinidad post office was not actually opened until 1891.

The sleepy river town had a major change in the 1920s, when Texas Power & Light (TP&L) built a lignite coal-fired power plant just south of town. Luminant owns the plant now, generating 244 megawatts of energy with its 1965-era natural gasfired plant, which is enough to power about 49,000 homes in periods of peak demand.

The power plant had a community gathering spot along its cooling lake and had housing for its workers. The area thrived; Lone Star Gas also built a facility in Trinidad, which still operates under Enbridge Energy. Nipak, which produced fertilizer, opened in the 1960s across the river in Navarro County and was a major employer and contributor to Trinidad’s history.

Trinidad is known for its close-knit community and spirited homecoming activities centered around its red-brick school, the original portion of which was built in the 1920s. The Trinidad Trojans boast the only state football championship for a Henderson County school, winning the 1998 six-man title, finishing off a perfect 15-0 State championship season by beating 12 of their opponents by the 45-point mercy rule.

By Russell Slaton