06/03/2026
Montgomery County is the third oldest county in the state and is one of the oldest cities in the state as well. The difficulties faced by early settlers as well as the upheaval caused by the Civil War means that not all of the names on gravestones in our three cemeteries are well known to today's residents, and not all of the reasons for naming streets and other places survive today.
Eva Street is one of the names that perplexes today's residents who look for, and fail to find, an Eva amongst the wives and daughters of early prominent citizens.
When Montgomery was first founded, the main roads (primarily today's Hwys 105 & 149) were known by the cities that they led to. This would have been a very useful tool for visitors who needed to find their way via the Washington Road to the General Convention in 1836, which led to the Texas Declaration of Independence. The Danville Road took a rider north out of town.
At some point, this nomenclature faded, and the names Eva Street and Liberty Street began to be used. While not definitely the origin of the street's name, Eva Francis Martin was born in 1853 in Montgomery, Texas. Her father was Robert Ball Martin, a well-to-do and influential businessman in the city who worked for the Willis brothers. Her mother was sister-in-law to the highly popular and proficient Dr. Arnold. Her parents would have been well known but not amongst the city's founders or wealthiest citizens.
Eva Martin may also have been the Miss Eva mentioned in several of Zach Landrum's letters home while serving in the Confederate Army. Zach (grandson of one of Montgomery's pioneering landowners) was to die in 1867, shortly after the end of the war. He was significantly older than Eva Martin, having been born in 1839, so perhaps he spoke of a different Miss Eva, whom we have yet to find. However, Eva did not marry until 1877, so it remains a possibility.
