Big Sandy, Texas

How Big Sandy is governed

Big Sandy appears to be an unincorporated community or a census-designated place, so it may have no city government of its own — services usually come from Upshur County and its elected officials. The chart below is a generic template; readers can correct it if Big Sandy does have local officials.

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0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

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  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

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    Presides over the municipal court.

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Population over time

From 1,360 in 2008 to 1,231 in 2020 (−9.5%).

History

Big Sandy is about 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Gilmer, Texas, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Texas State Highway 155 in Upshur County. It was established shortly after the American Civil War. The settlement was first known as Big Sandy Switch because a stretch of the Texas and Pacific Railroad was built through the area and eventually intersected with a narrow-gauge railroad called the Tyler Tap (both lines are now part of today's Union Pacific). A post office was followed by a newspaper, stores, and churches. In 1926, the settlement was incorporated as Big Sandy, with a population of about 850.

Worldwide Church of God

During the 1950s, Big Sandy became linked to a religious movement that would greatly influence the community for four decades. Local resident Buck Hammer was a member of the Radio Church of God (which later became known as the Worldwide Church of God), a California-based, Sabbatarian movement headed by radio evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong. Hammer donated a small parcel of land (less than 10 acres) to the church, which built a meeting hall and began holding annual church conventions there by the middle 1950s.

The church in subsequent years bought hundreds more acres adjacent to the original site. Thousands of church members converged on Big Sandy and surrounding communities for the week-long Feast of Tabernacles each year, creating a significant economic impact. In the mid-1960s, Armstrong developed more of the property and established a second campus of Ambassador College, the original campus of which continued to operate at the church's headquarters facility in Pasadena, California. The presence of the college, along with the annual convention operation, influenced hundreds of church members to relocate to Big Sandy and the surrounding area over the years. Although Ambassador ceased operations in 1997 (roughly a decade after Armstrong's death and after his successor repudiated much of Armstrong's original teachings), many families once affiliated with it and the church chose to remain in the Big Sandy area.

In March 2000, the campus was sold to the Green Family Trust (owner of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.), which leased it to the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP). It was then developed as the International ALERT Academy, the home of the Air Land Emergency Resource Team (ALERT), a Christian program training young men in disaster relief and emergency services. The academy also serves as a camp and conference center and holds four-week summer programs for boys and girls. It now serves as the official headquarters of IBLP after it relocated from the Chicago area, where it was founded (this took place after Bill Gothard, IBLP's founder and president, resigned amidst controversy over allegations of sexual misconduct).

Needlecraft businesses

In the late 1970s, local residents Jerry Gentry and Annie Potter began a mail-order business from their home in Big Sandy and called it Annie's Attic. The business grew rapidly into a multimillion-dollar enterprise, publishing magazines and catalogs for needlecraft enthusiasts. After the couple divorced in the early 1980s, Annie continued to preside over Annie's Attic, while Jerry launched a near-replicate business called the Needlecraft Shop, also in Big Sandy. By the 1990s, both businesses had been purchased in separate transactions by Dynamic Resource Group (DRG), a publishing company in Berne, Indiana. DRG management moved both companies' operations to Indiana. Before doing so, it established a new company, Strategic Fulfillment Group (SFG), on the southwest edge of Big Sandy. SFG, which handles mailing and subscription fulfillment for DRG and other clients, is now Big Sandy and Upshur County's largest employer.

"Texas' Largest Manhunt"

On July 10–11, 1986, more than 1,000 law enforcement officers responded to Big Sandy Chief of Police Richard Lingle's request for assistance after convicted murderer Jerry "The Animal" McFadden escaped from the Upshur County jail. He took jailer Rosalie Williams, the wife of a Department of Public Safety trooper, as hostage. Lingle broadcast his call for help after Upshur County authorities were unable to track down McFadden and his hostage that evening. Responding officers securely cordoned off the city, leaving McFadden little chance of escape, and he was recaptured and returned to jail. Due to severe overcrowding in prisons, he had been paroled, despite a past marked by violence, and committed additional crimes. McFadden was executed in October 1999 for the murder of Suzanne Denise Harrison, a teen from nearby Hawkins.

Sports

The Big Sandy High School football team won three Texas Class B state championships in consecutive years 1973–1975. Although the state finals game in 1974 ended in a 0–0 tie (vs Celina), UIL granted both teams co-championships. In 2005, the Wildcats again reached the state 1-A finals, falling 21–20 to Stratford.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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