Groom, TX Founded 1902 by W. S. Wilkerson, local landowner, when Rock Island Railroad built west; named for Col. B. B. Groom, 1880s agent of Franklyn Land & Cattle Co. Col. Groom was first to try power farming on Plains. Town is today hub of rich farming and ranching area. Credit: State Of Texas
Jones Creek, TX Originally a part of Stephen F. Austin’s 1828 Mexican land grant, Durazno (Spanish for ‘peach’) plantation was willed by Austin to his sister, Emily Austin Bryan Perry, upon his death in December 1836. The property was deeded in 1847 to Emily’s son, William Joel Bryan, who developed it into a cotton and [ Read More ]
Freeport vicinity, TX ‘ Founded 1828 by Henry Wm. Munson, who bought site from Stephen F. Austin, Father of Texas. This land joined Peach Point Plantation, Austin’s home. Munson, one of Texans in uprising over injustices at Anahuac and Velasco in 1832, died in yellow fever epidemic in 1833. (1965)’ Credit: State Of Texas
Marathon, TX Black Gap, a natural cleft in the basalt ridge northeast of the Sierra del Carmen the headquaters site of the Black Gap Wildlife Mangement Area. Established in 1948, the ‘Gap’ contains approximately 100,000 acres representative of the rugged big country- the typical arid, mountainous southwest. Owned by the people of Texas and operated [ Read More ]
San Antonio, TX Because of fertile soil and abundant water, was a favored dwelling place and hunting ground for south Texas Indian tribes in Pre-Columbian times. In 1709 Spanish explorers discovered and named Salado Creek; soon after, this valley beame a well-known resting and watering spot between San Antonio and all points east. In 1731, [ Read More ]
TX Old San Pedro Springs–near this site–noted camping spot 5 miles from city. Used by U.S. Army, Mexican War, 1846-48. Often scene of summer picnics and political speeches, 1850′s. On surrender to confederate Texas of all federal troops in state, it was site of prisoner of war camp for a short time. For Quarters, prisoners [ Read More ]
TX Built in 1901 for German immigrant Otto Koehler (1855-1914), this home was among the first in this area. Koehler, president of the Pearl Brewing Company, employed local architect Carl Von Seutter to design the home. One of the most spectacular examples of turn-of-the century Eclecticism in San Antonio, with outbuildings and grounds intact, the [ Read More ]
Killeen, ‘ The only remaining legible headstone in this graveyard reveals that the cemetery dates to the late 19th century. The grave of James Moses Cowan (1834-1888) is believed to be one of 12-20 burials. Other graves are marked with plain stones or remain unadorned. According to local tradition, members of the pioneer O.M. Hood [ Read More ]
Bastrop State Park Refectory on Park Road 1A, 2 mi. E on Loop 150, Bastrop, TX ‘President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U. S. Congress, as part of the New Deal efforts to offer unemployed workers jobs on public projects, created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in March 1933. Due to decades of lumbering activities, [ Read More ]
201 Ramona, Smithville, TX ‘Prominent area land developer and merchant J. H. Chancellor (1876-1938) built this residence about 1909. The house was located in the center of Smithville’s business district, near the railroad depot and several hotels. It exhibits Classical Revival (balustrade, stone lintels and sills, and 2-story fluted columns) and Romanesque (distinctive arched porch [ Read More ]
