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Thackerville, Oklahoma

Everything Thackerville is known for

1 song mention this city 1 artist from here

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Music in Thackerville

Songs About Thackerville

Make the World a Small Town
Jenna Paulette
55%
"Felt like Thackerville to me"

Artists From Thackerville

J
Jenna Paulette
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Thackerville

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Thackerville.

Interstate 35 45 songs Red River 88 songs Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad 3 songs

History of Thackerville

The River That Started a War Over Oil RoadyGoat

1919

The Red River is not like most borders. Most state lines are surveyed and fixed. The Red River moves. It floods, shifts course, carves new channels, and abandons old ones. For decades nobody cared much about which side of the river owned the muddy bottomland. Then in 1919, Texas drillers struck oil in the riverbed near Burkburnett, and suddenly the exact location of the border was worth millions. Texas claimed the border ran along the middle of the river. Oklahoma claimed the border was the south bank, meaning Oklahoma owned the entire riverbed. The federal government stepped in and claimed the south half belonged to the United States as trustee for the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, whose treaty lands originally included the riverbed. Three sovereigns, one muddy river, and a fortune in oil underneath it. The Supreme Court spent four years sorting it out. In 1923, the Court ruled that the border followed the south bank as cut by normal water flow, giving Oklahoma the riverbed. Texas kept the oil wells on the floodplain south of the bank. The federal government got the south half in trust for the tribes. It was one of the most complicated boundary decisions in American history, and the river has kept moving ever since.

7.5 mi away

America's Medal of Honor Host City RoadyGoat

2001

Of all the towns in America, only one has made itself the official home for the nation's living Medal of Honor recipients. Since 2001, Gainesville has run the country's Medal of Honor Host City Program, the only initiative of its kind. Every April the city welcomes recipients as honored guests, then celebrates them with a formal banquet and a full citywide parade. Over the years the program has hosted the overwhelming majority of the nation's living recipients, an extraordinary reach for a town of roughly sixteen thousand people. The commitment earned Gainesville national recognition in 2012, when a Rand McNally survey named it the Most Patriotic Small Town in America. For a place built by cattle drivers and circus amateurs, it became a stage for the country's highest honor.

11.2 mi away

The Depot, the Harvey House, and Tower 164 RoadyGoat

1887

The red-brick Santa Fe Depot on East California Street was built in 1902 by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, replacing a smaller frame station from the 1890s. Its ground floor held a Harvey House, part of the famous chain of railroad restaurants, which ran here until 1931. Because the Santa Fe line crossed the older Katy railroad in Gainesville, the two met at a busy junction. In 1931 an interlocking plant, Tower 164, was installed to govern that crossing. An interlocker is a signal-and-switch system engineered so conflicting train routes physically cannot be lined up at once, preventing collisions. During World War Two, traffic to nearby Camp Howze made Gainesville the eighth-busiest station on the entire Santa Fe in 1944. The depot joined the National Register in 1983 and still serves Amtrak's Heartland Flyer.

11.2 mi away

Site of Camp Howze

1942

(One mile west) In operation from 1942 to 1946, Camp Howze served as an infantry training facility during World War II. It was named for General Robert Lee Howze (1864-1926), a native Texan whose distinguished career in the United States Army began with his graduation from West Point and included service in France, Puerto Rico, Germany, a South Dakota Indian War and the Philippine Insurrection, 1899-1902. Clifford McMahon of the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce first contacted federal authorities with the idea of establishing a military installation here. Attracted by the community's active endorsement of the plan, the government activated Camp Howze on August 17, 1942, under the command of Colonel John P. Wheeler. In addition to infantry training, the base was also the site of a German prisoner of war camp and an air support command base, now part of the Gainesville Municipal Airport. Services provided for the soldiers included camp exchanges, libraries, chapels, theaters, service clubs and a base newspaper, the "Camp Howze Howitzer." The economic and social impact of Camp Howze on Gainesville was significant and was instrumental in the town's rapid growth and development. (1982)

Historical Marker → · 7.4 mi away

First Oil Well in Cooke County

1924

Located on the Bud W Davis Farm (1 mile E), Cooke County's first producing oil well came in on Nov 9, 1924, heralding the beginning of a multi-million dollar industry and a new life style for the surrounding farm community. Carnival atmosphere prevailed while sightseers and reporters flocked to the lease. One enterprising man charged admission until questioned by a worker. The discovery well, drilled by C.A. Doudrick's Big Indian Oil Company continued to produce until 1970 when it was plugged.

Historical Marker → · 9.6 mi away

Callisburg, TX

1846

Callisburg is eleven miles northeast of Gainesville in eastern Cooke County. The town was near the Butterfield Overland Mail route and on the Mormon Trail, a route established in 1846 by a group of Mormons led by Lyman Wight , who were migrating to Texas. The community was named for blacksmith Sam Callis, the first settler there. By 1873 a post office had been established at the community in Billy Rousseau's dry-goods and grocery store, and ten years later Callisburg reported a population of 300, a school, and some twenty businesses, including a steam gristmill-cotton gin. By 1902, however, its population had declined to about 110, and its post office had closed. In 1902 residents thought an electric rail line was to be built between Gainesville and Sherman to the east; Callisburg was to be used as the headquarters for this line, but the project never developed. In 1924 the Big Indian Oil and Development Company Well No. 1 was drilled on B. W. Davis's farm, a mile east of Callisburg. The community's population level fluctuated between 110 and 200 until the early 1970s, when it dropped sharply to around sixty-eight. By 1980, however, Callisburg had become incorporated, and by 1988 its population had reached a new reported high of 329. In 1988 the town had two churches, two stores, a volunteer fire department, a city hall, a community center, and its own independent school district. Its population was 344 in 1990 and grew to 365 in 2000.

Tsha Handbook → · 9.4 mi away

Sivells Bend United Methodist Church

1868

This congregation formed in 1868 as Sivells Bend Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Brothers William W. and Addison Y. Gunter conveyed two acres to church trustees E. L. Allen, WM. Midkiff and George Dillard in 1880. A large two-story church, school and masonic lodge burned in 1893. W. W. Gunter deeded the current site in 1910. The present frame church has had continuous services since its 1912 construction. During WWII, families taught Sunday school even without a supplied pastor. Later, Sivells Bend shared pastors with other Methodist churches, but has had its own pastors since 1950. Community involvement and regular worship shows a continuing focus on the true spirit of God.

Historical Marker → · 6.5 mi away

Great Hanging At Gainesville

1862

Forty suspected Unionists in Confederate Texas were hanged at Gainesville in October 1862. Two others were shot as they tried to escape. Although the affair reached its climax in Cooke County, men were killed in neighboring Grayson, Wise, and Denton counties. Most were accused of treason or insurrection, but evidently few had actually conspired against the Confederacy, and many were innocent of the abolitionist sentiments for which they were tried. The Great Hanging was the result of several years of building tension. The completion of the Butterfield Overland Mail route from St. Louis through Gainesville brought many new people from the upper South and Midwest into Cooke County. By 1860 fewer than 10 percent of the heads of households owned slaves. The slaveholders increasingly feared the influence of Kansas abolitionists in every unrest. In the summer of 1860 several slaves and a northern Methodist minister were lynched in North Texas. Cooke and the surrounding counties voted against secession and thus focused the fears of planters on the nonslaveholders in the region. Rumors of Unionist alliances with Kansas Jayhawkers and Indians along the Red River, together with the petition of E. Junius Foster, editor of the Sherman Patriot , to separate North Texas as a new free state, brought emotions to a fever pitch. Actual opposition to the Confederacy in Cooke County began with the Conscription Acts of April 1862. Thirty men signed a petition protesting the exemption of large slaveholders from the draft and sent it to the Congress at Richmond. Brig. Gen. William Hudson, commander of the militia district around Gainesville, exiled their leader, but others who remained used the petition to enlist a nucleus for a Union League in Cooke and nearby counties. The members were not highly unified, and their purposes differed with each clique. Most joined to resist the draft and provide common defense against roving Indians and renegades. Rumors began to circulate, however, of a membership of over 1,700 and of plans for an assault when the group had recruited enough men. Fearing that the stories of Unionist plots to storm the militia arsenals at Gainesville and Sherman might prove to be true, Hudson activated the state troops in North Texas in late September 1862 and ordered the arrest of all able-bodied men who did not report for duty. Texas state troops led by Col. James G. Bourland arrested more than 150 men on the morning of October 1. In Gainesville he and Col. William C. Young of the Eleventh Texas Cavalry , home on sick leave, supervised the collection of a "citizen's court" of twelve jurors. Bourland and Young together owned nearly a fourth of the slaves in Cooke County, and seven of the jurors chosen were slaveholders. Their decision to convict on a majority vote was a bad omen for the prisoners, all of whom were accused of insurrection or treason and none of whom owned slaves. The military achieved its goal of eliminating the leadership of the Union League in Cooke County when the jury condemned seven influential Unionists, but an angry mob took matters into its own hands and lynched fourteen more before the jurors recessed. Violence in Gainesville peaked the next week when unknown assassins killed Young and James Dickson. The decision already made to release the rest of the prisoners was reversed, and many were tried again. Nineteen more men were convicted and hanged. Their execution was supervised by Capt. Jim Young, Colonel Young's son. Brig. Gen. James W. Throckmorton prevented the execution of all but five men in Sherman, but in Decatur, Capt. John Hale supervised a committee that hanged five suspects. A Southern partisan shot a prisoner in Denton. Texas newspapers generally applauded the hangings, disparaged the Unionists as traitors and common thieves, and insisted they had material support from Kansas abolitionists and the Lincoln administration. The state government condoned the affair. Gov. Francis Richard Lubbock , an a

Tsha Handbook → · 11.0 mi away

Austin, Gene

1923

Gene Austin, singer and composer, was born Eugene Lucas on June 24, 1900, in Gainesville, Texas. He was the son of Nova Lucas and Serena Belle (Harrell) Lucas. His parents divorced, and his mother married Jim Austin, a blacksmith. Eugene took the surname of his stepfather. He grew up in small towns in Louisiana, joined the United States Army when he was fifteen, participated in the expedition sent to capture Francisco (Pancho) Villa in 1916, and served in France during World War I . He studied both dentistry and law in Baltimore, but decided on a singing career. Though he composed more than 100 songs, Austin never learned to read music. He was one of the original crooners, and his tenor voice was well-known in the early days of radio and on the hand-cranked phonographs of the 1920s and 1930s. His RCA Victor recordings sold a total of more than 86 million copies; one of the recordings, "My Blue Heaven" (recorded in1927), sold over 12 million records. Austin started his recording career in 1923, and the next year Jimmy McHugh produced his first hit song, "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street," with lyrics by Austin and Irving Mills. Other hit songs Austin introduced were "My Melancholy Baby," "Girl of My Dreams," "Ramona," "Carolina Moon," and "Sleepy Time Gal." His compositions included "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" and "Lonesome Road." In the 1930s Austin debuted in the movies, which included Sadie McKee (1934) and Gift of Gab (1934) . Over the years he was also featured on numerous radio programs. In 1939 he began working with Billy Wehle in a musical-comedy tent show that spent the winter in Gainesville and opened in 1940 during the Circus Roundup of the Gainesville Community Circus . Austin was a nightclub entertainer in the 1930s, but then his career waned. After his life was dramatized in a television special in the late 1950s, he resumed nightclub appearances. He continued to write songs until the last ten months of his life, when he developed lung cancer. Austin spent most of his adult life in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in 1962 he ran for governor there, but lost badly to the incumbent, Grant Sawyer. He was married five times. He married Kathryn Arnold in 1924, and they had one daughter. After a divorce in 1929, Austin married Agnes Antelline in 1933. They had one daughter but divorced in 1940. Austin's third wife was Doris Sherrell (married in 1940 and divorced in 1946). He was then married to LouCeil Hudson from 1949 to 1966; they divorced. He married his fifth wife, Gigi Theodorea, in 1967. Austin died on January 24, 1972, in Palm Springs, California, and was survived by his wife Gigi and his two daughters. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Austin received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His 1927 recording of "My Blue Heaven" received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1978. He was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2005 for his 1926 rendition of "Bye Bye Blackbird," the first recording of that song.

Tsha Handbook → · 10.3 mi away

Everything Near Thackerville

158 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Thackerville · Eohc

    You're driving through Thackerville, right near the Texas border. This town owes its start to Zachariah Thacker, who in the mid-1800s, was just camping out for the night. He was supposed to keep going to Texas, but he…

  • I-35 Purple Heart Trail — The Red River End · 2.3 mi · Verified Web

    You've been on the Purple Heart Trail this whole drive — every mile of Interstate 35 in Texas carries the designation. Coming up at the Red River, you're about to leave the Texas portion and enter Oklahoma's. The Texas…

  • Sivells Bend United Methodist Church · 6.5 mi · Historical Marker

    This congregation formed in 1868 as Sivells Bend Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Brothers William W. and Addison Y. Gunter conveyed two acres to church trustees E. L. Allen, WM. Midkiff and George Dillard in 1880. A…

  • Site of Camp Howze · 7.4 mi · Historical Marker

    (One mile west) In operation from 1942 to 1946, Camp Howze served as an infantry training facility during World War II. It was named for General Robert Lee Howze (1864-1926), a native Texan whose distinguished career in…

  • The River That Started a War Over Oil · 7.5 mi

    The Red River is not like most borders. Most state lines are surveyed and fixed. The Red River moves. It floods, shifts course, carves new channels, and abandons old ones. For decades nobody cared much about which side…

  • Callisburg, TX · 9.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Callisburg is eleven miles northeast of Gainesville in eastern Cooke County. The town was near the Butterfield Overland Mail route and on the Mormon Trail, a route established in 1846 by a group of Mormons led by Lyman…

  • First Oil Well in Cooke County · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker

    Located on the Bud W Davis Farm (1 mile E), Cooke County's first producing oil well came in on Nov 9, 1924, heralding the beginning of a multi-million dollar industry and a new life style for the surrounding farm…

  • Callisburg United Methodist Church · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Callisburg United Methodist Church. The congregation was officially organized in August 1896, with the first baptisms recorded then. Land for this site was purchased in 1898, and the first church…

  • Van Slyke Cemetery · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Van Slyke Cemetery, established way back in 1883. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2005.

  • Austin, Gene · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Gene Austin, singer and composer, was born Eugene Lucas on June 24, 1900, in Gainesville, Texas. He was the son of Nova Lucas and Serena Belle (Harrell) Lucas. His parents divorced, and his mother married Jim Austin, a…

  • Barrett, Thomas C. · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, near Gainesville, and right here is where one of Texas's darkest chapters unfolded during the Civil War. In October 1862, a supposed Union plot sparked a wave of fear and paranoia.…

  • Bourland, James G. · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, and right here is where one of the most notorious events of the Civil War in Texas unfolded: the Great Hanging at Gainesville. James G. Bourland, a soldier and state senator, was put…

Show all 158 nearby places
  • Cooke County · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, right on the Oklahoma border. Back in 1862, this area was deeply divided by the Civil War. While most citizens here voted against secession, Confederate sentiment ran strong. In a…

  • Diamond, George Washington · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, perhaps near Gainesville. Back in late 1862, this area was gripped by fear and violence. George Washington Diamond, a Confederate soldier, visited his brother James here, just weeks…

  • Hickman, Thomas R. · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, Texas, where Thomas R. Hickman made a name for himself. Born right here in 1886, Hickman wasn't just any lawman. He joined the legendary Texas Rangers in 1919 and rose to Captain, a…

  • Hulen, John Augustus · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, the home of John Augustus Hulen, a man whose life story is as vast as the Texas landscape he helped shape. Born in Missouri, Hulen moved to Gainesville as a boy and made Texas his…

  • Lynching · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, a region that saw one of the most horrific acts of mob violence in state history. Right here, back in October of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1862</say-as>, tensions ran…

  • Paddock, Charles William · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Gainesville, Texas, the birthplace of Charles William Paddock, a man once known as the 'fastest human being.' Born in 1900, Paddock wasn't just fast; he was Olympic gold medal fast, winning the…

  • Young, William Cocke · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, Texas, not far from Gainesville, where a dark chapter of the Civil War unfolded: the Great Hanging of 1862. Colonel William Cocke Young, a man who'd served the Republic of Texas and…

  • Butterfield-Overland Stage Line · 10.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, right where one of the most ambitious mail routes in American history once passed. This was a station on the Butterfield Overland Mail Line, also known as the Southern Overland Mail.…

  • Gainesville, TX · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Gainesville, county seat of Cooke County, is in the county's approximate geographic center, on Interstate Highway 35 about sixty-seven miles north of Dallas. In the 1840s the first settlers arrived in the area,…

  • Bailey, Joseph Weldon · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, maybe headed towards Gainesville. Right here is where Joseph Weldon Bailey made his name, first as a lawyer, then as a powerful U.S. Congressman and Senator. He was a firebrand, a…

  • Gainesville Community Circus · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Gainesville, and right here, a town that loved its theater so much, it invented its own circus! Back in 1930, the Gainesville Little Theatre faced a deficit, so they decided to put on a burlesque…

  • Gunter, Lillian · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, and right here, in what is now Cooke County, you're passing through the hometown of Lillian Gunter. Born in 1870 near Sivells Bend, Gunter was a force of nature for libraries. She…

  • Hays, Margaret Parx · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Gainesville, Texas, a town with a rich history, and right here, you're passing through the legacy of Margaret Parx Hays. Born in Gainesville in 1912, Hays lived a remarkable life, serving as a…

  • Ragsdale, George Henry · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, Texas, right where George Henry Ragsdale spent decades as a dedicated naturalist. He moved here from Tennessee in 1867, and by the 1870s, he was the county surveyor and a passionate…

  • Stone, Theodore Charles · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Gainesville, Texas, the hometown of Theodore Charles Stone. Born in 1912, Stone grew up facing economic hardship, even working while in high school. But a chance encounter with a local organist…

  • Texas Association of Women's Clubs · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, and right here in Gainesville, back in 1905, a vital organization was born out of necessity. Black women, excluded from existing clubs, founded the Texas Association of Colored…

  • Dougherty, Francis M. · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, maybe near Gainesville. Right here, a merchant named Francis M. Dougherty made his mark. He served in the Texas House of Representatives in the mid-1850s, then fought as a Confederate…

  • Gilcreest, Jacob Edward · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, and right here in Gainesville, you're passing through the story of Dr. Jacob Gilcreest. He arrived in Texas in 1872, short on cash but long on ambition. The local medical board,…

  • Hill, Grover B. · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, maybe not far from where Grover B. Hill got his start. Born in Gainesville in 1889, Hill would go on to become a major player in national agriculture policy, especially during the…

  • Hoffman, Frank J. · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Right here in Texas, maybe, we had the very first Texan to play major league baseball! His name was Frank Hoffman, nicknamed the "Texas Wonder." He pitched for Kansas City back in 1888, winning three games. Now, there's…

  • Hubert H. Moss Lake · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, not far from Gainesville. Right here is Hubert H. Moss Lake, completed back in 1966. But this lake exists because of one man's vision. Hubert Moss, a local school superintendent and…

  • Murrell, Jesse Craft · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, the heart of Texas ranching country. Right here, Jesse Craft Murrell made his mark. Born in Missouri, his family brought him to Texas in the 1850s, settling in Cooke County. Murrell…

  • North Central Texas College · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Gainesville, Texas, where a unique educational experiment began way back in 1924. It was called Gainesville Junior College, and get this: the first classes were held right inside the high school…

  • Roff, Charles L. · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cooke County, Texas, a place that saw action during the Civil War. Charles L. Roff, a farmer and stock raiser, arrived here in 1860. The very next year, he raised a company of Confederate cavalry.…

  • Woods, John William · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Denton County, Texas, a place that produced a man nicknamed the "cowboy speaker." John William Woods learned ranching in Callahan County, but his real impact came in Austin. As speaker…

  • Raht, Carlysle Graham · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Carlysle Graham Raht, author and publisher, son of Adolphus Washington and Ell May (Smartt) Raht, was born on September 13, 1880, probably in Gainesville, Texas, and grew up on the old Block Bar Ranch near Henrietta. He…

  • G. H. Ragsdale · 10.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, and right here is a marker for George Henry Ragsdale. Born in Tennessee in 1846, Ragsdale came to Cooke County in 1867 and served three terms as county surveyor. But his real passion…

  • Fairview Cemetery · 10.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Fairview Cemetery in Gainesville, a place with a story that begins with a tornado. In 1854, a twister struck the Howeth family cabin, tragically killing young Thomas and Louisa. They were the first…

  • Davis, William Owen · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, and you might just be passing the site of a remarkable legal and political career. W. O. Davis came to Texas after serving in the Confederate Army and opening his law practice in…

  • James Menees Lindsay · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gainesville, where James Menees Lindsay arrived on his 22nd birthday in 1857. He became a lawyer, judge, and state legislator, but his real impact was developing this town. Lindsay helped bring the…

  • J. D. "Ikard" Sugg · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the final resting place of J.D. 'Ikard' Sugg, a man who truly rode the frontier. Born in Mississippi in 1854, Sugg headed west after his mother's death, joining a cattle drive north from the Red…

  • Dougherty, F. M. · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gainesville, where F.M. Dougherty settled in 1858. After fighting in the Civil War, he returned to Cooke County to become a merchant and banker. Dougherty also served two terms in the Texas House of…

  • Great Hanging At Gainesville · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Forty suspected Unionists in Confederate Texas were hanged at Gainesville in October 1862. Two others were shot as they tried to escape. Although the affair reached its climax in Cooke County, men were killed in…

  • Rosston, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Rosston is on Farm Road 922 twenty miles from Gainesville in the southwestern part of Cooke County. White settlement of the area was in progress by January 5, 1865, when about 100 Indians from Indian Territory raided…

  • Eleventh Texas Cavalry · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Northeast Texas, the historic homeland of the Eleventh Texas Cavalry. Organized back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1861</say-as> in Grayson County, this Confederate regiment saw action…

  • Montague, Daniel · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, and right here, you're passing through country that Daniel Montague helped shape. He arrived in Texas in 1837, a surveyor and a leader. Montague was instrumental in early settler…

  • Brush Battalion · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, maybe near Gainesville in Cooke County, and you're passing through a place that was once home to the infamous Brush Battalion. These weren't your typical soldiers. In the fall of…

  • Bailey, Joseph Weldon (October 6, 1863-April 13, 1929) · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Gainesville birthplace of Joseph Weldon Bailey, a politician who made a huge splash in Washington D.C. Born in 1863, Bailey served Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives for a decade, then…

  • Hemming, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Hemming, 15½ miles south of Gainesville in extreme southern Cooke County, was established in 1889. It was named for Gainesville banker C. C. Hemming, who in 1890 donated land for a school there. A store and cotton gin…

  • Wolf Ridge, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Wolf Ridge was shown on maps in the early years of the twentieth century, sometimes as "Wolf Ridge Schoolhouse," situated seven miles northwest of Gainesville in north central Cooke County. The school community shared…

  • Cross Timbers · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through a landscape that was once a major landmark and obstacle for early Texans: the Cross Timbers. This isn't just one forest, but two long, narrow strips of blackjack and post oak running north-south…

  • Dexter, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Dexter is near the Red River twenty-five miles northeast of Gainesville in extreme northeastern Cooke County. It began as a town around 1870 with the arrival of the first settlers, Jesse Morris, S. E. and Dick Collum,…

  • Marysville, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Marysville is on South Fish Creek fifteen miles northwest of Gainesville in Cooke County. It had a post office from 1873 until the mid-1940s. It was named either in honor of Mary (Fitch) Corn, an early settler who moved…

  • Sivells Bend, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Sivells Bend is on Farm Road 1201 four miles from the Red River and twenty miles northwest of Gainesville in central north Cooke County. Simon and Bill Sivells, after whom the town was named, moved to the site from…

  • Bean, Robert · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, maybe near Gainesville or Montague. You're passing through the land that Robert Bean called home. He wasn't just a farmer and rancher; Bean served in the Confederate Army, fighting in…

  • Bloomfield, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Bloomfield was on a road that is now Farm Road 372, fifteen miles southeast of Gainesville in southeastern Cooke County. The community was reportedly settled in 1876 and had a post office from 1877 to 1907. Mrs.…

  • Hood, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Hood, fourteen miles southwest of Gainesville in Cooke County, received its name from A. P. Hood, an early farmer in the area in whose house the first post office was located. He moved from Parker County to Cooke County…

  • Mountain Springs, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Mountain Springs is at the intersection of Farm roads 922 and 372, twelve miles southeast of Gainesville in southeast Cooke County. The first school in Cooke County was established in 1847 three miles north of the…

  • Lindsay, TX · 11.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Lindsay, Texas, a town born from a German-Catholic colony. In 1891, land speculators Anton and August Flusche promoted this settlement along the railroad. Colonists began arriving in October of…

  • Gainesville · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gainesville, a town founded back in 1850. It's named for General Edmund P. Gaines, who helped the Republic of Texas way back in 1836. During the Civil War, this place was a major military supply hub,…

  • Cross Timbers, The · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Cross Timbers, a unique geographical feature that's been a landmark in Texas for centuries. These aren't just any woods; they're long, narrow strips of timber that run parallel to each other,…

  • America's Medal of Honor Host City · 11.2 mi

    Of all the towns in America, only one has made itself the official home for the nation's living Medal of Honor recipients. Since 2001, Gainesville has run the country's Medal of Honor Host City Program, the only…

  • The Depot, the Harvey House, and Tower 164 · 11.2 mi

    The red-brick Santa Fe Depot on East California Street was built in 1902 by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, replacing a smaller frame station from the 1890s. Its ground floor held a Harvey House, part of the…

  • Washington House (Sycamore Creek Ranch) · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Washington House, also known as Sycamore Creek Ranch, a real gem from <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1867</say-as>. Imagine hauling lumber by ox team all the way from Jefferson, Texas, to…

  • The Forty Acres That Became Gainesville · 11.2 mi

    Gainesville was laid out in 1850 on a forty-acre tract donated by Mary E. Clark, and it became the seat of Cooke County the same year. Residents first called it Liberty, but that name was already taken, so Colonel…

  • Santa Fe Passenger Depot · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Gainesville, and right here is the old Santa Fe Passenger Depot. Built around 1902, this red brick beauty was a hub for the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad during a time when Gainesville…

  • American Paint Horse Association · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, home to the American Paint Horse Association! Back in 1962, sixteen horse lovers met right here to create a new registry for these colorful stock horses, descendants of those brought…

  • The Amateur Circus of Gainesville · 11.3 mi

    In May 1930 the Gainesville Little Theatre faced a three-hundred-dollar deficit and a public that suddenly preferred talking movies. Their answer was a home-grown circus. Register editor A. Morton Smith organized the…

  • Great Hanging at Gainesville, 1862 · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, Texas, where in October of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1862</say-as>, fear and paranoia gripped the community. Whispers of a Unionist 'Peace Party' planning to overthrow…

  • Gainesville Community Circus · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, and right here, a community once put on a show that wowed the nation! It all started in 1930 with a theater group's parody, which revealed a surprising number of talented amateurs.…

  • Gainesville-Fort Sill Road · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving near Gainesville, heading towards Oklahoma, and you're on a historic route. In the late 1870s, the U.S. Army needed better roads to supply forts out west. Fort Sill, in what's now Oklahoma, needed a…

  • Barbed Wire in Cooke County · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gainesville, and right here is where a revolution in Texas ranching began. Before barbed wire, keeping cattle contained was a constant struggle. In 1875, Henry B. Sanborn, a salesman for Joseph…

  • Cooke County C.S.A. (2nd Frontier Regiment) · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, the heart of Cooke County's Civil War efforts. Even though most folks here voted against secession, nine military units answered the call to serve the Confederacy. This region was…

  • Cooke County Courthouse · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Gainesville, and right here is the Cooke County Courthouse. It's the fourth courthouse to stand on this very spot since the county was formed in 1848. The first two were lost to fires, and the…

  • Moffett Park · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past what used to be Moffett Park in Gainesville. This land was originally owned by Ned Moffett, Sr., a Missouri native who married Mary Stone in 1866. The Moffetts, who were listed as Mulatto in early…

  • Gainesville National Bank · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, and right here in this block is where Texas finance got a start. Back on October 21, 1882, prominent landowners J. M. Lindsay and C. C. Hemming opened the Gainesville National Bank.…

  • Cooke County · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cooke County, Texas, established back in 1848 and organized the very next year. It’s named for William G. Cooke, a man who lived a busy life in the young Republic of Texas. Cooke was a Captain of…

  • Nelson Log House · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Nelson Log House, built around 1861 by Robert Carroll Nelson. He used local post oak logs and ironstone for this home where he and his wife raised six children. Nelson also served Cooke County as…

  • Saint Paul's Church · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Saint Paul's Church in Gainesville, founded way back on May 10, 1877. The cornerstone was laid in 1884 on land donated by Judge J. M. Lindsay. This building, with its local brick and limestone…

  • Frank Buck: Bring 'Em Back Alive · 11.4 mi

    Frank Buck was born in Gainesville on March 17, 1884, and grew into one of the most famous adventurers of his age. From the 1910s on he mounted expeditions into Asia, shipping more than a hundred thousand live animals…

  • The Great Hanging of 1862 · 11.4 mi

    As you pass through the center of Gainesville, you're near the site of the town's most infamous and tragic event. In October 1862, during the height of the Civil War, this area was gripped by fear. A secret Union Loyal…

  • The Town That Ran a Circus · 11.4 mi

    Imagine a town where your banker is a trapeze artist and your teacher is a clown. For nearly 30 years, that was Gainesville. In 1930, at the start of the Great Depression, the town was struggling. To lift spirits and…

  • Gainesville, TX · 11.4 mi

    One of the most notable events in Gainesville's history is the Great Hanging at Gainesville in 1862, during the Civil War. This was a controversial trial and lynching of 40 suspected Union loyalists, which brought the…

  • How the Railroad Engineered a City · 11.4 mi

    The town you see today was fundamentally engineered by the railroad. Before the mid-1880s, Gainesville was a frontier county seat on the Chisholm Trail cattle route, connected to the world by horse and wagon. That…

  • Cooke County Free Library · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, where a pioneering spirit in public service took root. Back in 1913, librarian Lillian Gunter and a local women's club landed a Carnegie grant for a library building. But Gunter…

  • W. T. G. Weaver · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gainesville, home of W. T. G. Weaver, a man who wore two hats in 19th-century Texas. Born in 1832, Weaver came to Texas as a boy and eventually became a lawyer, serving as district attorney and even…

  • City Hall-Fire Station, Old · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gainesville's Old City Hall and Fire Station, built way back in 1884. Imagine this building bustling with activity! The first floor housed the fire station, complete with ladder trucks, hose wagons,…

  • First United Methodist Church of Gainesville · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past First United Methodist Church of Gainesville. Formed in 1852, this congregation shared its first meeting place with two other denominations and the Masonic Lodge. A frame church building was erected…

  • The Cathedral of the Prairie · 11.5 mi

    The massive church that towers over Lindsay is St. Peter's, and its scale is astonishing for a town that, even today, has only about a thousand people. This wasn't built by a wealthy benefactor; it was built by the…

  • A Town Built on a Plan · 11.5 mi

    Lindsay is a town born from a blueprint. In 1891 the Flusche brothers, Anton and August, signed a series of contracts with Judge J. M. Lindsay, W. W. Howeth and others for 9,300 acres sitting right on the railroad. They…

  • Manufacturing a Cathedral · 11.5 mi

    The story of Lindsay's St. Peter's Church is a story of a community that built the same church twice. The colony's first church was a little frame box, put up for eight hundred dollars, where Mass was first said on…

  • Davis House · 11.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Davis House in Gainesville, a Queen Anne beauty built in 1891. Its builder, William O. Davis, came to Texas in 1870 after serving in the Civil War. He became a prominent lawyer, served the area…

  • Saint Peter's Catholic Church · 11.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lindsay, and right here stands Saint Peter's Catholic Church, a testament to faith and ingenuity. Organized in 1892, the original church was lost to a cyclone. But these German settlers didn't…

  • The Houston House · 11.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Houston House in Gainesville, a real showstopper built in 1898. Mrs. Frances Houston, who inherited a Cooke County fortune, commissioned this magnificent home. It's a prime example of frontier…

  • Gainesville State School · 11.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Gainesville State School, which began in 1916 as the Texas State Training School for Girls. It offered education and vocational skills, later becoming racially integrated in 1966 and…

  • Clark, Randolph Lee (1871-1941) · 11.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, and right here is the site of a major step in Texas higher education. Randolph Lee Clark arrived in Gainesville in 1924, already an experienced educator who'd served as superintendent…

  • Gainesville Junior College · 11.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Texas's oldest continuously operating public two-year college. It started in 1924 as Gainesville Junior College, with just 32 students in the high school building. Over the decades, it…

  • Hubert H. Moss · 11.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gainesville, where a visionary educator named Hubert H. Moss left his mark. Born here in 1892, Moss served in World War I, then returned to teach, eventually becoming a professor and a trusted…

  • Newsome Dougherty Memorial High School · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Gainesville, and right here is the site of the former Newsome Dougherty Memorial High School. Back in 1920, the city desperately needed a new high school, but the money just wasn't there. Enter…

  • First Cooke County Surveyor Daniel Montague (1798-1876) · 12.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cooke County, the place named for Daniel Montague, a man who was literally mapping the frontier for Texas. Born in Massachusetts, Montague came to Texas in 1836, right as the Republic was…

  • Nelson Grove Cemetery · 13.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Nelson Grove Cemetery, which started with a single burial in 1875. Mollie Nelson, just 14, died of pneumonia and measles and was laid to rest on her parents' land. Two years later, her father and a…

  • Oak Grove Community · 13.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what was once the Oak Grove community, just outside Gainesville. Back in the 1860s, George Sanford Norrid and his family settled here. They even offered their home for church services! Then, in…

  • Allison Cemetery · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Allison Cemetery, a resting place that's seen over 150 years of Texas history. While the oldest dated stone marks a burial from 1865, some graves are only rough rocks, hinting at even older, unmarked…

  • Fulton, Royce Hill · 15.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through West Texas, perhaps near Lubbock, and you're surrounded by the infrastructure that fuels our modern world. Right here, in what is now Hockley County, Royce Hill Fulton started his pipeline empire…

  • Myra, TX · 15.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Myra, a town that got its start thanks to the railroad in 1887. It was named for the daughter of the railroad's construction superintendent. Things got a little confusing when a land company tried…

  • Diamond's Station on the Overland Mail · 15.2 mi

    About a mile west of Whitesboro stood Diamond's Station, one of the Texas relay stops on the Butterfield Overland Mail, the first transcontinental stage line. Kept by John R. Diamond and his brother, the station…

  • Diamond Horse Ranch · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what was once the Diamond Horse Ranch, founded way back in 1850 by brothers James R. and John Diamond. Their brother George, who’d later help found the Houston Post newspaper, joined them later.…

  • Mt. Tabor Cemetery · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Mt. Tabor Cemetery. Burrel Scarbrough (1817-1878) and his wife, Harriett (Melton) (1826-1890), both from Alabama, moved to Texas prior to the Civil War. In 1866, the Scarbroughs purchased land north…

  • The Cathedral of the Plains · 15.6 mi

    You can't miss it. No matter which way you approach Muenster, the first thing you'll see is the spire of Sacred Heart Catholic Church rising over the wheat. This parish is the reason the town holds together, and it took…

  • The Flusche Brothers' Catholic Utopia · 15.6 mi

    Muenster’s layout isn't random; it's the result of a deliberate plan by its founders, the Flusche brothers. When Carl and Emil Flusche laid out the town plat in 1889, they weren't just creating a grid. They were…

  • The Hornet Dynasty · 15.6 mi

    In most small towns, winning a single state championship is the stuff of legend, talked about for generations. In Muenster, it's practically an annual event. Since the early 2000s, the Muenster Hornets have built one of…

  • From Feed Mill to Food Tech · 15.6 mi

    As you pass through Muenster, you're near a hub of modern food science. Muenster Milling started in 1932, when Joe Felderhoff began grinding locally grown grain into flour; his son turned it into a livestock feed mill…

  • Muenster, TX · 15.6 mi

    Muenster was founded in 1889 by German Catholic settlers Carl and Emil Flusche, who invited other German Catholics to join them in this new community. The town's establishment was closely tied to the construction of the…

  • A Taste of Muenster in Muenster · 15.6 mi

    Ever wondered if Muenster cheese comes from Muenster, Texas? It doesn't — that cheese is named for Munster in the Vosges mountains of Alsace, and it reached America with Alsatian immigrants to Wisconsin. But this town…

  • Why Peanuts Love This Ground · 16.1 mi

    Since 1965, downtown Whitesboro has thrown a Peanut Festival every third Saturday of October, honoring the crop that helped build these streets. There is real soil science behind that heritage. Whitesboro sits in the…

  • The Man Behind the Name · 16.1 mi

    Whitesboro is named for a person, not a color. Ambrose B. White, born in Ohio on October 24, 1811, led his family and several others south from Illinois in the spring of 1848. After roughly two months on the trail, they…

  • Diamond, James Jackson · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, not far from where James Jackson Diamond, a fiery secessionist, plotted the state's break from the Union. Born in Georgia in 1827, Diamond moved to Texas and became a leading voice…

  • Diamond, John Roberson · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Grayson County, Texas, where John Roberson Diamond was a prominent businessman and a staunch secessionist. Just days after Lincoln's election in November 1860, Diamond chaired a public meeting…

  • Renfro, Austin Ray · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, heading past Whitesboro, the hometown of Ray "The Rabbit" Renfro. He wasn't just fast; he was one of the quickest wide receivers in NFL history, a dominant deep threat for the…

  • White, Ambrose B. · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Grayson County, and right here, Ambrose B. White was building a life from scratch. In 1848, he packed up his family and headed south from Illinois, settling in a wild area known as 'wolfpath.' He…

  • Whitesboro · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Whitesboro, a town named for Ambrose White. He camped here in 1848 on his way west, and soon opened an inn that landed smack on the Butterfield Stage route by 1858. The post office took his name…

  • Whitesboro, TX · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Whitesboro, Texas, a town that got its start back in 1848 when Ambrose White and his family settled in an area then known as Wolfpath. Whitesboro quickly became a key stop on the Butterfield…

  • Marshall, John Wesley · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Grayson County, perhaps near Whitesboro, and right here is the story of John Wesley Marshall. He wasn't born into politics; he started out helping his father in a hardware store, eventually…

  • Bennett-Richardson House · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Whitesboro, and right here is a house that tells a story of early 1900s Texas architecture. Built in 1902 for Bland and Grace Bennett, this home showcases a blend of Victorian and classical…

  • R. N. Younger Home · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the R. N. Younger Home, built in 1889 by Dr. Younger himself. He was a leader in church, banking, and schools. The house features southern exposure in most rooms and unique hand-carved mantels with…

  • Trolinger, William Henry · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    William Henry Trolinger (also spelled Trollinger), physician, developer, state representative, and state senator, was born in Dublin, Pulaski County, Virginia, on August 11, 1827. He was the son of Henry and Allelia…

  • Bone, Henry F. · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, perhaps near Whitesboro, where Henry F. Bone once preached. He was a minister, but during the Civil War, he joined the Eleventh Texas Cavalry. In 1862, he was elected major, but his…

  • Dove, Thomas J. · 16.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Whitesboro, Texas, a town that was home to Thomas J. Dove, a businessman and Confederate officer. Dove enlisted in the Thirty-fourth Texas Cavalry in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Lake Kiowa, TX · 16.3 mi

    The Lake Kiowa Special Utility District is responsible for maintaining the water supply in this community. However, unlike many communities, sewer service is not available in Lake Kiowa. Instead, each home must install…

  • UIL 2A Football State Champions — 3 titles · 16.4 mi

    Muenster High School (Muenster, TX): Most recent: 28-0 over Shiner · 2025 2A Division 2 final.

  • Muenster - 2025 Texas 2A Division II state football champion · 16.4 mi · Sports News

    You're near Muenster High School in Muenster. Last December, they took down Shiner twenty-eight to zero to win the Texas 2A Division II state football championship. They wear that crown until this December, when the…

  • Mary Florence Cowell · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where the very first P.E.O. Sisterhood chapter in Texas was organized. Mary Florence Cowell, a dedicated member of this philanthropic organization focused on women's education, moved to…

  • Muenster - The Flusche Brothers' Catholic Colony · 16.5 mi · Web Research

    The town you're driving through didn't happen by accident. Muenster was planted on purpose, in eighteen eighty nine, by a family of Catholic land agents from Westphalia, Germany. The Flusche brothers, Carl, Anton,…

  • Muenster - Fischer's Meat Market (1927) · 16.5 mi · Web Research

    Pull over at Fischer's Meat Market. It is the single best reason a lot of people drive ninety miles north from Dallas. Two brothers, Joe and John Fischer, opened a butcher shop and grocery in Muenster on March…

  • Muenster - The Wars That Almost Erased German Texas · 16.5 mi · Web Research

    For the first thirty years of Muenster's existence, German was the main language. People spoke German at home, at the store, at church. The Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart was said partly in Latin, with sermons in German.…

  • Muenster - German Catholic North Texas · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    Most of the German settlements in Texas are in the Hill Country. Muenster is the exception, a German Catholic colony planted in the rolling prairie of North Texas near the Red River. In 1889, a group of German Catholic…

  • Muenster - Germanfest · 16.5 mi · Web Research

    If you happen to be passing through Muenster on the last weekend of April, you are not going to be passing through quietly. Germanfest takes over this town. It started in nineteen seventy six, originally as a way to…

  • Clark Cemetery · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Clark Cemetery, established in the 1850s. It became known as Clark Cemetery by the Civil War, named for a pioneering Cooke County family. The earliest marked grave here is Nathaniel Miles Clark, a…

  • Muenster, TX · 16.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving west of Gainesville, heading into Muenster, Texas. This town owes its very existence to a bold venture by the Flusche brothers, who in 1889 contracted to sell over 22,000 acres to German Catholic…

  • Spring Creek Cemetery · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Spring Creek Cemetery, a chronicle of Cooke County history. The earliest burial here dates back to 1875, and you'll find pioneers, Revolutionary War descendants, and soldiers who died in World War I…

  • Muenster · 16.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Muenster, a German Catholic town founded by brothers Anton, August, and Emil Flusche. They bought over 22,000 acres back in 1889, right along the railroad. They donated land for a school, church,…

  • Engineering an Intersection: The Katy and the T&P · 17.4 mi

    Whitesboro was already an old town when the engineers showed up. Ambrose B. White and his family settled here in 1848, at a spot called Wolfpath; the Whitesborough post office opened in 1860 and the town incorporated on…

  • Before the Rails: The Butterfield Stage · 17.4 mi

    Before a single railroad tie was laid, this area was on a national stage. Just a few miles west of here, the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route cut across the prairie. From 1858 to 1861, it was the longest stage…

  • The Peanut Capital of North Texas · 17.4 mi

    For generations, cotton was king in North Texas. But here in Whitesboro, the kingdom changed. The sandy loam soil of the Cross Timbers, which wasn't ideal for cotton, turned out to be perfect for peanuts. Starting in…

  • Whitesboro, TX · 17.4 mi

    Whitesboro's history is marked by significant events. The town began with the arrival of Ambrose B. White and his family in 1848, and it was named after him. During the Butterfield Overland Mail route's operation from…

  • The Town the Train Built · 17.6 mi

    Imagine this landscape as empty prairie. It wasn't quite. Settlers had been trickling in since 1869, when A. J. Cross arrived, followed by pioneers like Zeke Hall and Jim Beach. What turned a scatter of farms into a…

  • One Man's Free Right-of-Way · 17.6 mi

    Sadler is here because somebody paid for it. The story usually gets told the other way round, as if the Katy laid a line across the prairie and dropped a town wherever the survey said so. That is not what happened at…

  • Leon · 17.8 mi · Eohc

    You're driving through Love County, just west of the Red River. Right here is Leon. It started as a ranching settlement around 1860, named after a stockman named Ike Cloud. His family, the Dibrells, took over the ranch…

  • Kiowa Raid of 1868 (SW Part of County) · 18.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what used to be the Willa Walla Valley, near Valley View. Just a day and night, January 5th and 6th of 1868, saw a brutal Kiowa raid. Led by Chief Big Tree, over 150 warriors swept through here,…

  • Salem Community Well · 18.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Salem Community Well, hand-dug by citizens in the late 1800s. This brick-lined well, 17 feet deep, was a gathering spot for the Salem community, providing water for the school, homes,…

  • Sadler United Methodist Church · 18.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Sadler United Methodist Church. Organized in September of 1876 as Quillin's Chapel, it started in a schoolhouse and was renamed Salem Methodist in 1880. The congregation moved here and…

  • Lake Murray (Oklahoma) · 18.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    This lake isn't just a pretty spot for boating; it's tied to a governor who wasn't afraid to stir things up. Lake Murray was created in the 1930s by damming up Anadarche and Fourche Maline Creeks. It was named after…

  • Sadler Cemetery · 18.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Sadler Cemetery, originally known as Bethlehem Cemetery when it was officially dedicated in county records in 1884. The Sadler Cemetery Association was formed, and the burial ground was renamed,…

  • How the Purple Heart Trail Grew Across Texas · 19.4 mi

    This highway is part of the Purple Heart Trail, a symbolic trail that runs through all fifty states to honor those killed or wounded in combat while serving in the armed forces. In Texas it started with one road. In two…

  • A Star in the Window, a Marker by the Road · 19.4 mi

    This road carries a Blue Star Memorial Highway designation, one of a string of them across Texas. The name comes from a family tradition. When someone in a household was serving in the armed forces, the family displayed…

  • Wilmouth, Louis · 19.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Harshberg Cemetery, not far from Sadler, where a veteran of the Texas Revolution rests. Louis Wilmouth was born in Kentucky in 1806, and fought for Texas independence. After the war, he settled…

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