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Cuero, Texas

Everything Cuero is known for

2 songs mention this city 1 artist from here

RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Cuero. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.

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Music in Cuero

Songs About Cuero

Chupacabra
Randy Rogers Band & La Maquinaria Norteña
50%
"Outside of Cuero"
gadalupe days
gary p. nunn
10%

Artists From Cuero

M
Mitchell Crain
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Cuero

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

Guadalupe River 18 songs U.S. Route 59 9 songs San Antonio River 2 songs Interstate 10 36 songs US Route 90 9 songs

Musical Heritage

Cuero's Hitmaking Son, Sam Neely RoadyGoat

Cuero's contribution to the radio dial was a singer-songwriter named Sam Neely, born here on August 22, 1948. He picked up a guitar at age ten before his family moved down to Corpus Christi, where he started playing in bands and worked his way onto national TV with an appearance on The Merv Griffin Show in 1968. Neely landed several charting country and pop hits across the 1970s, including Loving You Just Crossed My Mind, Rosalie, and You Can Have Her, recording for labels like MCA, Capitol, A&M, and Elektra. His most-heard performance, though, came at the very end of one of the biggest nights in television history: Neely sang The Party's Over, the farewell number on the 1983 series finale of MASH, watched by one of the largest audiences ever to tune in to a single broadcast. He was honored on the South Texas Music Walk of Fame in 2005 and died in 2006. The voice on that famous goodbye got its start in a turkey town in DeWitt County. (Source: Sam Neely biography.)

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History of Cuero

Where the Chisholm Trail Cattle Drives Began RoadyGoat

Before Cuero was even a town, this stretch of DeWitt County was a starting gate for one of the great Texas cattle drives. On April 1, 1866, a herd of roughly 1,800 rangy Longhorns gathered at Cardwell Flats near here and pointed north. Crockett Cardwell, who ran a trading post and stage stop, had rounded up the cattle; Thornton Chisholm of DeWitt County rode as trail boss, with a crew of about 30 cowboys driving the herd. It took them seven hard months to reach the railhead at St. Joseph, Missouri, blazing one of the earliest routes that fed into what became the famous Chisholm Trail. Over the following two decades, millions of Texas cattle would walk north to Kansas and Missouri markets along trails like this one. Cuero leaned into that heritage: the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum at 302 North Esplanade Street, housed in the restored 1903 Knights of Pythias Hall, tells the story of the drovers who left from right here. (Source: Texas historical marker; Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum.)

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Ruby Begonia and the Great Gobbler Gallop RoadyGoat

Two American towns claim to be the Turkey Capital of the World, and rather than sue each other, they settled it with a turkey race. The feud is with Worthington, Minnesota, whose own turkey festival dates to 1938. After a Worthington newspaper editor insisted his town held the real title, Cuero answered with the Great Gobbler Gallop, run since the 1970s as part of the annual Turkeyfest. Cuero's racing turkey is named Ruby Begonia; Worthington's is Paycheck. The two birds run in two heats, one in each town, and the fastest combined time wins the title plus a trophy with the magnificent name the Traveling Turkey Trophy of Tumultuous Triumph. The loser is consoled with the Circulating Consolation Cup of Consummate Commiseration. Cuero's heat sprints down the intersection of Main Street and Esplanade on the Saturday morning of Turkeyfest, usually in October, with crowds cheering a bird that has no idea a civic rivalry rides on its drumsticks. It is exactly as absurd, and exactly as beloved, as it sounds. (Source: Cuero Turkeyfest.)

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The Longest Feud in Texas History RoadyGoat

DeWitt County was the stage for what historians call the longest and bloodiest blood feud in Texas history. The Sutton-Taylor feud erupted in March 1868, when deputy William Sutton killed a member of the Taylor family. The killings multiplied from there into a grinding cycle of ambushes and reprisals between the Sutton and Taylor factions that pulled in the Texas State Police, Texas Rangers, and even the young gunman John Wesley Hardin, who married into the Taylor side. Before it burned out, the feud cost at least 35 lives over nearly a decade. It even reached the coast: when an Indianola courtroom filled for a feud-related trial in September 1875, the crowd was caught there by the hurricane that helped destroy that port. The fighting finally ended around 1876, when Texas Ranger captain Jesse Lee Hall led a force into Cuero and broke the factions apart. The county courthouse and old jail in Cuero stand at the center of the country where it all played out. (Source: Handbook of Texas.)

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Benavidez, Raul Perez [Roy]

1968

Medal of Honor recipient Roy Benavidez was born Raul Perez Benavidez at Cuero, Texas, August 5, 1935. His father was Salvador Benavidez, a Mexican American, and his mother was Teresa Perez, an American Yaqui Indian. Raul's parents died when he was a child, and he and his younger brother were then raised by their Uncle Nicholas and Aunt Alexandria at El Campo, Texas. He dropped out of school during the seventh grade and enlisted in the Texas National Guard at age seventeen. At nineteen he joined the Regular Army as Roy Perez Benavidez and got his infantry training at Fort Ord, California. By 1958 he had served in South Korea and Germany. Returning to the United States he married a childhood sweetheart, Lala Coy on June 7, 1959. They had three children. In 1959 he attended military police school at Fort Gordon, Georgia. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and in 1965 was in Vietnam as a military adviser to the Vietnamese Army. While on patrol he was badly wounded after stepping on a land mine and was evacuated to Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, with serious bone and cartilage damage to his spine. After a long period of treatment and rehabilitation he volunteered for a second tour in Vietnam, this time in the Special Forces as a Green Beret. On the morning of May 2, 1968, Sergeant Benavidez was in the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh, when rescue helicopters returned from Cambodia after an unsuccessful attempt to extract a Special Forces team. Benavidez volunteered for another rescue attempt, an event that would become "six hours in hell" in his own words. Reaching the pick-up zone, Sergeant Benavidez jumped from the helicopter and ran about eighty yards through withering fire to the embattled team. He was wounded in the right leg, face, and head. In spite of his injuries he directed the landing of the extraction helicopter and assisted in the loading of dead and wounded team members, and he then proceeded to collect classified papers and a radio from the dead team leader. During this action he continued to receive wounds from small arms fire and shrapnel. When the chopper pilot was shot and the rescue helicopter crashed Benavidez assisted the wounded and dazed men out of the overturned machine, and facing increasing enemy opposition, he called in tactical air strikes and directed supporting gunfire to attempt another rescue. He then began assisting the wounded aboard another helicopter. He sustained more injuries during hand-to-hand combat with an enemy soldier and also killed two others during the frantic rush to secure all the wounded. Benavidez received a total of seven bullet wounds to his legs and torso as well as numerous other bayonet and shrapnel cuts. His brave and decisive actions during the rescue attempt resulted in saving at least eight soldiers. He received four Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross. He was released from the hospital in 1969 after a year of intensive medical treatment and therapy and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. In 1972 he was transferred to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where he served out the duration of his military career until his retirement on September 10, 1976. The unselfish devotion of Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez to his comrades, and to his country, was deserving of the Medal of Honor. Many of his comrades thought the recommendation for the MOH was submitted, but the award was not made at that time. Efforts were made on his behalf, sufficient witnesses were finally located, and the award was presented on February 24, 1981, by President Reagan, in the White House. Because this action, for which the award was made, took place in Cambodia, there has been some speculation that political embarrassment may have contributed to the delay. Benavidez retired with total disability from the United States Army in 1976 and moved to El Campo, Texas. After being notified in 1983 that his disability was being questioned by the Social Security Administration, he bec

Tsha Handbook →

Sutton-Taylor Feud

1868

The Sutton-Taylor Feud, centered in DeWitt County, was the bloodiest and longest-running feud in Texas history, lasting from 1868 to 1899 and claiming dozens of lives.

Historical Marker →

Harmon, Leonard Roy

1942

Born in Cuero, Leonard Roy Harmon enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Houston in June 1939. After training in Norfolk, Virginia, he reported for duty on the cruiser "U.S.S. San Francisco" and advanced to mess attendant first class. During the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal, on November 12, 1942, a Japanese plane crashed into the radar and fire control station of the "San Francisco," causing 50 casualties. The following day, November 13, as the naval battle continued, several officers on the bridge were struck by enemy gunfire. Harmon rushed to help evacuate the wounded to a dressing station. He was killed as he shielded an injured shipmate from gunfire. For this act of extraordinary heroism, he was awarded the Navy Cross. On May 21, 1943, Frank Knox, secretary of the Navy, announced the naming of a Navy vessel in Harmon's honor. The first U.S. warship named for a black man, the destroyer escort "U.S.S. Harmon" was christened by Mrs. Naunita Harmon Carroll, Harmon's mother, and launched on July 25, 1943. The vessel received three battle stars for service in the Pacific during World War II. In 1975, as a further memorial, the bachelor enlisted quarters at the U.S. Naval Air Station, North Island, California, was named Harmon Hall.

Historical Marker →

Chisholm Trail, Old

1866

From site near here, 1800 Longhorns were moved out April 1, 1866, on first trail drive from this area to northern markets. Crockett Cardwell, owner of cattle bedground, had gathered the herd. The trail boss was Thornton Chisholm, a native of DeWitt County. Indian Scout Jesse Chisholm in 1865 had marked the upper trail from the North Canadian to the Arkansas River. Road here became a prong of the famous ChisholmTtrail, going past Gonzales, San Marcos, Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, Gatesville, Glen Rose and Red River Station, into Indian territory. The 30 men of this 1866 drive to St. Joseph, Mo., were gone 7 months, 10 days. The cook and many of the men made numerous later drives; but Thornton Chisholm died in 1868. 260,000 cattle - accumulated in Texas in 4 years of Civil War - went in 1866 up the Chisholm Trail, a flood channel from a vast reservoir of beef. Sold in northern markets or to the U.S. Government to feed Indians on reservations or soldiers in forts, the trailed cattle helped Texas recover from the war. From 1866 to 1895 at least 10,000,000 cattle were driven up the Chisholm Trail by courageous Texas cowboys - the greatest movement of animals under the control of men in all history.

Historical Marker →

Doehl, Katherine Mae [Kathy Dell]

1949

Kathy Dell, bandleader, musician, and rodeo star, was born Katherine Mae Doehl on July 9, 1932, in Cuero, Texas. She was the daughter of Walter and Willie Mae Doehl. Her father was a drummer in a municipal band in Cuero. Katherine Mae Doehl, called "Katie" as a teenager, later changing her name to Kathy Dell, was a popular fixture on rodeo and dance hall circuits in the crossroads region of South Texas. Dell's early influences were cowboy songs she heard on area radio broadcasts and in Hollywood Western movies, as well as records of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family that she played on the family Victrola. Among her favorite tunes was Patsy Montana's celebrated song, "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart." She taught herself to play guitar, and in 1949 when Dell was just a senior in high school, she began broadcasting her own show on Cuero's first commercial radio station, KCFH. "The Sweet Sixteen Singing Sweetheart of KCFH" performed a fifteen-minute broadcast before attending class at Cuero High School, where she also played French horn and trumpet in the school band. Dell adopted Montana's "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart," as her unofficial anthem, a song she continued to perform throughout her career. After graduating high school, she continued her Liberty Jamboree program on KCFH, and she took a job as a taxi driver. In 1950 she made her television debut on Red River Dave McEnery 's live music program on WOAI in San Antonio. Dell also joined the All Girls Pro-Rodeo Circuit, where she trick-roped and rode bulls and broncos and toured across the Southwest United States ( see WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL RODEO ASSOCIATION ). In 1952 she won second place in the All Girls Bull Riding Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dell's good friend and mentor Lucyle Cowey was a fellow Cuero resident, rodeo champion, and Wild West show star, and the two performed at shows and rodeos at area ranches. Dell became a local radio celebrity, yodeling and singing western hits on radio programs and performing in front of larger audiences as a guest singer with area bands. She sang with the Austin-based Colorado River Boys and then with the honky-tonk group the Southernaires in Cuero. In 1956 Dell formed her first band, the Square D Ranch Hands, which soon included guitar player and lifelong close friend Johnny Naunheim. Other early members included fiddler Ed Kinney, bassist Ellis Fellers, and Vernon Whitehead on steel guitar. The Square D Ranch Hands performed at dance halls and events throughout the region, with Dell sometimes enjoying the opportunity to share the stage with high-profile artists, among them Bob Wills and Willie Nelson. In 1969 Dell and Naunheim formed a new group known as Kathy Dell with the Country Kings. Dell was considered a pioneer, one of few women at the time who "formed and managed her own country music groups, booked all their jobs, fronted the bands, drove the tour bus, sewed most of the stage costumes, played guitar, and sang the majority of the band's songs." Throughout her performance career, she also worked as manager of the Cuero Music Company, as well as manager of a local western store. In 1969 Dell and Haunheim released a single on Brazos Records, a small San Antonio label. The 45 rpm featured a country standard, "You've Still Got a Place in My Heart," and a composition by Naunheim called "Footprints on the Moon." In late 1974 she recorded with the Cherokee Cowboys at a studio in Beeville. The resulting single, "It's Over," got regional airplay and was a popular request at dances. In 1976 Dell started a new band, Rawhide, and began to feature Tejano songs and influences in her performances in addition to her set of favorite country and rock hits. With their diverse and dance-friendly material, Rawhide gained in popularity and performed at events and parties throughout the Mexican-American community. With a career spanning four decades, Kathy Dell performed throughout South Texas until the mid-1990s. A career highlight

Tsha Handbook →

Clinton, TX (DeWitt County)

1868

Clinton, former county seat of DeWitt County, was located on the west bank of the Guadalupe River five miles southwest of the site of present Cuero. The first settlers of the area were members of DeWitt's colony ; the Richard Chisholm family settled in January 1829 and the Andrew Lockhart family later that March. The town gained notoriety during the Sutton-Taylor feud . Life in this area was rugged and perilous, despite DeWitt's settlements to the north and De León's colony to the southeast. In the fall of 1829 Comanches kidnapped young Matilda Lockhart and three visiting companions as the children were gathering pecans in the Guadalupe riverbottom. The Lockhart girl was rescued, but she died from the effects of the ordeal; the other three children were never found. About 1839 Richard Chisholm began operating a ferry across the Guadalupe River about 3½ miles below the confluence of the river and Sandies Creek. He soon opened a store and a horse-driven gristmill that was used by settlers from as far away as Meyersville. Clinton was not established until after the organization of DeWitt County on March 24, 1846. Chisholm, eager to have the new county seat located on his land, deeded 640 acres to friends with instructions to survey the land and try to induce the commissioners, among them Daniel Boone Friar , to accommodate his wishes. James Norman Smith surveyed the townsite, which was named Clinton in honor of the son of the empresario Green DeWitt . Yet Chisholm's friends would not grant the commissioners the added land required for a county seat; instead Cameron, on the J. J. Tumlinson survey east of the Guadalupe River, became county seat. As Clinton grew rapidly, its citizens contested the Cameron decision. Each town became county seat alternately several times, the last change being the result of an election in August 1850, which finally made Clinton the seat of government. Clinton prospered. Court was held in a log house until a log courthouse was built at a cost of $400 in 1852. A frame building was erected in 1855 and followed by a two-story courthouse in 1858. The latter, insured for $8,000, was Clinton's last courthouse; it was moved to Cuero in 1876 when that town became county seat. William Cochran Blair organized Clinton's first church, Live Oak Presbyterian, in July 1849. Clinton Methodists organized in the 1850s. Both denominations held services in the log courthouse until 1856, when the Presbyterians built a church that they shared with the Methodists. Clinton had no school until about 1855, when Rev. and Mrs. James M. Connelly held classes as part of their Presbyterian ministry. During the Civil War years Viola Case moved her Victoria Female Academy to Clinton when Victoria was threatened by Union invasion. Public school instruction began in the 1870s. The county's earliest Masonic lodge was established at Clinton; a two-story hall was built in 1852, to which the Cameron lodge then moved. Clinton's first hotel was a log house with outside dining facilities. A later two-story frame hotel had a reputation for its fresh oysters. Jesse O. Wheeler of Victoria operated a branch store at Clinton that achieved sales of $12,000 and $18,000 in 1850 and 1851 respectively. Among the town's lawyers were Henry Clay Pleasants and John W. Stayton . The Clinton post office was established in October 1849. William Read Scurry of Clinton, with Fielding Jones of Victoria, represented the Victoria district in the Secession Convention (1861). During the Civil War William J. Weisiger organized a company at Clinton, which later fought with George H. Giddings 's cavalry battalion in the Rio Grande area. During Reconstruction Clinton and other surrounding towns were occupied by troops based at Victoria. The traditional interpretation says that bad times following the war contributed to the notorious Sutton-Taylor feud, which originated in Clinton on Christmas Eve 1868, when Bill Sutton killed William "Buck" Taylor. The family feud

Tsha Handbook → · 4.7 mi away

Things to Do in Cuero

spooky 15.5 mi away
Yorktown Memorial Hospital

Abandoned since 1988 this former hospital in Yorktown is one of the most investigated paranormal sites in Texas. Over 2000 patients died here. Shadow figures…
quirky 23.3 mi away
When Hippies Discovered Shiner Beer

For its first 60 years Shiner Beer barely left the county. Then in the 1970s something unexpected happened. At the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin an…
historical 23.4 mi away
The Only Female Brewery Owner in America

When Kosmos Spoetzl died in 1950 his daughter Cecile -- known as Miss Celie -- took over the brewery. She became the only female brewery owner in the entire…
historical 23.4 mi away
The Brewmaster from Egypt

Kosmos Spoetzl took one of the strangest paths to small-town Texas. Born in Bavaria he trained at brewmaster school in Germany then spent eight years brewing…
quirky 23.5 mi away
The Beer That Tasted Like Medicine

In 1909 a group of homesick German and Czech farmers in tiny Shiner Texas pooled their money built a ramshackle brewery and tried to make beer that reminded…
food 23.8 mi away
Spoetzl Brewery

Home of Shiner beer since 1909. Free tours and tastings in tiny Shiner Texas.
spooky 0.6 mi away
The Chupacabra of Central Texas

Since the 1990s ranchers across central Texas have reported a hairless fanged creature draining the blood of goats and chickens. Cuero Texas declared itself…
quirky 23.3 mi away
The Shiner Hobo Band

After World War I the town of Shiner did what any proud small Texas town would do -- it formed a band. But not just any band. The Shiner Hobo Band dressed in…

Sports in Cuero

🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 4A · Football · 2018

Cuero Gobblers — 2018 UIL 4A Division 2 Football State Champions

Most recent: 40-28 over Texarkana Pleasant Grove · 2018 4A Division 2 final

Cuero High School, a respected presence in Texas 4A football, holds a significant place in the state's athletic landscape. The Gobblers have consistently showcased their competitive spirit on the field, representing their community with pride and determination. Their program is a source of local enthusiasm, drawing support from across the region.

The school's athletic tradition includes developing talent that progresses to higher levels of competition. One notable alumnus, Jordan Whittington, advanced to major college football, reflecting the caliber of athletes fostered within the Cuero program. The community celebrates these achievements as part of its rich sports heritage.

State titles
2018
Most recent
2018, 40-28
Class
4A
Key Players
  • Jordan Whittington — , NFL player and former wide receiver for the Texas Longhorns
The moment

The Cuero Gobblers secured the 2018 4A Division 2 State Championship by defeating Texarkana Pleasant Grove with a score of 40-28.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Cuero

253 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Benavidez, Raul Perez [Roy] · Tsha Handbook

    Medal of Honor recipient Roy Benavidez was born Raul Perez Benavidez at Cuero, Texas, August 5, 1935. His father was Salvador Benavidez, a Mexican American, and his mother was Teresa Perez, an American Yaqui Indian.…

  • Doehl, Katherine Mae [Kathy Dell] · Tsha Handbook

    Kathy Dell, bandleader, musician, and rodeo star, was born Katherine Mae Doehl on July 9, 1932, in Cuero, Texas. She was the daughter of Walter and Willie Mae Doehl. Her father was a drummer in a municipal band in…

  • Harmon, Leonard Roy · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cuero, Texas, a town that's home to a true American hero. Leonard Roy Harmon grew up right here, working odd jobs before enlisting in the Navy in 1939. He served aboard the USS San Francisco…

  • Franklin, Nobia A. · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, near Cuero, the birthplace of Nobia A. Franklin. Born in 1892, she was a Black beautician and entrepreneur who saw the potential in the burgeoning African American cosmetics…

  • Friar, Daniel Boone · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County right now, and you might be passing near where Daniel Boone Friar built his home. He wasn't the famous frontiersman, but he was a key player in early Texas. In 1839, Friar bought…

  • Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, and right here is Cuero, a town that owes its very existence to a railroad gamble. Back in 1870, the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway was chartered, aiming to connect coastal…

  • Hall, Jesse Leigh · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through a region once torn apart by the Sutton-Taylor Feud, and right here, in what is now De Witt County, was the headquarters for Texas Ranger Jesse Leigh Hall's special company. In the late 1870s, Hall…

  • Kleberg, Rudolph · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, and right here in Cuero, a newspaper editor was taking on the violence of Reconstruction. Rudolph Kleberg, who also served as county attorney, founded the Cuero Star newspaper. He…

  • Orozco, Primitivo [Primo] · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, maybe near Cuero, where for decades, the craft of bootmaking was an art form. And right here, Primitivo 'Primo' Orozco was a master. Born in Mexico, he learned his trade and…

  • Schiwetz, Edward Muegge [Buck] · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, a state known for its vast landscapes and oilfields. But right here, in places like Cuero, you might just be passing through the inspiration for one of Texas's most beloved artists: Buck…

  • Turkey Trot · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cuero, Texas, a town that once held a parade unlike any other: the Turkey Trot! It all started back in 1912, when traveling salesmen got curious about the massive flocks of turkeys being driven on…

  • Cuero, TX · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cuero, a town born from the railroad. In 1872, as the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway pushed west, this spot was chosen as a midway point. Even before the tracks arrived in 1873, homes and…

Show all 200 nearby places
  • Breeden, Charles Goodwin · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cuero, a town that owes much of its early economic clout to the Breeden Brothers firm. Founded in 1889 by Charles Goodwin Breeden and his associates, this business was a powerhouse in South Texas…

  • Cuero Field · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving past Cuero, Texas, where during World War II, this very spot was a vital training ground for American pilots. Approved in January 1941, Cuero Field, located at what is now the Cuero Municipal Airport,…

  • DeWitt County · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, a place that officially got its start in 1846, but its story begins much earlier. Right here, in 1825, empresario Green DeWitt was authorized by the Mexican government to settle 400…

  • Poultry Production · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, a state that's always had poultry, but commercial production really took off in the 1840s. For a long time, most families just raised their own birds. But by the early 1900s, Texas was a…

  • Stell, Thomas Matthew, Jr. · Tsha Handbook

    Right here in Cuero, Texas, was born Thomas Matthew Stell Jr., a painter who would become a key figure in the Dallas Nine regionalist art movement. After showing early promise, even designing cars with a future artist…

  • Davidson, Asbury Bascom · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, maybe near Cuero. Right here, Asbury Bascom Davidson made his mark. He wasn't just a lawyer; he served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas for three consecutive terms, from 1906 to…

  • McCurdy, John Anderson · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cuero, Texas, the hometown of John Anderson McCurdy. While he served in World War I, McCurdy is best known for his decades leading the Ex-Students' Association of the University of Texas. Starting…

  • Schiwetz, Berthold · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cuero, Texas, the hometown of sculptor Berthold Schiwetz. Though he initially studied business at Texas A&M, the Great Depression forced him to put art aside. But in 1935, he began carving…

  • Reiffert, Emil House · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Emil Reiffert House, a testament to resilience. Built in 1868 down in Indianola, this home belonged to Emil Reiffert, a young German immigrant who became a Confederate veteran and a successful…

  • John T. Wofford Home · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the John T. Wofford Home, built in 1877 near Lindenau. Wofford was a Confederate veteran, merchant, farmer, and rancher. His father was the first chief justice of DeWitt County. The house was…

  • Gohmert-Summers House · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Gohmert-Summers House in Cuero, a late Victorian gem built in 1895. Look for the imported leaded glass windows and intricate metal 'lace' trim – details you don't see every day. This home was…

  • Allert, Robert · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the home of Robert Allert, a man who literally built much of South Texas. Allert, a brickmason himself, completed this house in 1893 as his own residence. He was a partner in the contracting firm…

  • Breeden House · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Breeden House in Cuero. Construction started on this home in 1883 for Walter Kibbe Breeden. Just six years later, in 1889, Breeden and his brother founded Breeden Brothers, a successful…

  • Sutton-Taylor Feud · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    The Sutton-Taylor Feud, centered in DeWitt County, was the bloodiest and longest-running feud in Texas history, lasting from 1868 to 1899 and claiming dozens of lives.

  • Where the Chisholm Trail Cattle Drives Began · 0.6 mi

    Before Cuero was even a town, this stretch of DeWitt County was a starting gate for one of the great Texas cattle drives. On April 1, 1866, a herd of roughly 1,800 rangy Longhorns gathered at Cardwell Flats near here…

  • Ruby Begonia and the Great Gobbler Gallop · 0.6 mi

    Two American towns claim to be the Turkey Capital of the World, and rather than sue each other, they settled it with a turkey race. The feud is with Worthington, Minnesota, whose own turkey festival dates to 1938. After…

  • The Longest Feud in Texas History · 0.6 mi

    DeWitt County was the stage for what historians call the longest and bloodiest blood feud in Texas history. The Sutton-Taylor feud erupted in March 1868, when deputy William Sutton killed a member of the Taylor family.…

  • Smith, James Norman · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Cuero area, and you're passing the legacy of a man known as 'Uncle Jimmy the Peacemaker.' James Norman Smith came to Texas in 1840, teaching the very first school in this region. He was a…

  • The Town Named for Rawhide · 0.6 mi

    The name on the sign you're passing is just the Spanish word for hide or rawhide, and it comes straight off the land. Cuero is named for Cuero Creek, which Spanish travelers called Arroyo del Cuero, the Creek of the…

  • The Cuero Vaulter Who First Cleared 17 Feet · 0.6 mi

    One of the great moments in 1960s track and field belongs to a man from Cuero. Fred Hansen, who grew up here in DeWitt County, became one of the world's premier pole vaulters during the early days of the springy…

  • Cuero's Hitmaking Son, Sam Neely · 0.6 mi

    Cuero's contribution to the radio dial was a singer-songwriter named Sam Neely, born here on August 22, 1948. He picked up a guitar at age ten before his family moved down to Corpus Christi, where he started playing in…

  • Cuero - The Great Turkey Trot · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    Cuero was once one of the largest turkey processing centers in the Southwest, shipping birds by the railcar from the DeWitt County prairies. In 1912, local farmers started driving their turkeys down Main Street to the…

  • Buchel Bank · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, a town founded in 1872. Just a year later, in 1873, Otto Buchel opened a private bank right here on this site. Buchel had started by running a mercantile business, but he was the only one…

  • Pleasants, Henry Clay, Judge · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, Texas, and you're passing the site of a judge who served the state for 40 years. Henry Clay Pleasants came to Texas in 1854, after studying law at the University of Virginia. He became the…

  • Bates-Sheppard House · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Bates-Sheppard House, a Victorian home with a story born from disaster. Look to your right – this house wasn't just built, it was resurrected. Most of its lumber comes from the Indianola home of…

  • Mugge, Edward · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the impressive former home of Edward Mugge, a man who helped build Cuero into an economic powerhouse in the late 1800s. Mugge arrived in Texas from Germany in 1854, and through hard work, he rose to…

  • Hillside Cemetery · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Hillside Cemetery, a final resting place for generations of Cuero residents. But this isn't just any graveyard. It holds the stories of pioneers, artists, and leaders, including veterans of the…

  • The Chupacabra of Central Texas · 0.6 mi · Things to Do

    Since the 1990s ranchers across central Texas have reported a hairless fanged creature draining the blood of goats and chickens. Cuero Texas declared itself…

  • Heaton - Breeden House · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Heaton-Breeden House, a beautiful example of Colonial Revival architecture here in Cuero. It was built around 1880 for David H. Heaton, the man who owned Cuero's very first drugstore. Imagine…

  • St. Mark's Lutheran Church · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Cuero. Many of its founding members were Lutherans who fled Indianola after the devastating hurricane of 1875. By 1886, the church was officially organized with 30…

  • First Presbyterian Church of Cuero · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, and you're passing the site of the First Presbyterian Church. It began in 1849 as the Live Oak Presbyterian Church, the first of its kind in DeWitt County. The congregation moved and merged…

  • Grace Episcopal Church · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Grace Episcopal Church in Cuero, organized way back in 1874. Its first chapel was actually moved here from Port Lavaca. The current church building, a beautiful example of Gothic architecture with a…

  • Honoring Texas Confederate General August C. Buchel · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, passing the site that honors Confederate General August C. Buchel. Educated in Prussia, he fought in France and Turkey, even earning a knighthood in Spain before coming to Texas.…

  • Stell, Thomas M. · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, and this marker remembers Thomas Stell, a man who wore the sheriff's badge in DeWitt County for fifteen years, starting in 1892. Stell wasn't your typical lawman; he came to Texas as a kid,…

  • Proctor-Green House · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Proctor-Green House in Cuero, a late Victorian beauty with Queen Anne and Colonial Revival touches. Attorney David Cogswell Proctor, who moved his law practice here after Indianola was destroyed…

  • First United Methodist Church of Cuero · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First United Methodist Church of Cuero. Circuit riders first held services in the area as early as 1841, but a permanent church wasn't founded until after Cuero's incorporation in…

  • Brayton Flying Field · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Brayton Flying Field, a crucial part of America's World War II effort. Back in 1939, as the Nazis threatened Europe, the U.S. desperately needed pilots. Civilian schools stepped up,…

  • The Sandstone Castle on Gonzales Street · 0.8 mi

    The fortress-like building at 307 North Gonzales Street is the DeWitt County Courthouse, and it is one of the finest Richardsonian Romanesque courthouses in Texas. Completed in 1896, the three-story structure is built…

  • The Lady in the Courthouse Clock · 0.8 mi

    Stand under the DeWitt County Courthouse clock tower after dark and you're standing under one of Cuero's old ghost stories. As the legend goes, a young woman died waiting for a sweetheart who never came back to her, and…

  • Cuero Land and Immigration Company · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the heart of Cuero, a city that owes its very existence to a land deal cooked up on Christmas Day, 1871. That's when the Cuero Land and Immigration Company was born, aiming to develop over 4,000…

  • DeWitt County Courthouse · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the DeWitt County Courthouse in Cuero, a building that rose from the ashes of its predecessor. The county seat moved to Cuero in 1876, but its original courthouse burned down in April of 1894.…

  • Texas Bandstands · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, and this bandstand might look like just another park feature. But it's a replica of the first one erected right here, a hub for everything from concerts and political rallies to ice cream…

  • Saint Michael's Catholic Church · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, and right here is the site of St. Michael's Catholic Church. Established in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1875</say-as> by the first Bishop of San Antonio, this parish was named…

  • Breeden, Charles Goodwin · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, where Charles Goodwin Breeden arrived at just 15 years old. He started working for the local newspaper, but eventually became a major south Texas merchant, co-founding the Breeden Brothers…

  • Knights of Pythias Hall, Jewel Lodge No. 103 · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Knights of Pythias Hall, Jewel Lodge No. 103. In 1864, in response to the tensions surrounding the American Civil War, Justus Henry Rathbone organized the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal order. The…

  • The Great Gobbler Gallop · 0.9 mi

    You’re in the home of one of America’s quirkiest traditions. In the early 1900s, Cuero was a global hub for turkey ranching. To celebrate, the town began holding a festival in 1912 that included a 'Turkey Trot,' where…

  • Unlocking the Eagle Ford Shale · 0.9 mi

    As you drive the highways around Cuero, you're crossing the heart of a 21st-century energy revolution. Deep beneath your wheels, about two miles down, lies a layer of rock called the Eagle Ford Shale. For 90 million…

  • Cuero, TX · 0.9 mi

    Cuero, Texas – a place where the charm of small-town life still thrives. It's easy to imagine the cattle drives that once defined this area, heading toward the railroad, the lifeblood of a growing town. But it’s not…

  • The Cuero Chupacabra · 0.9 mi

    Out on the backroads around Cuero, after dark, folks have learned to watch the tree line. Summer of 2007, a rancher named Phylis Canion started finding her animals drained — chickens, cats, gone bloodless. Then she…

  • The Cuero 'Chupacabra' Sighting · 0.9 mi

    Back in 2007, the area around Cuero became world-famous for something strange. A local rancher named Phylis Canion found a bizarre, hairless, bluish-gray creature dead on her property. It looked like a dog, but with a…

  • Cracking Rock a Mile Down · 0.9 mi

    Cuero sits over one of the most productive stretches of the Eagle Ford Shale, a layer of rock that runs anywhere from about 4,000 to 14,000 feet down across the whole play. For most of oil history, shale like that just…

  • The Drugstore That Outlived a Drowned Seaport · 0.9 mi

    The brick building at 114 East Main Street holds the memory of the oldest pharmacy in Texas. The Reuss drugstore was founded in 1845 by Dr. Joseph Reuss, reportedly starting in a tent beside a sandy street down at the…

  • The Cuero Gobblers Football Dynasty · 0.9 mi

    In Texas, football is a religion, and in Cuero, the local high school team is legendary. The Cuero Gobblers are one of the most respected and successful programs in the state, a remarkable achievement for a town this…

  • Cuero Creek Sent Men Thirty Years Before Cuero Existed · 0.9 mi

    There was no Cuero in 1840. The town you are in is a railroad town, laid out in the 1870s. But the creek was here, and so were the people farming along it, and when the largest Comanche raid in Texas history came down…

  • When Thousands of Turkeys Marched Down Main Street · 1.0 mi

    Cuero calls itself the Turkey Capital of the World, and for once the boast has feathers on it. After a turkey processing plant opened on the edge of town in 1908, area farmers herded their flocks into Cuero on foot,…

  • English-German School · 1.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Cuero's very first school, the English-German School. Opened in 1877, this wasn't just any school; it was a bilingual institution, teaching students in both English and German. The…

  • Frobese, William · 1.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the home of William Frobese, a house with a remarkable journey. Built originally in the port city of Indianola, it was dismantled and moved here by oxcart after a devastating 1875 storm ruined the…

  • De Witt County · 1.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through De Witt County, carved out of older Texas counties in 1846. It was part of Green De Witt's original colonial grant from 1825, settled first by Anglo Americans, and later by a significant German…

  • Cuero · 1.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, a town that owes its start to the railroad arriving in 1873. It quickly became the county seat, but its real boom came after coastal storms destroyed Indianola in the late 1800s. Refugees…

  • 2018 UIL 4A Division 2 Football State Champions · 1.2 mi

    Cuero High School (Cuero, TX): Most recent: 40-28 over Texarkana Pleasant Grove · 2018 4A Division 2 final.

  • Morgan Steamship Line · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a Texas transportation giant! Back in 1835, the Morgan Steamship Line launched the first U.S. mail and passenger service to Texas, running the "Columbia" from New Orleans to Galveston.…

  • Eugene A. Daule · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Eugene A. Daule. Eugene A. Daule (1860-1943) was born into slavery into St. James Parish, Louisiana. He attended Leland University in New Orleans and Prairie View State College, now known as Prairie…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Cuero (Cuero) · 1.2 mi

    Cuero (Cuero, TX) placed on the 4A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Will Scott (3 HR); Christian Ferrier (3 HR); Eli Garrett (2 HR).

  • Harmon, Leonard Roy · 1.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Born in Cuero, Leonard Roy Harmon enlisted in the U.S. Navy in Houston in June 1939. After training in Norfolk, Virginia, he reported for duty on the cruiser "U.S.S. San Francisco" and advanced to mess attendant first…

  • Keller-Grunder House · 1.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Keller-Grunder House, a home with a story as resilient as the family who built it. Antone Keller, a German immigrant, built this house in Indianola back in 1851. But this house didn't stay put!…

  • Daule School · 1.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, and right here is the site of the first African American school in town, founded way back in 1892. It started as a one-room schoolhouse, but grew into Daule High School, a place that became…

  • Chisholm Trail, Old · 1.9 mi · Historical Marker

    From site near here, 1800 Longhorns were moved out April 1, 1866, on first trail drive from this area to northern markets. Crockett Cardwell, owner of cattle bedground, had gathered the herd. The trail boss was Thornton…

  • Friar-Caldwell Stage Stand · 1.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, near where a vital hub for early Texas once stood. Back in 1839 or 1840, Daniel Boone Friar built a home and store right at the crossroads of major stagecoach routes. It quickly…

  • Cameron · 2.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, near Cuero. Back in June of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1846</say-as>, this was the chosen spot for the very first county seat, named Cameron. It was named for Captain…

  • Taylor, Josiah · 3.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, and just ahead is the site of a true Texas pioneer. Josiah Taylor arrived in Texas way back in 1812, joining the ill-fated Gutierrez-Magee Expedition to free Mexico from Spain. He fought in…

  • Taylor Family Cemetery · 3.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Taylor Family Cemetery, also known as Taylor-Bennett. This isn't just any graveyard; it's a final resting place for folks deeply woven into the fabric of Texas. Josiah Taylor, the oldest burial…

  • Taylor, Hephzibeth Looker · 3.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the heart of the Green De Witt Colony, and right here is where Hephzibeth Looker Taylor made her mark. Born in South Carolina, she arrived in Texas with her husband Josiah in 1824. After Josiah's…

  • Clinton · 3.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Clinton, Texas, a town that once held the reins of DeWitt County. Established in 1846, DeWitt County was named for Empresario Green De Witt. His son, Clinton, lent his name to this…

  • Buchel Community and School · 3.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through an area where settlers first arrived way back in 1839. A post office opened in 1842, just two years after the first school started near here. In 1894, Otto Buchel donated land for a community…

  • Blair, James F. · 4.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, and you're passing the site of a man who saw some serious action. James F. Blair fought in both the Mexican-American War and the Civil War, rising to captain in the Confederate Army's 36th…

  • Lockhart Community Cemetery · 4.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Lockhart Community Cemetery, the oldest known African American burial ground in DeWitt County. Established in the 1800s, its earliest recorded burial was in 1884. This site, with its unique…

  • Sutton-Taylor Feud · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, the heart of what became the longest and bloodiest feud in Texas history: the Sutton-Taylor Feud. This wasn't just a family spat; it was a brutal, post-Civil War conflict that tore…

  • Clinton, TX (DeWitt County) · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Clinton, former county seat of DeWitt County, was located on the west bank of the Guadalupe River five miles southwest of the site of present Cuero. The first settlers of the area were members of DeWitt's colony ; the…

  • Howard, Sarah Creath · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, Texas, where in 1836, Sarah Creath Howard faced unimaginable horror. Just after returning from a visit to Illinois, her party was attacked by Comanches. Her husband, John Hibbins,…

  • Lord, George · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, maybe near Cheapside, and right here is where George Lord carved out a life after surviving one of Texas's most harrowing adventures. Born in England, Lord came to Texas in 1837 and…

  • Pleasants, Henry Clay · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, right where Judge Henry Clay Pleasants stared down one of Texas's most infamous feuds. It was December of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1876</say-as>, and the Sutton-Taylor…

  • Pridgen, Bolivar Jackson · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, not far from Thomaston, where you might be passing the site of a brutal Texas feud. Bolivar Jackson Pridgen, a Republican state senator in the late 1860s, initially worked for…

  • Clegg, George Austin · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, near Thomaston, where George Austin Clegg was born back in 1872. He wasn't just any rancher; Clegg became a pioneer in breeding American Quarter Horses. In 1905, he bought a…

  • Concrete, TX (DeWitt County) · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving north of Cuero in DeWitt County, and you're passing through the site of Concrete. Founded in 1846, it was the county's earliest townsite, growing out of an even older settlement from 1827. The town got…

  • Grothaus, Frederick Edward · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, and right here is where F. E. Grothaus called home for a time. Born in Prussia, he came to Texas as a boy and eventually served as DeWitt County Judge. But his most lasting impact?…

  • Gruenau Hall · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through northwestern DeWitt County, in the heart of the German community of Gruenau. Right here, the original Gruenau Hall was built back in 1900, serving as a gathering place for athletic and shooting…

  • Pettus, William Albert · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the wild Texas frontier, and right here, you're passing through history connected to William Albert Pettus. He arrived in Texas in 1822 with Austin's colonists, a man known as 'Uncle…

  • Roeder, Albrecht Von · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, not far from where Albrecht von Roeder and his siblings arrived in Texas back in 1834, hoping to start a new German settlement. Tragedy struck almost immediately; yellow fever…

  • Tumlinson, John Jackson, Jr. · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, near the Guadalupe River, not far from present-day Cuero. Right here, in the 1820s, John Jackson Tumlinson Jr. was carving out a life for his family. He arrived in Texas with his…

  • Woods, Henry Gonzalvo · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, and right here is Shiloh, where Henry Gonzalvo Woods made his last stand. Woods was born in Missouri in 1816, but his parents were Stephen F. Austin's colonists, arriving in Texas…

  • Hochheim, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Hochheim is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and State Highway 111 in northeastern DeWitt County. It was named for Valentine Hoch, a native of Alsace-Lorraine who contracted for a homesite in DeWitt County before…

  • Ratcliffe, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Ratcliffe, originally known as Five Mile, in south central DeWitt County, was established by German immigrants in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Most were college graduates. These scholars and professionals-teachers,…

  • Verhelle, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Verhelle is located in south central DeWitt County on Irish Creek and U.S. Highway 87, seven miles southeast of Cuero. Arthur Burns and his son Columbus were the pioneer settlers of Irish Creek Settlement, the earliest…

  • Baker, James McCulloch · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, Texas, a place with roots stretching back to the Republic of Texas. Right here, in what's now DeWitt County, James McCulloch Baker arrived in 1840, establishing a cotton plantation…

  • Concrete College · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, and right here, the community of Concrete was once home to a unique 19th-century rural college. Chartered in the 1850s, Concrete College was a Baptist-oriented institution that…

  • Smith, James Norman · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, and right here, you're passing through the area where James Norman Smith made his mark. Born in North Carolina in 1789, Smith arrived in Texas in 1840, settling near Upper Cuero…

  • Upper Cuero Creek Settlement · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through DeWitt County, near Cuero, where you're passing the site of the Upper Cuero Creek Settlement. Established in 1827, it was the second oldest settlement in this area, originally part of DeWitt's…

  • Arneckeville, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Arneckeville is a German community on Farm Road 236 and a branch of Coleto Creek eight miles south of Cuero in south central DeWitt County. Although the community dates from 1859, it had no name until 1872, when the…

  • Lindenau, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Lindenau is on Farm Road 953 five miles northwest of Cuero in north central DeWitt County. A group of German farm families settled the community in 1891 near the junction of Sandies Creek and the Guadalupe River. The…

  • Thomaston, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Thomaston, on U.S. Highway 87 a mile from the Victoria county line in eastern DeWitt County, was the county's first railroad townsite. It was established in 1872 on the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway near the…

  • Westhoff, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Westhoff is on U.S. Highway 87 near the Gonzales county line fourteen miles from Cuero in far northwestern DeWitt County. In 1906 the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway was extending its line from Cuero to…

  • Davy, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Davy, a farming community in northwestern DeWitt County near the Karnes county line, developed its community focus with the 1886 establishment of the Davy school on Salt Creek, on land donated by Fred House in June 1885…

  • Edgar, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Edgar is on U.S. Highway 77A about seven miles northeast of Cuero in northeastern DeWitt County. In 1853 James Edgar brought his family to the area and claimed the land granted to his son, Joseph Smith Edgar, for his…

  • Terryville, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Terryville, at the intersection of Farm roads 682 and 1447, in eastern DeWitt County, was first settled in 1850 by Bob Alexander, but was named after James and John Terry, who opened a store there in 1852. Early on, at…

  • Upper Meyersville, TX · 4.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Upper Meyersville is just west of U.S. Highway 183 thirteen miles south of Cuero near the Goliad county line in extreme southern DeWitt County. It is a part of the scattered, largely German settlement of Meyersville. In…

  • Lindenau · 5.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the area where, back in 1891, German farmers settled and named this place Lindenau. It quickly grew into a bustling community with a schoolhouse that doubled as a church, a general store, a…

  • Hopkinsville Community · 5.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, heading towards Cuero. Back in 1854, the Hopkins family arrived here as slaves. After the Civil War, they returned as freedmen. In 1872, Henry Hopkins bought 42 acres, establishing…

  • George Washington Davis · 5.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, heading towards Cuero. Back in 1831, a man named George Washington Davis packed up his family and moved all the way from Pennsylvania to this very area. He wasn't just looking for…

  • Schlinke, Charles A · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Lindenau Scheutzen Verein, or Shooting Club, co-founded by Charles A. Schlinke in 1901. Schlinke, a German immigrant who settled in DeWitt County, also donated land for a school and…

  • Lindenau Community Cemetery · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving near the site of the Lindenau Community Cemetery. Established in 1905 as St. John Lutheran Cemetery, it was renamed in 1972 when community members formed an association to care for it. The cemetery serves…

  • Burns Station Cemetery · 6.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Burns Station, a ghost town that was once the heart of early Irish settlement in DeWitt County. It all started in 1826 when Arthur Burns, an immigrant from Ireland, settled here. His…

  • Zion Arneckeville Cemetery · 7.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Zion Arneckeville Cemetery, a final resting place for German settlers who arrived in the late 1840s. The oldest marked grave here belongs to Pastor Christoph Adam Sager, who ministered to this…

  • Arneckeville · 7.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Arneckeville, a community founded by German immigrants. Adam Christopher Henry Arnecke arrived in the 1850s and opened the area's first general store. The settlement, initially called…

  • Mount Zion Baptist Church · 7.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Mount Zion Baptist Church. Organized in 1869 with fifteen members, the congregation worshiped in several locations before permanently settling here in 1890. The church was guided by only…

  • Stevens Cemetery · 8.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, near the site of the Stevens Cemetery. In 1846, Joseph and Sarah Ann Stevens arrived here from Mississippi, buying land to farm and raise cattle. The oldest marked grave belongs to…

  • Dr. William Watt White · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Cuero, where Dr. William Watt White served as a surgeon for Waul's Legion in the Confederate Army. He came to Texas around 1850 and earned his medical degree in Philadelphia. During the Civil War, he…

  • Five-Mile Ratcliffe Rabke Community · 8.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, near Cuero, where a community once thrived on Five Mile Creek. In 1849, four well-educated German families settled here, so knowledgeable they called their community Latiner.…

  • San Pedro Cemetery · 9.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the San Pedro Cemetery, established in 1920. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2012.

  • Stratton · 9.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Stratton, a community that bloomed before the Civil War. It was named for John Stratton, a local landowner and saddler. By the late 1800s, Stratton boasted a post office, general store,…

  • Concrete College · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Concrete College, a respected school in its day, operating from 1865 to 1881 near Cuero. Founded by educator and minister Rev. John Van Epps Covey, it offered everything from primary to…

  • Lord Cemetery · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're passing Lord Cemetery, established in 1879. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2004.

  • Caruthers, Allen · 10.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of Allen Caruthers, a veteran of the fight for Texas independence. He was born way up north in Kentucky back in 1804, but he came to Texas and fought at San Jacinto. Caruthers lived…

  • Site of the Home of Robert Justus Kleberg · 10.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Meyersville, and right here is the site of the home of Robert Justus Kleberg. He arrived in Texas in 1834, a German immigrant who quickly became a Patriot. Kleberg fought in Captain Moseley…

  • Thomaston · 10.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Thomaston, DeWitt County's very first railroad town, founded in 1872. But its roots go back to 1848, with the settlement of Judge David Murphree, a patriot of the Republic of Texas. The town got…

  • Thomaston Cemetery · 10.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Thomaston Cemetery, a quiet resting place that holds the story of this railroad town's beginnings. Thomaston itself was established in 1872, but this cemetery's earliest marked grave dates back…

  • Golly Hollow School and Community · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Golly Hollow School. The first schoolhouse for this community went up in a low area, but in 1884, Theresa Hubers-Burger donated land for a new building on higher ground. It was named…

  • Shiloh · 11.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former site of Shiloh, a small farming community that sprang up around 1847. Families like the McBrides, Hamiltons, and Woods settled here, building a life on the Texas frontier. By the 1850s,…

  • Saint John Evangelical Lutheran Church · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Saint John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cuero. Organized in 1851 by German missionary Christoph Adam Sager, this was one of the first Lutheran congregations in Texas. They started with…

  • Meyersville · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Meyersville, a Texas town with a unique Alsatian flavor. It all started back in 1843 when Peter Bluntzer settled here, drawing many of his countrymen from Alsace. The town itself took its name in…

  • St. John Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Meyersville, a community with deep German roots. Back in 1851, Pastor Christoph Adam Sager established St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery here. It was the first Lutheran…

  • George Lord · 12.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Westhoff, and the story of George Lord is one of Texas grit and gold! Born in England in 1816, Lord came to Texas in 1837, ready to fight for the young Republic. He saw action against the Cordova…

  • York, John, Captain · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, past the site of Yorktown. This town owes its name to Captain John York, a man who served Texas from its earliest days. In <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1829</say-as>, he…

  • Bellevue-Cheapside · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the area once known as Bellevue-Cheapside, a community founded by English immigrants in 1876. They established a church, school, and cemetery here, and a Woodmen of the World Lodge was nearby.…

  • Westhoff · 12.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Westhoff, a town that started as a beautiful view... for railroad workers! Founded in 1906 as Bello, it was a tent city for folks building the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. Just three years later,…

  • Bluntzer, Peter · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Meyersville, deep in DeWitt County. Look around for the site of Peter Bluntzer's story. He was an early German colonizer, arriving here around 1843. His wagon overturned, injuring his wife, and…

  • Stagecoach Inn · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Hochheim, and right here is the site of the Stagecoach Inn, built way back in 1856. Imagine this: hand-quarried native stone, a vital stop on the busy Austin-Indianola Stage Road. While the…

  • Stagecoach Inn, 1856 · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Hochheim, and right here is the Stagecoach Inn, built in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1856</say-as>! This stone structure was built by V. Hoch himself, using local stone. Imagine this…

  • George W. Davis · 13.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of George W. Davis, a citizen soldier who fought for Texas's independence. Davis served during the pivotal years of 1835 and 1836, contributing to the struggle that would birth a republic.…

  • Cuero I Archeological District · 13.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Guadalupe River Basin, a place that tells a story stretching back 9,000 years! This area, known as the Cuero I Archeological District, was preserved when a proposed reservoir threatened to…

  • Hochheim · 13.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Hochheim, a community that got its start back in 1856, right along the old Austin-Indianola Road. It grew around Valentine Hoch's home and stage stand. By 1864, a German Methodist Church was…

  • May-Hickey House · 13.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the May-Hickey House, one of the most important early vernacular dwellings still standing in southeast Texas. It was built in the 1840s for the John Joseph May family, and the James Hickey family…

  • Terryville · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through DeWitt County, heading past the site of Terryville. This community sprang up near here in the 1850s, named for the Terry family. They were prominent folks, with James D. Terry serving as county…

  • County Line School, Church, and Cemetery · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past County Line School, Church, and Cemetery. The County Line School was housed in five different buildings on six different sites, beginning in the 1860s. In 1898, the County Line School District…

  • Hochheim Cemetery · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Hochheim Cemetery, a final resting place for many who shaped this part of Texas. Land for this graveyard was donated by Rachel S. Crawford back in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery · 14.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery. In 1867, land was deeded for this graveyard, which was later enlarged by another donation in 1916. A crucifixion monument was added in 1937, and a statue of the Blessed…

  • Hochheim, TX · 14.5 mi

    In 1848, Valentine Hoch, a German immigrant, arrived at the rolling hills near the lower Guadalupe River with his son, after disembarking at the port of Indianola, Texas. He declared, 'Here we shall build our home,' and…

  • Holy Cross Catholic Church · 14.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Yorktown, and look to your right to see Holy Cross Catholic Church. This beautiful red brick building has roots stretching back to the 1850s, when Polish families first settled in Texas. By 1867,…

  • De Witt County · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through De Witt County, established in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1846</say-as>. It was carved out of three other counties and named for Green De Witt, a key empresario who brought settlers to…

  • Von Hugo - Von Clausewitz Family Cemetery · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Von Hugo - Von Clausewitz Family Cemetery. Back in the 1870s, this quiet oak grove became the final resting place for two Prussian families who journeyed to Texas in the 1850s. They…

  • St. Ann's Cemetery · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Hochheim, Texas, and you're passing St. Ann's Cemetery. This burial ground started as a small family plot for the Poth family way back in 1891. Valentine Hoch had settled here in 1845, and by…

  • 2025 UIL 3A Division 1 Football State Champions · 15.1 mi

    Yoakum High School (Yoakum, TX): Most recent: 45-29 over Grandview · 2025 3A Division 1 final.

  • Yoakum - 2025 Texas 3A Division I state football champion · 15.1 mi · Sports News

    You're near Yoakum High School in Yoakum. Last December, they took down Grandview forty-five to twenty-nine to win the Texas 3A Division I state football championship. They wear that crown until this December, when the…

  • Municipal Power Plant · 15.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Yoakum, and right here is the old Municipal Power Plant, built back in 1930. When the city couldn't buy power from existing companies, they decided to build their own. Designed by Montgomery and…

  • Upper Yorktown Cemetery · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Upper Yorktown Cemetery, established in 1872 by Ann Friar. It's a final resting place for ranchers, businessmen, and settlers of Anglo, German, and Hispanic origins. Look for the graves of 1876…

  • Dempsey Benton Cain House · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Dempsey Benton Cain House, a grand Classical Revival residence completed in 1913. Designed by J. Henry Yentzen, it features a hipped roof, a two-story porch, and unique green slag glass windows.…

  • Hebron Community · 15.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Hey road-trippers! You're cruising through what used to be the Hebron community, a place that started way back in the 1840s with the first wagon train of settlers. These pioneers built their homes from local timber and…

  • Yoakum National Bank · 15.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Yoakum National Bank. It started as the First National Bank of Yoakum back in 1890, organized by W.O. Richardson and other community leaders. This bank grew with the town, even…

  • Shows, Nancy · 15.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cuero, and just a bit west of here, pioneer Nancy Shows' husband, Adam, built Hebron Church around 1855. Nancy herself was the mother of eight children, a true matriarch on the Texas frontier. Her…

  • A Five-and-Dime Fortune Built This House · 15.4 mi

    At 312 Simpson Street sits the Yoakum Heritage Museum, and the building itself is half the story. It's a grand 1912 Victorian residence built by the Elkins family, who made their money running a chain of five-and-dime…

  • First Methodist Church of Yoakum · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Yoakum, and right here is the site of the First United Methodist Church. Back in 1889, Reverend Thomas S. Armstrong gathered a small group to start this congregation. They held services in some…

  • Holy Cross Lutheran Church · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Yoakum. Organized in 1891 by about ten families and the Rev. Cornelius Ziesmer, the congregation's first sanctuary, completed in 1893, was destroyed by a…

  • One Company Gave Yoakum Water, Light and Ice · 15.5 mi

    Yoakum was a railroad camp that turned into a town very fast, and in 1892 one man decided it should have the three things a town needs to stop being a camp. James G. Blanks organized the Blanks Ice, Water and Power…

  • The Gulf Ran Him Off and Yoakum Got a Store · 15.5 mi

    H. Mylius spent sixteen years as a sailor before he ever sold anything. He captained the mail boat between Matagorda and Indianola and Saluria, twice a week for five years. In the war he was put on a gunboat in…

  • She Was Born Here and Built the Alley · 15.5 mi

    Nina Eloise Whittington was born in Yoakum on the twenty second of October, 1914, the only child of Calvin and Minerva Whittington. Her mother was a DeWitt, and she came down from Green DeWitt, the empresario whose…

  • She Graduated First in Her Class Here, Then Broke a Barrier · 15.5 mi

    Inez Beverly was born in Yoakum in 1897 and graduated from Yoakum Colored High School in 1912 as valedictorian. Then she did it again in college. She kept going, through Prairie View and Samuel Huston College, a…

  • The Dentist Who Took Texas to the Supreme Court · 15.5 mi

    Lonnie E. Smith was born in Yoakum in 1901, took a dental degree at Meharry in Nashville in 1924, and set up practice in Galveston and later Houston. On the twenty seventh of July, 1940, he went to vote in the…

  • He Was in the Room for the Beer Hall Putsch · 15.5 mi

    Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker was born in Yoakum on the last day of January, 1898, and ended up with about the best seat in the twentieth century, if you can call it that. He was in Munich for Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch in…

  • Thirteen Men Went After a Kidnapped Boy · 15.5 mi

    In October of 1837 a Comanche party raided the Navidad settlement, killed a man named Lyons and carried off his thirteen year old son Warren. There were only ten families in this whole stretch of country then, so there…

  • A Hundred and Six, Under Five Flags · 15.5 mi

    In November of 1924 the papers came out to the Yoakum section to write up Caroline Elizabeth Dickinson, who had just turned a hundred and six. She was living with her son, who was seventy eight. She had been in the same…

  • They Made the Nails on Site · 15.5 mi

    Out on Highway 111 between two cemeteries there are stone ruins worth knowing about. The Dunn brothers gave fifty acres in 1868 for a church and school in what was then a heavily Irish and Czech Catholic district, near…

  • Yorktown Memorial Hospital · 15.5 mi · Things to Do

    Abandoned since 1988 this former hospital in Yorktown is one of the most investigated paranormal sites in Texas. Over 2000 patients died here. Shadow figures…

  • Yorktown, TX · 15.5 mi

    Yorktown was founded by Captain John York and Charles Eckhardt. Eckhardt, who had a mercantile business in Indianola, a major Texas seaport at the time, contracted with John A. King to survey a road from Indianola…

  • He Won the Election and Lost the Office to a Typo · 15.5 mi

    E. Mullen ran the post office at Yoakum, which the write up describes as having charge of the interests of Uncle Sam. He also ran for mayor. He received a majority of the votes. He did not become mayor, because of a…

  • The Man Who Put Up the Brick · 15.5 mi

    If you want to know who built early Yoakum, in the literal sense of who stacked it, the answer is largely William E. Pound. He was the leading builder in town and the permanent structures are his list: the only three…

  • From the Firebox to the Bargaining Table · 15.5 mi

    Richard Ewing Kirk hired on at Yoakum in 1894 as a fireman, which meant shovelling coal into a locomotive, and it is the hardest ordinary job on a railroad. He made engineer in 1898 and his first run was Yoakum to…

  • The Power Plant Is the Library Now · 15.5 mi

    Yoakum tried to buy the electric company and could not, so in 1930, at a commission meeting about three hundred people turned up for, the city voted to build its own power plant instead. It went up in 1932 and it was…

  • Silk Stocking Row · 15.5 mi

    Will Orth was a railroad conductor who also owned a flour mill, and in 1910 he built himself a house on Coke Street. That turned out to set a fashion. Other prominent Yoakum families started building along the same…

  • C. Eckhardt & Sons Building · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the C. Eckhardt & Sons Building, erected in 1876. This place was a major general mercantile store, started by the Eckhardt family way back in 1848. They even hid gold and silver under potatoes to buy…

  • Orth-Fitch House · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past what used to be "Silk Stocking Row" in Yoakum. This grand house, built in 1910 by railroad conductor and flour mill owner Will Orth, was one of the first prominent homes on this street. Designed by…

  • First Baptist Church of Yoakum · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Yoakum, and right here is where the First Baptist Church got its start. It was April 7th, 1889, just a month before this town was even officially incorporated. Seven members, led by Reverend H. M.…

  • First Presbyterian Church of Yoakum · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the First Presbyterian Church of Yoakum, a congregation that officially got its start on New Year's Eve, 1893. Twenty-two charter members, folks like Thompson Presley and Mrs. M. H. Boyd, came…

  • Block, Harlon Henry · 15.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Yorktown, Texas, the birthplace of Harlon Henry Block. He was a Marine who became one of the most recognizable faces of World War II, though he never lived to see it. Block was part of the…

  • Knickerbocker, Hubert Renfro · 15.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Yoakum, Texas, the hometown of Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker. Born here in 1898, Knickerbocker wasn't your average journalist. He went to Germany to study psychiatry, but history called him instead.…

  • Prosser, Inez Beverly · 15.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Yoakum, Texas, the birthplace of Inez Beverly Prosser. Back in 1897, she was born into a family of eleven children, and she'd go on to achieve something remarkable. In 1933, she became one of the…

  • Katolika Jednota Zen Texaskych (K.J.Z.T.) · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the birthplace of a pioneering women's organization. Back in 1894, life insurance companies wouldn't sell policies to women, so Anna Jakubik and Marie Yurek founded the K.J.Z.T. to help Czech…

  • Daily, Harold W. [Pappy] · 15.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Yoakum, Texas, the birthplace of Harold "Pappy" Daily. Though he never learned to read music, Daily had an ear for country music, developing it by listening to the records in the jukeboxes he…

  • Hohn, Caesar [Dutch] · 15.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Washington County right now, an area that owes a lot to Caesar "Dutch" Hohn. Back in the late 1920s and 30s, Hohn was the county agent here, and the land was suffering. Decades of farming had worn…

  • Yoakum, Benjamin Franklin · 15.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, and right here, the town of Yoakum is named for Benjamin Franklin Yoakum. He wasn't a politician or a soldier, but a titan of the railroad industry, born just up the road in Limestone…

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