George West, Texas

Name: George West, Texas
Address: George West, TX

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Rivers & Roads in Song near George West

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near George West.

U.S. Route 59 9 songs Nueces River 3 songs Frio River 13 songs San Antonio River 2 songs

History of George West

Unlocking the Eagle Ford Shale RoadyGoat

As you drive through the George West area, the biggest science story isn't visible on the surface—it's happening two miles straight down. You're traveling over the Eagle Ford Shale, a layer of rock packed with oil and natural gas. For decades, we knew the energy was there, but it was locked in tight rock, impossible to get out. The breakthrough was a combination of two engineering feats: horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking.' First, engineers drill down vertically for thousands of feet, and then steer the drill bit to turn a full 90 degrees, drilling horizontally for miles through the thin shale layer. Then, they pump a high-pressure mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into the well. This creates tiny cracks, or fractures, in the rock. The sand props these cracks open, allowing the trapped oil and gas to finally flow out. This technology is what turned George West into an energy boomtown in the 21st century.

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The County Seat Fight of 1919 RoadyGoat

The Live Oak County Courthouse is the heart of George West, but it stands here because of a political fight. For decades, the county seat was in Oakville, a town a few miles to the north. But George West was built for the specific purpose of taking that title. By 1919, founder George W. West’s plan was in full motion. His town was growing, thanks to his free-lot incentives and its prime location on the railroad. The battle came down to a county-wide vote. Pro-George West boosters argued for its central location and modern amenities, while Oakville fought to keep its status. When the votes were counted, George West won by a landslide. The story goes that county records were loaded onto wagons and brought here, and the grand courthouse you can still see today was quickly built, cementing the victory and sealing Oakville’s fate as a near ghost town.

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George West, TX RoadyGoat

George West's history is deeply rooted in the cattle industry. The city was named for George Washington West, a cattle rancher who began building his town in 1913 after years of ranching in the area. West made his fortune on cattle drives but saw the future in transporting cattle by train. He offered the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad $100,000 and a free easement through his land to build to George West. In 1918, West offered $75,000 to build a new courthouse if the county seat was moved from Oakville to George West, which was on a railroad route. The courthouse was built to West's specifications and he also built schools, roads, and water and electricity plants.

West, George Washington

1867

George West, cattleman and trail driver, eldest of three sons of Washington and Mary B. (Willauer) West, was born at Shannonville, Tennessee, on March 10, 1851. In 1854 Washington West moved his family to Lavaca County, Texas, and their home became an important stagecoach stop, which developed into the community of Sweet Home. George was one of the first to drive longhorn cattle to the Kansas railheads in 1867–68, and he continued driving until the trails closed. In 1870 he contracted with the government to deliver 14,000 longhorns to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Montana. Although he was the youngest man with the herd, he was the trail boss, and this drive, from Lavaca County, Texas, to the destination, just 100 miles south of the Canadian border, probably qualifies as the longest trail drive on record. George had two brothers, Ike and Sol, who were also trail drivers in the period 1870–90. George West married Katherine "Kittie" Elizabeth Searcy, a descendant of the early American colonist John Searcy on June 18, 1874. They had no children. During the 1870s West made many drives to Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas. In 1880 he and his wife moved to Live Oak County and purchased a 140,000-acre ranch and 26,000 cattle. This ranch included the site of the present town of George West, which he founded in 1913, and extended from the Nueces River on the north and east to McMullen County on the west. He had 80,000 cattle in 1882, when he lost so many in the drought that he had to sell off half of his ranch. J. Frank Dobie , another Live Oak County son, records that cowboys employed by West were instructed to chop off the left horn of every dead steer and bring it to a pile at the ranch headquarters. After the height of the pile exceeded that of the gatepost and was estimated at between 3,000 and 20,000 dead animals, they quit. About the turn of the century West sold 60,000 acres to Charles Simmons , of St. Louis, Missouri, who subdivided it, held a lottery for lots, and established the town of Simmons, Texas, in 1907. About 1910 West also turned his efforts toward colonization and town development by donating $100,000 and a free right-of-way through his ranch to the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad (called the "Sausage Line"), and the railroad became a reality in 1912. He also established the town named in his honor in the succeeding years and built a $75,000 courthouse in order to remove the county seat from Oakville, a $50,000 school, highways, bridges, public utilities, and a hotel across from the railroad depot. He moved to a permanent residence in San Antonio in 1904 and attended the Baptist Church there. He died in San Antonio on February 16, 1926.

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Thelma Laura Pugh-Lindholm

1835

A fourth-generation Texan, Thelma Pugh-Lindholm descended from Irish emigrants Thomas and Margaret (McCann) Pugh, who purchased from Empresarios McMullen and McGloin in 1835 a Mexican league and labor of land across the Nueces River from present-day George West. Born in 1898 to grandson Charles and Lucy (Crawford) Pugh, Thelma grew up on the original Pugh homestead. First educated at home, Thelma then lived with her mother’s parents to attend school in Oakville. Grandfather Crawford sparked a love in Thelma for Live Oak County and Texas History. Later living with an aunt, Thelma graduated from Three Rivers High School. She acquired a teaching certificate then a baccalaureate and master’s degree with her thesis on the history of Oakville from Texas College of Arts and Industries (Texas A&J) in Kingsville. She continued studies at the University of Texas and Texas A&M. Thelma remained faithful to the memory of Sgt. Major John E.E. Lindholm, a veteran of WWI, missing after a post-war assignment. Their daughter, Emelia Lucille Lindholm, died at the age of 10 from diphtheria. She and her mother (deceased 1992) are buried in Gussettville Cemetery. Thelma Lindholm taught on ranches and in George West ISD for 47 years. A devout catholic, she taught catechism and tutored many toward general education diplomas and U.S. Citizenship. In addition, Thelma wrote more than 20 Live Oak County historical narratives for official Texas historical markers. During the 1980s Texas Sesquicentennial, she chaired the Live Oak County Historical Commission. She anthologized more than 655 memoirs and wrote the county chapter for The History of the People of Live Oak County, Texas. Thelma Laura Pugh-Lindholm is commemorated as “the mother of live oak county history.” (2017)

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Live Oak County Courthouse

1912

The Texas Legislature created Live Oak County in 1852 and the first county seat was in Oakville. A native stone and lumber building constructed on the public square and modified through the years served as the county courthouse for more than sixty years. With the arrival of railroads in the 1910s, the county’s population was growing. Noted cattleman George Washington West (1885-1926), who owned a sprawling 200,000-acre ranch, laid out the town of George West in 1912-13 and lobbied for the county seat to relocate to his new settlement. In 1919, the county seat moved and Mr. West immediately deeded an entire block for construction of a courthouse. 
 The 1920 Live Oak County Courthouse was designed by well-known San Antonio architect Alfred Giles (1853-1920), a friend of Mr. West and the architect of his 1880s ranch house. Giles designed more than a dozen county courthouses and numerous homes, schools and commercial buildings around Texas and Mexico. Sadly, he died before the Live Oak County Courthouse was complete. The classical revival courthouse is a symmetrical three-story dark brick and cast stone building. Porticos are supported by large unfluted Corinthian columns with detailed capitals and are accentuated in white along with the architrave and cornice. The structure was advertised as fireproof with reinforced concrete. 
 In addition to governmental and legal proceedings, the Live Oak County Courthouse and grounds have been the location of community events ranging from political rallies and weddings to Christmas events and county celebrations. For more than a century, the courthouse has served the people of Live Oak County while embodying historical and architectural distinction. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2020

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Live Oak County Jail

1887

Oakville, seat of Live Oak County from 1856-1919, first called “on the sulphur,” was near a Nueces River crossing called Puente de la Piedra (Rock Crossing). Joseph Bartlett built a stone courthouse and attached log jail in 1857 as a center of authority. The county became part of the growing cattle industry following the Civil War. Oakville served as a commerce hub for freight wagons and a place for ranchers to buy supplies. The jail, with sheriff headquarters, made the town seem safer. J.S. Campbell oversaw the rebuilding of the courthouse with the jail placed inside during the 1870s. By 1887, Oakville constructed a free-standing two-story stone Italianate-style jail. The jail held frontier criminals ranging from bar fighters to horse thieves. In 1919, after losing a railway bid, a county election selected the town of George West as the new County Seat. The old jail became one of the few standing structures in Oakville. The Oakville Jail is made of sandstone from a nearby quarry. It is corniced with heavy sandstone as well. The stone facades and corners are covered in white stucco. Windowsills remain, showing period ventilation. The first floor had a reception room, office and living quarters. The second floor housed jail cells, three for general holding and a fourth for women and juveniles. There are two corbelled chimneys, and a metal cistern at the rear of the building. The design is from the Diebold Lock and Safe Company of Canton, Ohio. The Oakville Jail and its twin in Mills County with their unique Diebold architecture are both listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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Dinero, TX

1846

Dinero is on Farm Road 534 some ten miles southeast of George West in southeastern Live Oak County. The town was first named Barlow's Ferry, after E. Barlow, who in 1846 ran ferries across the Nueces River for local ranchers. In 1872 the name was changed to Dinero ("money" in Spanish); there were rumors of a nearby silver mine hidden by Indians, and Mexican treasure-seekers favored the area. The community's name was probably changed, however, to reflect the area's profitable resources, which over the years have included cotton, dairy farms, and oil and gas wells. The community's first school opened in 1858 and closed in 1894. In 1885 Dinero was granted a post office, and George Wright's general store served a population of twenty. The community's population rose to seventy by 1892, and by 1906 Dinero had two schools with two teachers and a total enrollment of twenty-four. The population was thirty when the town moved a mile west in 1914 to be on the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad. Oil and gas discoveries in the 1920s failed to make Dinero a boomtown, and only a church, a school, several businesses, and scattered dwellings marked the community on the 1936 county highway map. The community's population reached fifty in 1943, and Dinero's separate schools for White and Mexican-American students were annexed to the George West Independent School District in 1949. From 1964 to 1990 Dinero reported thirty-five residents and three businesses. In 2000 the population was 344 with three businesses.

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Everything Near George West

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

Chauncy and Minnie Canfield House · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Chauncy and Minnie Canfield House. CHAUNCY AND MINNIE CANFIELD HOUSE George Washington West invited Chauncy Canfield to build a business in his new town of George West in 1914. Canfield preceded his…
First Baptist Church George West · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of George West. It held its founding meeting on April 6, 1919, in the town's printing office. Eleven people became charter members, pledging donations and setting…
George West First United Methodist Church · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past George West First United Methodist Church, which began as combined Protestant services in 1914. Methodists organized here in 1916, and through droughts, floods, and economic downturns, the…
West, George Washington · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
George West, cattleman and trail driver, eldest of three sons of Washington and Mary B. (Willauer) West, was born at Shannonville, Tennessee, on March 10, 1851. In 1854 Washington West moved his family to Lavaca County,…
Thelma Laura Pugh-Lindholm · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker
A fourth-generation Texan, Thelma Pugh-Lindholm descended from Irish emigrants Thomas and Margaret (McCann) Pugh, who purchased from Empresarios McMullen and McGloin in 1835 a Mexican league and labor of land across the…
Live Oak County Courthouse · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker
The Texas Legislature created Live Oak County in 1852 and the first county seat was in Oakville. A native stone and lumber building constructed on the public square and modified through the years served as the county…
George West, TX · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through George West, a town that owes its existence to the vision and deep pockets of one man: George Washington West. In the early 1900s, this rancher owned over a hundred thousand acres. In 1912, he…
Charles and Emma Tullis · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Charles and Emma Tullis. 		CHARLES AND EMMA (LEWIS) TULLIS Charles (Charlie) and Emma Tullis, native live oak county residents, shared roots preceding the republic of Texas and Live Oak…
Oberste, William H. · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through South Texas, perhaps near George West or Refugio. Right here, you're passing through the territory of Father William H. Oberste. He wasn't just a priest; he was a historian who deeply researched…
George West, City of · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through George West, a city named for the rancher and civic leader who founded it back in 1913. George Washington West wasn't just a landowner; he was the man who convinced the railroad to build a route…
Early Schools in Live Oak County (George West) · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through George West, the heart of Live Oak County. Back before the 1870s, education here was a rough-and-tumble affair, taught in cabins or under brush arbors by anyone who could read. Then, in <say-as…
Live Oak County Jail · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker
Oakville, seat of Live Oak County from 1856-1919, first called “on the sulphur,” was near a Nueces River crossing called Puente de la Piedra (Rock Crossing). Joseph Bartlett built a stone courthouse and…

Show all 77 nearby places

Unlocking the Eagle Ford Shale · 0.8 mi
As you drive through the George West area, the biggest science story isn't visible on the surface—it's happening two miles straight down. You're traveling over the Eagle Ford Shale, a layer of rock packed with oil and…
The County Seat Fight of 1919 · 0.8 mi
The Live Oak County Courthouse is the heart of George West, but it stands here because of a political fight. For decades, the county seat was in Oakville, a town a few miles to the north. But George West was built for…
George West, TX · 0.8 mi
George West's history is deeply rooted in the cattle industry. The city was named for George Washington West, a cattle rancher who began building his town in 1913 after years of ranching in the area. West made his…
The Storytelling Capital of Texas · 0.8 mi
Why is George West known as the 'Storytelling Capital of Texas'? It started in the late 1980s. The idea came out of the local cafe, where an organizer remembered listening to old-timers swap stories over coffee and…
George West Cemetery · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the George West Cemetery, originally part of a massive 140,000-acre ranch. In 1916, George West set aside six acres for this community burial ground. Today, it's a historic Texas cemetery, expanded…
Dinero, TX · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Dinero is on Farm Road 534 some ten miles southeast of George West in southeastern Live Oak County. The town was first named Barlow's Ferry, after E. Barlow, who in 1846 ran ferries across the Nueces River for local…
Givens, John Slye · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Live Oak County, Texas, where John Slye Givens rose from pioneer attorney to district attorney. In 1859, he joined a party organized by local stockman John Donaldson to help the Texas Rangers…
Oakville, TX (Live Oak County) · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Oakville is at the intersection of Interstate Highway 37 and Farm Road 1358, nine miles north of George West in north central Live Oak County. After the Texas Revolution Oakville was a station on the stage line from San…
Echo, TX (Live Oak County) · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Live Oak County, heading southeast of Oakville. Right here, the community of Echo once served as a vital stagecoach stop on the route connecting San Antonio to Corpus Christi and even Mexico.…
Fort Merrill · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Live Oak County, and right here, you're passing the site of Fort Merrill. It was founded way back on March 1, 1850, by the First United States Infantry. They shipped lumber all the way from New…
McNeill, Thomas Peyton [Peyt] · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through what was once the wild frontier, and right here in Live Oak County, a rancher named Thomas Peyton McNeill was carving out a life. He served in the Confederate Army's Frontier Regiment, scouting…
Gussettville, TX · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Gussettville, also known as Fox's Nation or Fox Nation, was on Farm Road 799 six miles southeast of George West in central Live Oak County. The place was named for N. Gussett, an early local merchant. It was founded on…
Lagarto, TX · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Lagarto is on Farm roads 534 and 3162 eighteen miles southeast of George West in extreme southeast Live Oak County. The name, Mexican Spanish for "alligator," reflects the fact that numerous alligators were once found…
Whitsett, TX · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Whitsett is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 and Farm Road 99, on the Missouri Pacific Railroad fifteen miles north of Three Rivers in northwest Live Oak County. It was on land granted to John Houlihan. When the…
Simpson, Richard French · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Richard French Simpson, United States Army officer and surgeon, son of James L. Simpson and Elizabeth (Weeks) Simpson, was born at Loudoun County, Virginia, on July 20, 1816. Simpson graduated from the University of…
Foster, Samuel Thompson · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through South Texas, perhaps near Oaksville, where Samuel Thompson Foster lived. He was a lawyer and businessman who answered the call to arms in the Civil War. Foster joined a local militia, then…
Live Oak County · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Live Oak County, a place that owes its early settlement to a grand experiment in bringing Irish immigrants to Texas. Back in 1828, John McMullen and James McGloin were granted a huge tract of land…
Argenta, TX · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Argenta is a rural community on Farm Road 88 nineteen miles southeast of George West in the southeastern corner of Live Oak County. Richard Bethel Bomar moved to the area from Oklahoma in 1903, cleared land, and sold it…
Ray Point, TX · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Ray Point is a rural community on Farm Road 1358 seven miles northeast of Three Rivers in north central Live Oak County. It was named for James F. Ray, who once owned the land. It developed in the early 1920s during the…
Simmons, TX (Live Oak County) · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Simmons, originally named Simmons City, was on the Nueces River five miles west of the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf line and ten miles from Oakville in central Live Oak County. It was named for Dr. Charles F. Simmons,…
Votaw, TX (Live Oak County) · 1.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
Votaw, also known as Votaw Branch, was a mile west of the site of present Karon fourteen miles northeast of George West in east central Live Oak County. In 1857 Elijah Votaw received a grant of 320 acres from the…
Live Oak County · 1.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Live Oak County, a place named for its grand trees, but its history is all about people and protection. Created by the Texas legislature way back in <say-as interpret-as="date"…
The Highway Name That Took Seventy Years to Make Legal · 2.6 mi
Every mile of U S Highway Two Eighty One inside Texas is the American Legion Memorial Highway, and the name is much older than the law behind it. On April thirtieth, nineteen thirty five, the Texas Highway Commission…
Ox-Cart Roads, Crossing of Old · 3.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through George West, and right here, this was a major crossroads for Texas's earliest highways – the ox-cart roads. Before paved roads, these were the arteries of the Spanish colonial era and well into…
Jesse Robinson · 4.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Latham, and right here is the final resting place of Jesse Robinson. Born in Kentucky in 1800, he came to Texas in 1822 and became one of the very first Texas Rangers in 1823. Robinson fought in…
Charter Oak · 5.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through George West, right where Live Oak County organized back in 1856. This very spot was the heart of early county life, hosting everything from picnics and horse races to school programs. Imagine this…
Gussettville · 5.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Gussettville, a town founded by Irish Catholics in the 1830s as part of the McMullen and McGloin Colony. It was first called 'Fox Nation' because of the local Fox family, but by the 1850s, it was…
Oakville Cemetery · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Oakville Cemetery, donated in 1857 by Thos. Wilson. The land was originally part of an 1831 Mexican land grant. Buried here are Oakville's founder, J.T. James, early pioneers, and the organizers of…
Oakville · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Oakville, a town that served as the county seat for Live Oak County for over sixty years. Named for the majestic Live Oak trees that still dot this landscape, Oakville was officially established in…
Oakville Post Office · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Oakville, a town that owes its start to Irish immigrants and a Mexican land grant. Right here, the Oakville post office opened its doors on May 11, 1857, with Joshua Hinton as the first…
Cunningham Home · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Cunningham Home. JAMES AND SARA CUNNINGHAM HOUSE LATE IN 1899 JAMES (JIM) MONROE CUNNINGHAM MOVED TO OAKVILLE FROM DEVINE AND BOUGHT THE LIVE OAK COUNTY LEADER. CUNNINGHAM SOON MARRIED SARA EMMA…
Jessy Franklin Gray · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Three Rivers area, home of Jessy Franklin Gray. He was a teacher, a World War I hero who fought in France, and a Texas legislator. Gray was wounded in combat but rallied his men after all…
Rialto Theater · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Three Rivers, and you might be passing the Rialto Theater. From showing movies in tents back in 1913, this place evolved into a 1930s movie house. Then, in 1948, a new Streamline Moderne building…
First State Bank Building · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Three Rivers, and right here is the First State Bank Building. It's more than just bricks and mortar; it's tied to the very founding of this city. C.R. Tips, a key figure in developing this area,…
Three Rivers · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Three Rivers, a town that got its name from a postal mix-up. It was founded in March of 1913 by Charles R. Tips and was initially chartered as Hamiltonburg, named for a local family. But the U.S.…
Early Schools in Live Oak County · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Three Rivers, and if you look around, you can almost see the ghosts of 43 little schoolhouses! Until the 1870s, kids in Live Oak County learned in whatever space was available – cabins, brush…
Three Rivers Glass Factory, Site of · 9.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Three Rivers Glass Factory, a place that once showed Texas's potential in the glassmaking industry. Opened in 1922 by Charles R. Tips, this plant harnessed local natural gas and…
Cold, Muddy, and Full of Nuts · 10.0 mi
The three rivers that gave this town its name each carry a little poem in Spanish, and once you know what they mean, you will never forget them. Start with the Frio River. Frio is simply the Spanish word for cold, a nod…
Alligators at the Edge of Their World · 10.0 mi
Follow one of this town's three rivers, the Frio, just about four miles west and you run into something that surprises a lot of people in dry South Texas: alligators. Big ones. When the Frio was dammed to create Choke…
Felix Longoria Affair · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook
The controversy surrounding the burial of Felix Longoria provided a successful case for the American G. I. Forum , a civil rights organization for Mexican Americans , to fight racial discrimination with political…
How a Mail Mix-Up Named This Town · 10.0 mi
Here is the honest story behind the name of Three Rivers, and it starts with a postal headache. Back in nineteen thirteen, this spot was called Hamiltonburg, named for a landowner, Annie Hamilton, who paid the railroad…
The River That Drains South Texas · 10.0 mi
One of the three rivers in this town's name is quietly one of the biggest players in the whole state. The Nueces River rises far to the northwest, up in the Edwards Plateau in Real and Edwards counties, and then travels…
The First Glass Factory in Texas · 10.0 mi
Remember Charles Tips, the man who suggested naming this town for its three rivers? He had a second act, and it left a real mark on Texas history. In nineteen twenty-two, Tips helped open the first glass factory in the…
Why Towns Grow Where Rivers Meet · 10.0 mi
The name Three Rivers points at something geographers have known for thousands of years: where rivers meet, people gather. The spot where two or more streams join into one is called a confluence, and it is no accident…
Loma Sandia · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Live Oak County, not far from Three Rivers, and right here is Loma Sandia, or 'Watermelon Hill.' It's not just a name; this sandy knoll was once a campsite and cemetery for ancient peoples.…
Three Rivers, TX · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Three Rivers, Texas, a town born from a postal mix-up and a railroad deal. It all started in 1913 when Annie Hamilton paid the railroad to build a station on her land, naming it Hamiltonburg. But…
The Town That Made the Bottles · 10.6 mi
It's hard to imagine now, but from 1922 to 1938, Three Rivers was a manufacturing center for glass. The Three Rivers Glass Company was Texas' first mass-production glass plant, built by Charles R. Tips — the same man…
Mining Uranium with Water Wells · 10.6 mi
The uranium boom around Three Rivers didn't just use shovels; it used chemistry and engineering. It was called 'in-situ leach mining,' and it's basically a way to mine without digging a giant hole. Here's how it worked:…
Three Rivers, TX · 10.6 mi
The predominant economic drivers for Three Rivers, Texas, are oil and gas exploration, refining, ranching, and hunting. In 1920, natural gas was discovered near Three Rivers and was piped into town and a small refinery…
Mining the Sunshine Fuel · 10.6 mi
After World War II, the world entered the Atomic Age, and the quiet ranchland around Three Rivers was hiding the key ingredient: uranium. Geologists discovered rich deposits here in the 1950s, kicking off a decades-long…
The Town's Most Stable Employer · 10.6 mi
By the late 1980s, the booms of oil and uranium had gone bust, leaving Three Rivers facing an uncertain future. The town needed a new, stable economic anchor. It arrived in the form of concrete and razor wire. In 1990,…
Simmons · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through the area around Three Rivers. Now, this land wasn't always settled. It was originally ranch land until 1900 when a wealthy St. Louis manufacturer, Dr. C.F. Simmons, bought it. He made his fortune…
Town of Dinero · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Dinero, a town with a name that means money! It started in 1838 as Barlow, named for a ferryman. These folks helped organize Live Oak County and opened a school by 1858. But by 1872, whispers of…
Site of Fort Merrill · 11.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Fort Merrill, established back in 1850 by Captain S.M. Plummer. This fort was built to protect settlers from Native American raids. It was named for Captain Hamilton W. Merrill, a hero of…
Cadiz Baptist Church · 12.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Cadiz Baptist Church, a congregation with roots stretching back to 1877. Originally organized as Lapara Baptist Church with 32 charter members, services were first held under a brush…
Loma Sandia Prehistoric Cemetery · 13.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through the area once known as Loma Sandia, a prehistoric cemetery where Native American bands lived and died long before Europeans arrived. Archeologists uncovered graves here dating back to 850 B.C. and…
Old Dobie Ranch, Birthplace of J. Frank Dobie · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Live Oak County, and you're passing the birthplace of J. Frank Dobie! Born right here in 1888, Dobie became one of the Southwest's most important voices. He was a true individualist and a renowned…
You Are No Jack Kennedy: The Bentsen Highway · 16.2 mi
U.S. Highway Fifty Nine, from Interstate Forty Five to Interstate Thirty Five, is the Senator Lloyd Bentsen Highway, named by the Legislature in nineteen ninety five. Bentsen was born in Mission in nineteen twenty one…
Lagarto Cemetery · 17.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Lagarto, a ranching town that grew up in the early 1870s. Right here is the Lagarto Cemetery, a place with a story that starts with a mystery traveler. In the early 1870s, an unknown man died at the…
First Producing Gas Well in McMullen County and First Gas Pipeline to San Antoni · 17.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through McMullen County, the birthplace of Texas's oil and gas boom! Back in 1917, a well on the Tom Brown Tract blew in with an incredible 62 million cubic feet of gas per day. It spewed out of control…
Calliham · 17.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Calliham, Texas, a town born from black gold. Back in 1918, this place was called Guffeyola, just a post office in a store. But then came the oil and gas discoveries between 1917 and 1922. It…
How the Purple Heart Trail Grew Across Texas · 17.5 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…
Dugat, Gentry · 17.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the birthplace of Gentry Dugat, a man who wore many hats in Texas. Born in 1989 on a ranch near here, Dugat earned a law degree but found his passion in journalism and history. He worked for seven…
Lagarto College · 17.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Lagarto, a town that once boasted Live Oak County's only college. Lagarto College opened its doors in 1884 with four teachers, hoping to boost the town's growth. But after two railroad bypasses,…
Echo Stagecoach Depot and Post Office · 17.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Live Oak County, past the site of the Echo Stagecoach Depot and Post Office. Imagine this dusty spot in the late 1800s: a vital link to the outside world! Irish immigrants John Bernard and…

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Unlocking the Eagle Ford Shale RoadyGoat

The County Seat Fight of 1919 RoadyGoat

George West, TX RoadyGoat

West, George Washington

Thelma Laura Pugh-Lindholm

Live Oak County Courthouse

Live Oak County Jail

Dinero, TX

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