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Goldthwaite, Texas

Everything Goldthwaite is known for

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Music in Goldthwaite

Songs About Goldthwaite

Get me to Goldthwaite
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Rivers & Roads in Song near Goldthwaite

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

Texas Colorado River 6 songs San Saba River 2 songs Texas State Highway 71 2 songs

History of Goldthwaite

The Last Swinging Bridge in Texas RoadyGoat

Just a short drive from Goldthwaite is a true Texas treasure and a marvel of rural engineering: the Regency Suspension Bridge. Known locally as the 'Swinging Bridge,' it spans the Colorado River, connecting Mills and San Saba counties. Built in 1939, it's the last suspension bridge in Texas that you can still drive your car across, though you'll want to go slowly. As you cross the narrow wooden planks, you can feel the bridge sway and bounce beneath you, a thrilling reminder of its design. For decades, this bridge was a vital link for local ranchers and families, saving them a journey of many miles. An earlier bridge here collapsed under a herd of cattle, a second was swept away by flood, and in 2003 the wooden deck of this one caught fire and burned, but the community has always rallied to rebuild. It stands today as a beautiful, functional piece of history, a testament to a time when communities had to build their own connections to the wider world.

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The Science of the Angora Goat RoadyGoat

Why did Angora goats take over the country around Goldthwaite? The answer is ecology and animal science. The landscape here is rocky, with thin soil that is not much good for farming, covered in the kind of brush, scrub, and live oak that cattle mostly walk right past. For a goat, it is a buffet. Here is the science: cattle are grazers, meaning they primarily eat grasses. Goats are browsers. Their digestive systems are adapted to thrive on the leaves, twigs, and woody plants that dominate these hills, and they convert vegetation other livestock cannot use into a valuable fiber, mohair. Texas grows something like ninety-seven percent of the American mohair clip, most of it out on the Edwards Plateau to the southwest, and Mills County has been solid goat country for generations. Today it bills itself the Meat Goat Capital of America. Either way the principle is the same. Ranchers here found an animal that matched the plants, and turned scrub into an industry.

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Goldthwaite, TX RoadyGoat

Goldthwaite is the county seat of Mills County, Texas. This town began as a small village, experiencing significant population growth after the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway arrived in 1885 and began selling lots. The town was named for an employee of the railway. Around 1900, Goldthwaite earned the nickname 'the City of Windmills' due to the large number of water wells, with almost every household possessing one. The town occupies an area of 1.7 square miles.

Mills County

1869

Mills County is in central Texas, bordered on the north by Comanche County, on the east by Hamilton County, on the south by San Saba and Lampasas counties, and on the west by Brown County. The center of the county lies at approximately 31°30' north latitude and 98°35' west longitude, 110 miles northwest of Austin. The county lies partly in the Grand Prairie region and partly in the western Cross Timbers . The county was named for John T. Mills , and its area covers 734 square miles of hills and plateaus that drain to the Colorado River, its western boundary. Elevations range from 1,100 to 1,700 feet above sea level. A range of hills, the Cowhouse Mountains, extends from southeast to northwest, and picturesque San Saba peak (1,712 feet), covered by cedars and large white rocks, is a local landmark. Pecan Bayou flows north to south across the western section. Soils are alluvial, black waxy, sandy, and loam; timber includes live oak, post oak, cottonwood, shinnery, and pecan. Temperatures in Mills range between an average minimum of 34° F in January to an average maximum of 87° F in July. The average annual rainfall is 27.52 inches, and the growing season lasts 230 days. The county's agricultural economy produces an income of $28 million annually, 90 percent of which is from sheep, beef cattle, goats, and hogs; crops of small grains, sorghums, and forage account for the remainder. Manufactures, chiefly of farm equipment, yield $2,200,000 annually. Fishing and hunting support a tourist industry on the Colorado River. Major roads are U.S. Highway 84/183 (west to east) and State Highway 16 (north to south). In earlier times the region was a hunting ground for Apaches and Comanches, who fought over it until the mid-nineteenth century. Although the area was off the route of Spanish explorations, Pedro Vial did pass through the area in 1786 and 1789 while exploring a route from San Antonio to Santa Fe. The first White traveler was probably Capt. Henry S. Brown , who led a party across the Colorado River in 1828 to recover stock stolen by Indians. The first permanent settler, Dick Jenkins, established himself in the area in 1852; other early pioneers were D. S. and Sam Hanna, W. Lee Brooks, B. F. Gholson, John Williams, R. D. Forsythe, and Mr. and Mrs. Mose Jackson. A Methodist circuit rider held the first religious service in the cabin of Charles Mullin in 1857. The first settlers, like the Indians, subsisted primarily on hunting. A number of the early settlers were German immigrants who toiled, as one put it, in a "place that was a heaven for men and dogs-but hell for women and oxen." Life on the frontier was often precarious; Dick Jenkins and several other early pioneers were killed by Indians. In 1858 Mr. and Mrs. Mose Jackson and two of their children were killed by Indians at Jackson Springs, while two other children were carried into captivity. After a force of settlers routed the Indians at Salt Gap, their pursuers and a company of Texas Rangers recovered the captive Jackson children. In 1862 a band of twenty Comanches raiding for horses was pursued by settlers to the mouth of Pecan Bayou and put to flight after three Indians and one White, O. F. Lindsey, were killed. After Indians killed John Morris, a rancher, settlers pursued them and killed or wounded seven of the twenty-seven raiders. Few of the settlers joined the Confederate Army during the Civil War because their own frontier required protection against the depredations of Indians and outlaws. During the Civil War and for decades thereafter Whites caused settlers more trouble than Indians, as cattle rustlers, horse thieves, murderers, army deserters, and other rogues infested the area. Vigilante committees were formed to deal with criminals, but then these groups degenerated into warring mobs committing criminal acts themselves. A reign of terror followed conflicts between vigilante groups, which broke out in Williams Ranch in 1869. Vigilantes drove out s

Tsha Handbook →

Regency Suspension Bridge, The

1903

(near extinct town of Regency, 22 mi. SW) This area's first Colorado River bridge was at Regency, on Mills-San Saba county line. Built 1903, it served ranchers and farmers for going to market, but fell in 1924, killing a boy, a horse, and some cattle. Its successor was demolished by a 1936 flood. With 90 per cent of the work done by hand labor, the Regency Suspension Bridge was erected in 1939. It became the pride of the locality, and youths gathered there in the 1940s to picnic, dance, and sing. Bypassed by paved farm roads, it now (1976) survives as one of the last suspension bridges in Texas. (1976)

Historical Marker →

Mills County Jail

1888

Mills County Jail, 1888. First structure built by newly organized county, before county seat was chosen.

Historical Marker →

Old Town Well, Goldthwaite, The

1887

Mr. Peyton died from poison fumes in digging this well; Ben Cox was also overcome; Deed H. Mayer rescued Mr. Cox and brought up Mr. Peyton's body; August 1887. In memory of these three men; Mills Co. Hist. Society

Historical Marker →

Camp Colorado

1855

In 1855 Camp Colorado was probably temporarily at a site near what is now Ebony, in Mills County. In August 1856, Troops A and F and United States Cavalry under Maj. Earl Van Dorn moved the camp to Mukewater Creek about six miles north of the Colorado River, on the route between Fort Belknap and Fort Mason in Coleman County. Because of sickness among the soldiers, the post was moved in July 1857 about twenty-two miles north to Jim Ned Creek. Commanders who succeeded Van Dorn included Edmund Kirby Smith, Lawrence S. (Sul) Ross, John Bell Hood , and Fitzhugh Lee . Robert E. Lee visited the camp at least twice on tours of inspection. From 1857 to 1861 Camp Colorado was the center of Coleman County's settlements. The camp's buildings were of adobe with shingled roofs and pine-plank floors; the lumber, doors, and windows were hauled by ox team from East Texas. Outside communication was through a post office and a telegraph line along the Wire Road between the camp and army headquarters at San Antonio. People settled at all of the nearby waterholes. In 1857, J. C. Mullins, a graduate of Yale University, settled east of the camp and taught school under an elm tree on the post. The camp was abandoned on February 26, 1861, by order of Gen. David E. Twiggs . With the exception of Lt. George B. Cosby, the men stationed at the camp all went into Confederate service. After the departure of United States troops, Capt. W. Pitts and later Capt. James Monroe Holmsley commanded companies of state troops at the camp until early in 1862. From 1862 to 1864 Capt. J. J. Callan and a company of Texas Rangers occupied the post. Texas state troops occupied the post until the end of the Civil War. Camp Colorado was not regarrisoned by United States troops after its evacuation by the Confederates. Fourteen years after the Civil War an Englishman, H. H. Sackett, purchased the land in the vicinity of the old post. The headquarters building was dismantled, and the stone was used to build a combination store and residence. Leaving the guardhouse intact, Sackett attached one wall of the residence to it. A stretch of stone corral fence remains, and a quarter of a mile to the east is the post cemetery.

Tsha Handbook → · 3.3 mi away

Center City, TX

1870

Center City, on U.S. Highway 84 north of Bennett Creek in eastern Mills County, was settled about 1870. When the county was organized, the townsite was laid out with a large area in the center designated as the site for the new courthouse. Built around this square were various businesses, including several saloons, several dry goods stores, two blacksmith shops, a general store, and a drugstore. But Goldthwaite became the county seat. By 1874 Center City had a post office, a gristmill, and a school. After a survey in the early 1870s designated an ancient live oak standing in the town as the exact center of Texas, the name of the town, which had previously been Hughes Store, was changed to Center City. Controversy was to break out when the tree was later threatened with removal by construction of State Highway 7 (now U.S. 84). Citizens won out, and in 2003 the live oak was still standing fifty feet south of the highway in the middle of a dirt road between Goldthwaite and Evant. The tree is included in Famous Trees of Texas (1970, 1984). Although the tree's exact age is unknown, early settlers were said to have held justice court under its branches until a courtroom could be erected. Early school and church services were held there also. By 1880 Center City had a church, and in 1885 the community reported a population of 100. In 1910 it had three churches. By 1920 Center City's post office had been replaced by rural delivery from Goldthwaite. In the late 1940s Center City reported three stores and an estimated population of seventy-five. From 1970 through 2003 the community reported a population of fifteen. In 2003 Center City had two churches and a single business, a combination hardware store and gas station.

Tsha Handbook → · 3.3 mi away

Things to Do in Goldthwaite

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Day Trip to Goldthwaite: 🐐 Goats, Pecans, & Tacos! FULL EPISODE

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Everything Near Goldthwaite

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

  • Mills County · Tsha Handbook

    Mills County is in central Texas, bordered on the north by Comanche County, on the east by Hamilton County, on the south by San Saba and Lampasas counties, and on the west by Brown County. The center of the county lies…

  • Goldthwaite, TX · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Goldthwaite, a town born from a railroad deal. Back in 1885, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway pushed into this area, and a railroad official named Joe G. Goldthwaite lent his name to the…

  • Ford, Hamilton Faith · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, near Goldthwaite, the birthplace of Hamilton Faith Ford. <break time="400ms"/> Born in 1908, Ford went on to become a pioneering psychiatrist and professor at the University of…

  • First Methodist Church of Goldthwaite · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Goldthwaite's First Methodist Church. Methodists have been gathering here since the mid-1850s, initially meeting in homes or a schoolhouse. A circuit rider known as the 'bear-hunting…

  • Mills County State Bank · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Mills County State Bank. MILLS COUNTY EXPERIENCED MUCH GROWTH FROM 1887 TO 1917 AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GULF, COLORADO, AND SANTA FE RAILWAY IN THE REGION. AS GOLDTHWAITE BECAME THE COUNTY…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Goldthwaite (Goldthwaite) · 0.3 mi

    Goldthwaite (Goldthwaite, TX) placed on the 2A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Owen Campbell (2 HR).

  • Regency Suspension Bridge, The · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    (near extinct town of Regency, 22 mi. SW) This area's first Colorado River bridge was at Regency, on Mills-San Saba county line. Built 1903, it served ranchers and farmers for going to market, but fell in 1924, killing…

  • Mills County Jail · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Mills County Jail, 1888. First structure built by newly organized county, before county seat was chosen.

  • Old Town Well, Goldthwaite, The · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Mr. Peyton died from poison fumes in digging this well; Ben Cox was also overcome; Deed H. Mayer rescued Mr. Cox and brought up Mr. Peyton's body; August 1887. In memory of these three men; Mills Co. Hist. Society

  • Mills County Courthouse · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mills County Courthouse in Goldthwaite. The first courthouse here, built in 1890, served the community until it was tragically destroyed by fire in 1912. But from the ashes rose this grand…

  • Confederate Veterans Memorial of Mills County · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Goldthwaite, and right here is a memorial to the Confederate veterans of Mills County. It lists a number of soldiers, including James Thomas Guthrie, a private in the 13th Texas Cavalry, and David…

  • Goldthwaite Eagle · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Goldthwaite, and right here is the story of the Goldthwaite Eagle newspaper. It all started back in 1885 when William H. Thompson launched 'The Mountaineer.' After a brief closure, he revived it…

Show all 110 nearby places
  • The Last Swinging Bridge in Texas · 0.4 mi

    Just a short drive from Goldthwaite is a true Texas treasure and a marvel of rural engineering: the Regency Suspension Bridge. Known locally as the 'Swinging Bridge,' it spans the Colorado River, connecting Mills and…

  • The Science of the Angora Goat · 0.4 mi

    Why did Angora goats take over the country around Goldthwaite? The answer is ecology and animal science. The landscape here is rocky, with thin soil that is not much good for farming, covered in the kind of brush,…

  • Goldthwaite, TX · 0.4 mi

    Goldthwaite is the county seat of Mills County, Texas. This town began as a small village, experiencing significant population growth after the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway arrived in 1885 and began selling lots.…

  • The Mohair Capital of the World · 0.4 mi

    For much of the twentieth century, Goldthwaite and Mills County built a living on one very specific product: mohair. That silky, durable fiber comes off Angora goats, and this part of Texas suited them exactly. The…

  • Dam and Well · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Goldthwaite's original water supply for the railroad! When the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad arrived here in 1885, they needed water for their steam engines. They built a 25-foot…

  • Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery · 1.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery, a place with a dramatic story. It started in 1888 when local men bought this land for burials, with Houston Roberts being the first laid to rest here. Later, the Odd…

  • Mills County · 1.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mills County, Texas. This county was officially formed on March 15th, 1887, pieced together from parts of Brown, Comanche, Hamilton, and Lampasas counties. It was fully organized just a few months…

  • Caradan Cemetery · 2.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mills County, near the site of the old town of Caradan. This cemetery started in 1889 when A.F. Smith deeded land for a school. When that school burned down, the land remained as a cemetery, now…

  • Camp Colorado · 3.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    In 1855 Camp Colorado was probably temporarily at a site near what is now Ebony, in Mills County. In August 1856, Troops A and F and United States Cavalry under Maj. Earl Van Dorn moved the camp to Mukewater Creek about…

  • Center City, TX · 3.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Center City, on U.S. Highway 84 north of Bennett Creek in eastern Mills County, was settled about 1870. When the county was organized, the townsite was laid out with a large area in the center designated as the site for…

  • Regency, TX · 3.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Regency, also known as Hanna Valley and as Hannaville, is on the Colorado River twenty miles southwest of Goldthwaite in southwestern Mills County. Hanna Valley, one of three rich farming communities dividing the…

  • Williams Ranch, TX · 3.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Williams Ranch was three miles south of Mullin, its shipping point, and eight miles northwest of Goldthwaite in central Mills County. The site was a ghost town just off U.S. highways 84 and 183 in 1990. The settlement…

  • Mohler Cemetery · 4.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mohler Cemetery, a final resting place for early Mills County settlers. While Ambrose Bull was among the first to settle here in 1859, it's believed War of 1812 veteran George Washington Joy was…

  • A Brownwood Trooper's Final Drive on Highway Eighty Four · 4.3 mi

    Just north of Goldthwaite, U.S. Highway Eighty Four is the DPS Sergeant William Karl Keesee Memorial Highway. Karl Keesee joined the Texas Department of Public Safety in nineteen ninety and was stationed in Brownwood,…

  • San Saba Peak · 5.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past San Saba Peak, a towering landmark over 1700 feet high. This ancient promontory was named way back in 1732 by the Spanish governor of Texas, Don Juan Antonio Bustillo y Cevallos. For centuries, tales…

  • Williams Ranch Cemetery · 6.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Williams Ranch Cemetery, a place that began as a frontier settlement. Land was granted here in 1852, and by 1855, John and Annie Williams had founded their ranch. The first marked grave, that of…

  • Williams, John · 6.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mullin, Texas, and right here is the site of a true Texas ranching pioneer. John Williams, originally from North Carolina, arrived in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1855</say-as>, setting…

  • North Brown Cemetery · 7.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the North Brown Cemetery, named for the creek nearby. It began as a burial ground around 1857 when someone died at a campsite. Local leaders later secured a deed, forming the North Brown Cemetery…

  • Williams Ranch, The Settlement of · 9.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Williams Ranch, a frontier town that boomed and busted. Cattleman John Williams settled here in 1855, and by the Civil War, this place was a hub of activity, trading with Mexico. By 1874,…

  • Mullin United Methodist Church · 9.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Mullin United Methodist Church. Worship was held in the local schoolhouse for years before Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Martin gave this site in 1893. A building went up in 1896, but a cyclone…

  • Center City Community · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Star, Texas, and right here is where the town of Center City once aimed to be the heart of Texas, literally. Settled back in 1854 by the Jenkins and Morris families, this spot was known as Hughes…

  • Center City Cemetery · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the Star area, near the Center City Cemetery. It began in 1874 with the burials of Julia M. Bishop and M.E. Hughes, daughters of early settlers. The land was purchased for a community graveyard in…

  • Center City Baptist Church · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Center City Baptist Church, founded in 1875 by Reverend Noah Turner Byars, a veteran of the Texas Revolution. The church, originally known as Bennett Creek Baptist, became Center City…

  • Center City United Methodist Church · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Center City United Methodist Church in Star. A circuit preacher served this area in the early 1870s, and the church officially formed in 1878. Members met in a lodge building before…

  • The Science of the Native Pecan · 10.1 mi

    The town of Mullin sits right beside Pecan Bayou, and that name is no accident. This area is the native habitat of the pecan tree, the only major nut tree indigenous to North America. For centuries, wild pecans were a…

  • When the Iron Horse Came to Town · 10.1 mi

    For the first fifty years there was no Mullin at all. Then in 1885 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe drove its line through this part of Mills County, and a town appeared to meet it. Dr. W. D. Kirkpatrick donated the…

  • Site of Chesser Valley Community · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mills County, heading towards the site of the old Chesser Valley community. This spot was named for John Dan Chesser, who moved to Texas in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1854</say-as> and…

  • Pleasant Grove Cemetery · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Pleasant Grove Cemetery. Named for the live oaks banking Simms Creek, Pleasant Grove was settled by Civil War veterans from both the North and South. The farm of Tom Berry (1844-1926) of Alabama…

  • Jackson Massacre · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Jackson Massacre. In October of 1858, settlers Moses and Lydia Jackson, with four of their children, were attacked by a party of Native Americans. The parents and two children were…

  • Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery · 11.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving by the site of Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church, organized in July of 1899 with nineteen charter members. The church purchased land in 1901 for its building and cemetery, which also served as a…

  • Duren Cemetery · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Duren Cemetery, a place that started with a log home and a tragedy. Philip Duren bought land here in 1876 and brought his family, but his newborn daughter Willie Lee died in 1878, becoming the…

  • Ratler, Texas and the Renfro Dam · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Ratler, Texas, once powered by a unique dam. Built between 1876 and 1879 by J. W. Jones, the live oak and sandstone dam fed his grist mill and cotton gin. The community, originally Jones…

  • Rural Communities of Western Mills County · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through western Mills County, an area settled by pioneers drawn to its fertile land and water. Communities like Regency, Ebony, and Ridge sprang up, with schools and churches. But during World War II, the…

  • Lone Cove Baptist Church · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Long Cove Baptist Church. It organized in 1876 as Sims Creek Baptist Church with eight members. The congregation met in the Long Cove schoolhouse until it burned in 1925, after which…

  • Stokes, Richard S. · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lometa, and just ahead is the site of a remarkable rescue. Richard S. Stokes, a veteran of the Confederate Army, came to Texas in 1868 and settled down as a rancher and farmer. But on July 19th,…

  • Harmony Ridge Community · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what was once Harmony Ridge, a community founded in the 1870s. The first settlers here, including the Oliver, Lewis, Faver, Senterfitt, and Howard families, worked together to build a unique…

  • Harmony Ridge Community, Site of · 14.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Harmony Ridge Community building. The original structure here burned down in 2005, but the community rebuilt on the same spot, completing the present building in 2007.

  • Harmony Ridge Cemetery · 14.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Harmony Ridge Cemetery, established in 1878. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2011.

  • Hamilton-Soules House · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Hamilton-Soules House in Star, a home that's been a focal point for community life since it was built around 1900. Thomas Edgar Hamilton, a cotton gin operator and bookkeeper who later became a…

  • Terry Cemetery · 15.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Terry Cemetery, a resting place for pioneers who settled this area. Stephen Woodson Terry and his wife Volumnia arrived here in 1859 from Tennessee. The first burial was their ten-year-old…

  • Chadwick's Mill · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Chadwick's Mill, a pioneer hub built back in 1874 by Henry Chadwick and his son Milam. Imagine this: a sturdy oak dam across the river, powering a mill and cotton gin carved right out of…

  • Harris Cemetery · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Harris Cemetery, a burial ground that was apparently already in use back in 1874. The earliest dated grave here belongs to N.M. Baker, who lived from 1819 to 1877. It's a physical reminder of early…

  • Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Priddy, Texas, where settlers of German ancestry arrived in the late 1800s. In 1889, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized here, holding early services in a schoolhouse. The congregation…

  • Regency Bridge · 16.3 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Hold on tight, because you're about to cross the legendary 'Swinging Bridge,' a true marvel of early 20th-century engineering! This isn't just any bridge; it's the last remaining suspension bridge in Texas open to…

  • Moline School Site · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what used to be the Moline community, just north of Lometa. Back in the early 1900s, the kids here had to travel to other towns for school. But in 1916, Kenneth and Olive Patterson donated five…

  • Regency Suspension Bridge · 16.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving near Goldthwaite, and you're passing the site of the Regency Suspension Bridge. Built in 1903, this was the first bridge across the Colorado River in this area, serving local ranchers and farmers. But…

  • Democrat Cemetery · 17.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Democrat Cemetery, established right around the turn of the 20th century. The first documented burial here was little Lee Ella Deen in 1904. Just a year later, in 1905, three acres were deeded to…

  • Hurst Ranch Cemetery · 17.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Hamilton County, near Shive. The Hurst Ranch Cemetery was established around 1880. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2010.

  • Indian Signaling Grounds · 17.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, and right here, you're passing the site of ancient Indian signaling grounds. From pre-settlement days all the way up to the 1870s, the Comanches and other tribes used this very…

  • Site of Lometa Reservoir · 17.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Lometa Reservoir, also known as Santa Fe Lake. This wasn't just any lake; it was built in the early 1910s by the Santa Fe Railway to supply water for their steam locomotives. Lometa…

  • Phantom Hill Road · 18.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lampasas County, on a road that was once the lifeline of the Texas frontier. Back in 1851, the U.S. Army was building a line of forts to protect settlers, and Fort Phantom Hill was a key part of…

  • Barnett-Hamrick Settlement · 18.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the San Saba area, passing the site of the Barnett-Hamrick Settlement. John W. Barnett and his sons-in-law, Burrell and Tom Hamrick, were the first to really farm and irrigate crops in this…

  • Senterfitt Cemetery · 18.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Senterfitt Cemetery, a final resting place for many of this area's earliest settlers. Reuben Senterfitt himself arrived in the 1860s, and a town grew up around him, boasting hotels, mills, and…

  • The Iron Compass: Engineering a Railroad Hub · 19.1 mi

    The existence of Lometa is a direct result of a 19th-century engineering and logistical calculation. In 1885 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway began building west out of Lampasas, aiming for San Angelo and the…

  • From Senterfitt to Lometa · 19.1 mi

    Imagine having to move your entire town. That is exactly what happened here. Before Lometa existed, a community called Senterfitt served travelers about two and a half miles from this spot. In 1885 the Gulf, Colorado…

  • The Wool and Mohair Capital · 19.1 mi

    In the middle of the twentieth century, the railroad tracks running through Lometa were the site of a serious operation. This small town was one of Texas's major inland shipping points for wool and mohair. The…

  • Sion Record Bostick · 19.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and just a few hundred yards west lies the grave of Sion Record Bostick. This man lived an incredible life in Texas history. He was one of the young Texans who captured Santa Anna…

  • The Diamondback Jubilee · 19.1 mi

    Every town needs something to be known for, and since 1970, Lometa has been known for rattlesnakes. It started when local snake hunters got together after a run of rattlesnake bites to people and livestock around…

  • Lometa, TX · 19.1 mi

    Lometa's history began on May 17, 1886, when it was platted as a 200-acre site as a railroad stop. Originally called Montvale, the name was changed in 1886 when an application for a post office was made. By 1890, the…

  • Senterfitt · 19.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of old Senterfitt, a bustling hub in central Texas back in the 1850s. It was named for Reuben S. Senterfitt, a major cattle baron known as the 'Cattle King' of this region. By 1877, a post…

  • San Saba Cemetery · 19.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the San Saba Cemetery, formerly the Odd Fellows Cemetery. In 1883, the Odd Fellows purchased land here for a cemetery, which they maintained for 45 years. In 1929, the San Saba Cemetery Association…

  • James Louis & Ellen Austin Baker · 19.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Baker Valley, home to James and Ellen Baker. His family registered a cattle brand way back in 1836. By the 1870s, Jim and his brother George were driving thousands of cattle across Texas and even…

  • Brown, John H. "Shorty", Cemetery · 19.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, a town that owes a lot to John H. "Shorty" Brown. He arrived here with his family after living in Arkansas, and helped found this very town in 1854. While the county had a graveyard,…

  • San Saba County · 19.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, formed in 1856 from the vast Bexar County. This region, and the river flowing through it, were named for an early saint. That saint's name in Spanish is Saba, giving us the name…

  • Buffalo-Ebony Cemetery · 19.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Buffalo-Ebony Cemetery near Goldthwaite. Oral tradition says this place started when two sheep herders died and were buried here. The oldest marked grave belongs to William R. Yankee, dating back…

  • Zephyr Cemetery · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Zephyr Cemetery, a final resting place for generations of this Brown County community. While it's served residents since the 1870s, its most dramatic chapter came in 1909. On May 29th of that year, a…

  • First Methodist Church · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and right here is the First Methodist Church, founded way back in 1856. Now, this was a wild frontier back then. The church was so concerned about their missionary's safety, they…

  • Mill Pond House · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mill Pond House in San Saba, a building that was the industrial heart of this community in its early days. Erected around 1875 by John 'Shorty' Brown, one of San Saba's founders, this structure…

  • Lometa, TX · 19.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Lometa, Texas, a town with a unique origin story. Back in 1885, the railroad arrived, and a new depot called Montvale was established. But the real story? The entire town of Senterfitt, buildings…

  • Lometa · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lometa, a town born from the railroad. In 1885, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway pushed west, and this spot was chosen for its first station. Frank Longfield granted the right-of-way, and…

  • San Saba County Jail · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the San Saba County Jail, the oldest public building still standing in the county. Erected in 1884 for a total of $13,300, this Italianate Texas-style limestone structure has seen some action. In…

  • Cedar Log Cabin Museum · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, maybe thinking about the wild west. Well, over 100 years ago, right here on the Chas. Harris ranch, they built special stables. Why? To stop Comanche raiders from stealing their…

  • Brown, James Madison · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now San Saba County, Texas, the hometown of James Madison Brown. He grew up here, a skilled horseman who later made a fortune on the racing turf. But Brown wasn't just a gambler and a…

  • Hubbert, Marion King · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Saba County, and right here is the birthplace of a man who predicted the future of Texas oil. M. King Hubbert, a brilliant geophysicist, was born in San Saba in 1903. While working for Shell…

  • Ketchum Boys · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, but the Ketchum brothers, Tom and Sam, took their outlaw careers to New Mexico and Arizona. Born here in Caldwell and San Saba counties, these ranch boys turned to crime in the 1890s. They…

  • Salt Works, C.S.A. · 19.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lampasas County, and right here, you're passing the site of a vital Civil War operation. West of town, brine springs that once served as an Indian health resort were turned into a Confederate salt…

  • Alma Ward Hamrick · 19.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, home of Alma Ward Hamrick, a remarkable writer and local historian. Born in 1896, she taught for 15 years, but her real legacy is as an author. Her book, 'The Call of the San Saba,' is…

  • San Saba County · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Saba County, a place that saw some serious frontier drama. Back in the 1850s, this area was just starting to see permanent settlers like the Harkey and Matsler families. But by the late 1800s,…

  • San Saba River · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the heart of Texas, and the San Saba River has been a landmark here for centuries. Back in 1732, Spanish Governor Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos discovered this stream, possibly naming it after…

  • San Saba, TX · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Saba, a town that took root on the agricultural frontier back in the 1850s. Ranchers and cotton growers first settled these banks of the San Saba River in 1855, and the community quickly…

  • Thaxton, William · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, the heart of the frontier. Right here in what is now San Saba County, William Thaxton was a man of many hats. He was a surveyor, a legislator, and even a cattle driver. But during…

  • Triplett, Daniel · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Saba, Texas, a place that saw a bit of legal drama back in the day. Daniel Triplett, a state legislator and lawyer, moved here in 1875. Just a few years later, in 1878, he faced a serious…

  • Welcome to the Graveyard · 19.6 mi

    The football field beside the Methodist church here is Rogan Field, and San Saba calls it the Graveyard. That is not a figure of speech. Dr. J. C. Rogan gave this land for the town's first cemetery in eighteen fifty…

  • Risien, Edmond E., Pecan Pioneer · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and you're passing the legacy of Edmond E. Risien, a true pecan pioneer. Born in England, Risien came to Texas in the 1870s and dedicated his life to upbreeding native San Saba pecans.…

  • The Texas Rangers and the San Saba Mob · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, a place where the law was once a distant whisper. In the mid-1800s, with little access to official law enforcement, citizens formed vigilante mobs. But these groups often turned…

  • Camp McMillan, C.S.A. · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the vast Texas frontier, and right now, you're passing near where Camp McMillan once stood. This wasn't a place for glory, but for grit. During the Civil War, from <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Wedding Oak · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the legendary Wedding Oak, a place steeped in Native American history and later, romance. For decades, couples chose this spot for their marriage ceremonies, making it a popular destination for love.…

  • Estep-Burleson Building · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Estep-Burleson Building in San Saba, a tough limestone structure that tells a story of frontier life. Elijah Estep, a man who raised 11 children after his first wife died, built this place in the…

  • American Legion Wiley B. Murray Post No. 27 · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and right here is the site of the American Legion Wiley B. Murray Post No. 27. Organized in 1919, it was one of the first American Legion posts in Texas. Named for a local WWI hero who…

  • San Saba County Courthouse · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the San Saba County Courthouse, a building that's seen a lot of history. The county was organized way back in 1856, and this spot has hosted courthouses ever since. The first one was a frame…

  • First Baptist Church of San Saba · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of San Saba's first Baptist congregation. Formed in 1856, they met in homes east of here before moving into town in 1857. After meeting in a courthouse and schoolhouse, they finally built…

  • United Confederate Veterans William P. Rogers Camp No. 322 · 19.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and just ahead is the site of a gathering place for Confederate veterans. The William P. Rogers Camp, number 322, formed right here in San Saba County in 1893. These camps were popular…

  • Big Eye Cemetery · 19.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Comanche County, near where the Big Eye community once thrived. George Montgomery established this cemetery in 1872, near a log church that also served as a school. Though only five graves are…

  • San Saba Church of Christ · 19.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past San Saba Church of Christ. San Saba County was organized in 1856, and in 1860 the commissioners court issued a block of land to each religious body; the Christian church was one of these. The…

  • Scholten Railroad · 19.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lometa, and right here, about a hundred yards to your west, was the headquarters for a unique piece of Texas industry: the Scholten Railroad. Operated by brothers Edward and Alfred Scholten, who came…

  • Whitis-Moore House · 19.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and just ahead is a beautiful example of Queen Anne architecture: the Whitis-Moore House. Built in 1905 for Austin banker John H. Whitis, this home was completed just in time for his…

  • San Saba Lodge No. 612, A.F. & A.M. · 19.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, where the story of Lodge No. 612, A.F. & A.M. began. Chartered in 1885, this Masonic lodge rose from the ashes of a previous one disbanded due to financial troubles and ties to the…

  • San Saba Lodge No. 225, A.F. & A.M. · 19.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, a town whose history is deeply intertwined with Freemasonry. Many of the county's founders were Masons, who even met in the first courthouse back in 1857. The official San Saba Lodge No.…

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