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Groesbeck, Texas

Everything Groesbeck is known for

4 songs mention this city 1 artist from here

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

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Music in Groesbeck

Songs About Groesbeck

Blind Lemon's Penitentiary Blues
Blind Lemon Jefferson
55%
"If you wanna go to the state penitentiary, go to Groesbeck for your trial"
Grosebeck Blues
Lightnin' Hopkins
55%
Blind Lemon’s Penitentiary Blues
Blind Lemon Jefferson
50%
"Go to Groesbeck for your trial"
I’ve Been Everywhere...In Texas
Brian Burns
2%
"Groesbeck"

Artists From Groesbeck

K
Kenny Harrell
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Groesbeck

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

Interstate 45 8 songs Brazos River 43 songs Interstate 35 45 songs Trinity River 11 songs

Musical Heritage

Part Time Love Came From Groesbeck RoadyGoat

One of the big rhythm and blues hits of nineteen sixty three was written by a man born in Groesbeck. Clay Hammond was born here in nineteen thirty six. In nineteen fifty six, out in Los Angeles, he became one of the founding members of the gospel group the Mighty Clouds of Joy, singing alongside a man named Little Johnny Taylor. Hammond went on to write songs, and one of them was Part Time Love. In nineteen sixty three, his old bandmate Little Johnny Taylor recorded it, and it went all the way to number one on the rhythm and blues charts. Hammond kept recording his own music, too. He died in two thousand eleven. From Limestone County to the top of the charts, by way of a gospel group.

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History of Groesbeck

The Saturday Groesbeck Took Up Arms RoadyGoat

In the fall of eighteen seventy one, Groesbeck was barely a year old, and one Saturday afternoon it nearly went to war with the State of Texas. This was Reconstruction. Governor Edmund Davis had a new State Police force, and some of its officers here were Black. On September thirtieth, officers tried to arrest an auctioneer named D. C. Applewhite for carrying a concealed pistol. What happened next depends on which newspaper you read. Democratic papers said the police were rough and insulting, and provoked him. A Republican paper in New York said he refused to hand his gun to a Black officer. Either way, shots were fired, four or five of them hit Applewhite, and he died. The officers rode to Springfield, then the county seat, and turned their prisoners over to the sheriff. Back in Groesbeck, men armed themselves. Somebody cut the telegraph wires. Word went out that the Groesbeck polls were closed, with six hundred armed white men in the streets. With armed lines up and no men allowed through, a young woman from Springfield, a Miss Houston, carried the dispatches to the governor herself. On October ninth, eighteen seventy one, Governor Davis put Limestone and Freestone counties under martial law.

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The Walking Tall Sheriff Was a Goat RoadyGoat

The actor who played one of the toughest sheriffs in movie history grew up in Groesbeck. Joe Don Baker was born here in nineteen thirty six. At Groesbeck High he played basketball, and on the football team he was a linebacker and a co-captain. He went to North Texas State College in Denton on a sports scholarship, then headed into acting. His breakthrough came in nineteen seventy three, when he played the real-life Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser in the film Walking Tall. Later he turned up in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear, and in three James Bond films, playing both a villain and an ally. He died in two thousand twenty five. Before all of that, he was a Groesbeck Goat.

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The Other Groesbeek RoadyGoat

Groesbeck is named for Abram Groesbeeck, a Houston railroad man. But across the ocean in the Netherlands, there is a village with almost the same name, Groesbeek, and on September seventeenth, nineteen forty four, American paratroopers came down on it. Men of the Eighty-Second Airborne Division, including the Five Hundred Eighth Parachute Infantry Regiment, jumped into the fields around Groesbeek, near the city of Nijmegen, at the start of the huge Allied airborne operation called Market Garden. One veteran of the Five-Oh-Eighth remembered German eighty-eights and machine guns firing at them as they came down. It was just chaos, he said, everywhere you look. The fighting left much of the village in ruins. Today a museum about the liberation stands on one of the old landing grounds, and a large Canadian war cemetery lies just outside town. Two places, one Dutch name, an ocean apart.

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Fort Parker

1834

Built 1834 for protection from Indians. Named for leaders who bought first Predestinarian Baptist church body to Texas: Elder Daniel Parker; his father, Elder John; brothers Jas. W., Benjamin, Silas, John. Also here were Kellogg, Frost, Nixon, Duty and Plummer families on May 18, 1836, raiding Comanches killed Benjamin, John and Silas Parker, Samuel and Robert Frost and others; captured Elizabeth Kellogg, Rachel Plummer and son James, and Sila's children, John and Cynthia Ann in captivity, Cynthia Ann married Chief Peta Nacona; her son, Quanah, was last Comanche Chief. With her baby, Prairie Flower, in 1860 she was captured by Texas Rangers. She, the baby and Quanah are buried at Fort Sill.

Historical Marker →

Limestone County

1836

Limestone County is in Central Texas about thirty miles due east of Waco. Mexia, its largest community, is approximately eighty miles south of Dallas. Groesbeck, the county seat, is near the county's center, at approximately 31°31' north latitude and 96°35' west longitude. The county comprises 931 square miles principally in the Blackland Prairies region. In the southeastern section loamy soils overlie mottled gray and red or yellow, cracking, clayey subsoils; in the central section the soils are slightly acidic and loamy at the surface, with cracking clayey subsoils; and surfaces in the northwestern section are dark, calcareous, mostly cracking, clayey soils. The nearly level to undulating terrain and light-colored, medium to slightly acid soils of the Claypan area and Cross Timbers are also found in the county. The vegetation includes mesquite, blackjack oak, pecan, bois d'arc, and elm trees as well as Indian grass and Texas winter grass in the northern area; the Post Oak Savannah vegetation of the southern area has tall grasses, Post oak, and blackjack oak. The natural resources of the county are clays, including kaolin and ceramic clays, limestone, industrial sand, glauconite, lignite coal, oil, and gas. The level to rolling prairie ranges from 375 to 665 feet above sea level. The land, on the divide between the Brazos and Trinity rivers, is drained by the Navasota River and its tributaries, which split the county in two. Bodies of water include Lake Mexia , Springfield Lake , and Lake Limestone. The average annual precipitation is almost thirty-eight inches, and the temperatures range from an average low of 37° F in January to an average high of 96° in July. The average growing season lasts 255 days. The area that became Limestone County was home to the Tawakoni, or Tehuacana, and Waco Indians. These were primarily agrarian people friendly to the whites who settled there. Tehuacana, in northeastern Limestone County, is on an old Indian village site. The Tawakonis were expert hunters and noted traders as well. Their enemies were the Apaches and Comanches, who often raided the Tawakoni settlements. Limestone County was part of the Haden Edwards and Robert Leftwich empresario grants made by the Coahuila and Texas legislature in 1825. This legislation began settlement of the area and the struggle between the government of Mexico and the American settlers for dominance. The government tried to restrict colonization through legislation, but settlers continued to come to Texas. Numerous individuals, both Mexican and Anglo, claimed land grants in the area before 1836. Among these were Silas M. Parker, Moses Herrin, Elisha Anglin, Luther T. M. Plummer, David Faulkenberry, Joshua Hadley , and Samuel Frost, who came together as a group from Illinois in 1833 to establish a permanent settlement for their families. Fort Parker, near the Navasota River in what is now central Limestone County, was the earliest actual settlement in the vicinity. While most of the men were out in the fields early on May 19, 1836, a large band of Comanches and their Kiowa allies approached the fort. After a short conversation under a flag of truce, the Indians attacked and killed most of the inhabitants. Several prisoners were taken, including Mrs. Rachel Plummer , who later wrote an account of her captivity, and nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker , who spent the next twenty-four years with the Comanches and married Peta Nocona . Their son, Quanah Parker , was a chief of the tribe. The other eighteen survivors wandered for six days, hiding in the riverbottoms, until they reached Fort Houston, from where a rescue party was sent back to survey the scene. After this raid further settlement was delayed until a treaty with the Indians was signed in 1844 at the instigation of Sam Houston . In the mid-1840s new settlements were established at Springfield and Tehuacana Hills. On April 11, 1846, Limestone County was formed from Robertson County, and a

Tsha Handbook → · 4.1 mi away

Parker, Cynthia Ann

1836

Cynthia Ann Parker, a captive of the Comanches, was born to Lucy (Duty) and Silas M. Parker in Crawford County, Illinois. According to the 1870 census of Anderson County she would have been born between June 2, 1824, and May 31, 1825. When she was nine or ten her family moved to Central Texas and built Fort Parker on the headwaters of the Navasota River in what is now Limestone County. On May 19, 1836, a large force of Comanche warriors accompanied by Kiowa and Kichai allies attacked the fort and killed several of its inhabitants. During the raid the Comanches seized five captives, including Cynthia Ann. The other four were eventually released, but Cynthia remained with the Native Americans for almost twenty-five years, forgot Anglo ways, and became thoroughly Comanche. It is said that in the mid-1840s her brother, John Parker , who had been captured with her, asked her to return to their Anglo family, but she refused, explaining that she loved her husband and children too much to leave them. She is also said to have rejected Native American trader Victor Rose's invitation to accompany him back to Anglo settlements a few years later, though the story of the invitation may be apocryphal. A newspaper account of April 29, 1846, describes an encounter of Col. Leonard G. Williams 's trading party with Cynthia, who was camped with Comanches on the Canadian River. Despite Williams's ransom offers, tribal elders refused to release her. Later, federal officials P. M. Butler and M. G. Lewis encountered Cynthia Ann with the Yamparika Comanches on the Washita River; by then she was a full-fledged member of the tribe and married to a Comanche warrior. She never voluntarily returned to Anglo society. Indian agent Robert S. Neighbors learned, probably in 1848, that she was among the Tenawa Comanches. He was told by other Comanches that only force would induce her captors to release her. She had married Peta Nocona and eventually had two sons, Quanah Parker and Pecos, and a daughter, Topsannah. On December 18, 1860, Texas Rangers under Lawrence Sullivan Ross attacked a Comanche hunting camp at Mule Creek, a tributary of the Pease River. During this raid the rangers captured three of the supposed Native Americans. They were surprised to find that one of them had blue eyes; it was a non-English-speaking Anglo woman with her infant daughter. Col. Isaac Parker later identified her as his niece, Cynthia Ann. Cynthia accompanied her uncle to Birdville on the condition that military interpreter Horace P. Jones would send along her sons if they were found. While traveling through Fort Worth she was photographed with her daughter at her breast and her hair cut short-a Comanche sign of mourning. She thought that Peta Nocona was dead and feared that she would never see her sons again. On April 8, 1861, a sympathetic Texas legislature voted her a grant of $100 annually for five years and a league of land and appointed Isaac D. and Benjamin F. Parker her guardians. But she was never reconciled to living in Anglo society and made several unsuccessful attempts to flee to her Comanche family. After three months at Birdville, her brother Silas took her to his Van Zandt County home. She afterward moved to her sister's place near the boundary of Anderson and Henderson counties. Though she is said in some sources to have died in 1864, the 1870 census enrolled her and gave her age as forty-five. At her death she was buried in Fosterville Cemetery in Anderson County. In 1910 her son Quanah moved her body to the Post Oak Mission Cemetery near Cache, Oklahoma. In 1957 her body and that of Quanah's were reinterred in the Fort Sill Post Cemetery at Lawton, Oklahoma. In the last years of Cynthia Ann's life she never saw her Native American family, the only family she really knew. But she was a true pioneer of the American West, whose legacy was carried on by her son Quanah. Serving as a link between Anglos and Comanches, Quanah Parker became the most influential Comanc

Tsha Handbook → · 4.1 mi away

Parker, James W.

1834

James W. Parker, the first of the Parker family to come to Texas, son of John and Sarah (White) Parker, was born in northeast Georgia, probably in Franklin or Elbert County, on July 4, 1797. He moved with his family to Dickson County, Tennessee, in the summer of 1803, and to the Territory of Illinois in 1815, where he married Martha (Patsy) Duty on July 14, 1816. In 1830 he and his family moved to Conway County, Arkansas, from whence he made several exploratory trips into Texas. In 1832 he proposed to Stephen F. Austin that he be permitted to settle fifty families "in the new colony above the mouth of the Little Brazos River." Austin did not reply to his offer. In 1833 James, along with his brother, Silas M. Parker , and their families, returned to Texas. James registered at Tenoxtitlán on January 29, 1834, for admission to Robertson's colony and registered on May 22, 1834, for admission to the Austin and Williams colony. He was granted a league of land north of site of present Groesbeck on April 1, 1835. Parker claims to have been one of the party that found Josiah P. Wilbarger in 1833, after he had been scalped and left for dead. James and Silas founded Fort Parker in the spring of 1835 and were joined in the fall by their father, John Parker, and brother, Benjamin. In February 1835 James Parker and Sterling C. Robertson met with hostile Indian chiefs to sign a treaty of friendship. Parker was one of six representatives from Viesca elected to the Consultation to meet in San Felipe, and his name appears on November 7, 1835, on the Declaration of the People of Texas in General Convention Assembled . Parker left the Consultation early, as he was concerned about the Indian activity around Fort Parker, and enrolled as a ranger on November 17, 1835. He was working in his field, a mile from Fort Parker on May 19, 1836, when the fort was attacked by Indians. He arrived in the midst of the attack and hid seventeen of the fort's inhabitants; he later led them for six days through the underbrush, south to Tinnin's settlement, near the crossing of the Navasota River and the Old San Antonio Road . His father and his brothers Silas and Benjamin were killed; five family members were captured. After insuring the safety of his family, he began efforts for the return of captives taken at Fort Parker: his daughter, Rachel Parker Plummer ; his grandson, James Pratt Plummer; his niece, Cynthia Ann Parker ; his nephew, John Parker ; and his sister-in-law, Elizabeth (Duty) Kellogg. James's initial efforts at raising a company of men for pursuit was foiled by the threat of the return of the Mexican army. He returned to Fort Parker in June to bury the dead; in July he met with Sam Houston in San Augustine to secure his help in the return of the prisoners. Parker disagreed with Houston's remedy-a treaty with the Indians. In August 1836 James again approached Houston, now in Nacogdoches, to persuade him to order an expedition against the Comanches. Houston again refused. While in Nacogdoches James was reunited with Mrs. Kellogg, who had been returned by Delaware Indians, who had purchased her. James returned her to his family in Walker County. In June 1837 Parker wrote to President Houston for permission to raise 2,000 men to "act against the Indians." Houston commissioned Parker to raise 120 men to "flog those Indians." The force was disbanded by Houston in late July before it had departed. James's daughter Rachel was returned in February 1838 and died in February 1839 in Houston. On November 21, 1840, James petitioned the Texas House to raise a force against the prairie Indians. The petition was denied. Two boys, thought to be John Parker and James Pratt Plummer, were recovered from Fort Gibson in January 16, 1843, by James Parker. There is some doubt as to the identity of the child, John Parker. The Texas Congress, in 1845, passed a joint resolution for payment by Isaac Parker for redemption of John Parker from the Keechi Indians. In 1844 James pub

Tsha Handbook →

Faulkenberry Cemetery

1814

David Faulkenberry, believed to have been born in South Carolina circa 1795, wed Nancy Douthit in 1814 in Tennessee. The couple had seven children. The family was part of Daniel Parker's Pilgrim Church, an Illinois congregation that came to Texas in 1833. The Faulkenberrys and others from the church, including Elisha Anglin, moved to present-day Limestone County in 1835. They built cabins and Fort Parker for protection against Native Americans. David and his oldest son, Evan, were killed in an attack in 1837 near Fort Houston. Nancy later wed Elisha Anglin and established this cemetery. Her descendants formally deeded it as a graveyard in 1874, and the city annexed the cemetery and its additions in 1979. The first marked burial, dating to 1854, is that of a child. Among the gravesites are those of two state representatives, five sheriffs, an early Texas Ranger, many veterans from military action dating back to the Texas Revolution, and John C. Clariman, a longtime caretaker of the cemetery. Today, the cemetery is a link to Limestone County's 19th-century settlers and their descendants. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2003

Historical Marker →

Civilian Conservation Corps at Fort Parker State Park

1935

In August 1935, construction of a state park began here on the former town site of Springfield under the direction of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The group assigned to build Fort Parker State Park was Company 3807(C), an African American CCC Camp. From 1935 to 1942, the park company constructed park buildings, roads and facilities, erected a dam across the Navasota River, and reconstructed old Fort Parker. Located nearby, old Fort Parker was rebuilt in preparation for a Texas Centennial observance in 1936, and was the first of the CCC projects completed. The dam that created Lake Fort Parker was concluded by 1938 and required breaking and hauling rock for cement, digging out the dam footings, spillway, and wing walks, and pouring cement for the dam. Creating the park facilities included clearing and building five miles of roads, constructing an activity center / bath house, drinking fountains, and cement picnic tables. Former Texas Governor Pat Neff dedicated Fort Parker State Park in May 1941, and declared it open to the public. Company 3807(C) was transferred out of the area in 1942 after completing several complex tasks over a span of almost seven years. (1997)

Historical Marker → · 4.6 mi away

Everything Near Groesbeck

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

  • The Saturday Groesbeck Took Up Arms

    In the fall of eighteen seventy one, Groesbeck was barely a year old, and one Saturday afternoon it nearly went to war with the State of Texas. This was Reconstruction. Governor Edmund Davis had a new State Police…

  • Parker, James W. · Tsha Handbook

    James W. Parker, the first of the Parker family to come to Texas, son of John and Sarah (White) Parker, was born in northeast Georgia, probably in Franklin or Elbert County, on July 4, 1797. He moved with his family to…

  • Parker, Silas M. · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, not far from Groesbeck. Right here, Silas Parker and his brother James built Fort Parker in the spring of 1835. It was meant to protect the frontier, and Silas was even put in…

  • Westbrook, John Hill · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, heading towards Baylor University country. Right here, in Groesbeck, John Hill Westbrook was born in 1947. He grew up to become a preacher, but his biggest claim to fame happened on…

  • Seven to Nothing in the Astrodome

    In nineteen ninety one, the Groesbeck Goats won a state football championship with exactly one touchdown. They went fourteen and oh that season, and the Class Three A title game was played under the roof of the Houston…

  • The Walking Tall Sheriff Was a Goat

    The actor who played one of the toughest sheriffs in movie history grew up in Groesbeck. Joe Don Baker was born here in nineteen thirty six. At Groesbeck High he played basketball, and on the football team he was a…

  • Part Time Love Came From Groesbeck

    One of the big rhythm and blues hits of nineteen sixty three was written by a man born in Groesbeck. Clay Hammond was born here in nineteen thirty six. In nineteen fifty six, out in Los Angeles, he became one of the…

  • The Other Groesbeek

    Groesbeck is named for Abram Groesbeeck, a Houston railroad man. But across the ocean in the Netherlands, there is a village with almost the same name, Groesbeek, and on September seventeenth, nineteen forty four,…

  • The Goats That Don't Really Faint

    Groesbeck's teams are the Goats, so here is a goat story with a twist. There's a breed called the myotonic goat, better known as the fainting goat. Startle one, and its muscles lock up, and it may topple right over. But…

  • Foster, Lafayette Lumpkin · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, perhaps near Groesbeck. Right here, Lafayette Lumpkin Foster started his Texas journey. He arrived in Texas at eighteen, saved up from picking cotton and laying bricks, and…

  • Henderson, Persis Jones · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, perhaps near Groesbeck, where a remarkable woman stepped into history. Persis Jones Henderson's husband, a state representative, died suddenly in 1949, leaving his seat vacant.…

  • Coffee's Dancing Goats

    Groesbeck's mascot is the goat, and according to legend, goats discovered coffee. The story goes like this. In Ethiopia, a goat herder named Kaldi noticed that after his goats ate the berries of a certain tree, they had…

Show all 200 nearby places
  • Farrar, Lochlin Johnson · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, and right here, Lochlin Johnson Farrar raised the very first company from this county for the Confederate cause: the Limestone County Volunteers. It was 1861, and the Civil War…

  • Groesbeck, TX · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Groesbeck, a town that owes its existence to the railroad. Back in 1870, the Houston and Texas Central Railway pushed its tracks this far, and by 1874, this spot was chosen as the new county seat,…

  • First Baptist Church of Groesbeck · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the First Baptist Church of Groesbeck. When this railroad town was founded in 1871, it bypassed the older settlement of Springfield. Some Baptists from Springfield’s 1846 church moved here,…

  • Fort Parker and the Two Lives of Cynthia Ann Parker · 0.4 mi

    Near here, in 1833, the Parker family built a fortified settlement on the Texas frontier. On May 19, 1836, a large force of Comanche warriors, joined in some accounts by Kiowa and Caddo allies, approached the stockade.…

  • The Railroad That Built One Town and Erased Another · 0.4 mi

    North of Groesbeck, a single decision by a railroad turned one county seat into a ghost. Before Groesbeck existed, the important town here was Springfield, founded in 1838 near the Navasota River. It became Limestone…

  • The Hand-Built Dam and the Men Who Made It · 0.4 mi

    Approach the lake at Fort Parker State Park and you're looking at one of Groesbeck's best engineering stories, built almost entirely by hand by men history nearly forgot. During the Great Depression, about 200 young…

  • Old Val Verde, the Cannon Buried Under a Buggy House · 0.4 mi

    Out along the Navasota River near Groesbeck sit the Confederate Reunion Grounds, where starting in 1889 former Confederate soldiers and their families gathered for enormous yearly reunions. Special trains rolled in from…

  • The Town That Paved Itself in Its Own Red Clay · 0.4 mi

    Look down as you drive through downtown Groesbeck and you may be rolling over the town's own geology. Several blocks of original red brick paving still survive, laid during the 1920s with help from a federal work…

  • The 2006 Tornado That Crossed the County · 0.4 mi

    On December 29, 2006, an F2 tornado dropped out of the sky near Kosse and tracked north-northeast toward Groesbeck along a path of roughly 20 miles, cutting across the open Limestone County prairie. About four miles…

  • The Reconstructed Stockade at Old Fort Parker · 0.4 mi

    At 866 Park Road 35 just outside Groesbeck stands Old Fort Parker, a full reconstructed stockade that interprets the original Parker family settlement and the 1836 attack that scattered it. Walk inside and you'll find…

  • A Burger Beside the Cattle Auction · 0.4 mi

    If you want a meal wired straight into Limestone County's ranching economy, point the car at Billy B's Sale Barn Cafe, inside the Groesbeck Auction and Livestock Company at 1401 Texas Highway 164. This isn't a place…

  • The Courthouse They Call the Million Dollar Courthouse · 0.4 mi

    Right in the center of Groesbeck at 200 West State Street stands the Limestone County Courthouse, completed in 1924 and still in active government use. It's a handsome Classical Revival building of reinforced concrete…

  • Groesbeck Lodge No. 354, A.F. & A.M. · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Groesbeck Lodge No. 354, chartered way back in 1872. This Masonic lodge has been a cornerstone of the community for over a century, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 1972. It's seen…

  • First Methodist Church of Groesbeck · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're passing the First Methodist Church of Groesbeck, a congregation that got its start way back in 1871. Reverend Mordecai Yell led the very first services that year, meeting in a community building. By 1879, they…

  • Foster, Lafayette Lumpkin · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the marker for Lafayette Lumpkin Foster, a man who helped shape Texas industry. Foster served as Speaker of the House in the late 1800s, then led Texas A&M. But his most impactful role came when…

  • Limestone County Courthouse · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Groesbeck, and right here is the Limestone County Courthouse. It's seen a few county seats come and go. Springfield was first, but after it burned down, Groesbeck took over in 1873. After a few…

  • The Night They Moved the Courthouse · 0.7 mi

    Imagine a rivalry so intense it erased a whole town. That’s basically what happened here in 1873. The original county seat was a place called Springfield, but when Springfield’s leaders turned down the Houston and Texas…

  • The Dragons of Limestone County · 0.7 mi

    As you travel east of Groesbeck, you’re entering the territory of modern-day giants. This area is home to the Jewett Mine, a 35,000-acre lignite operation spread across Freestone, Leon, and Limestone counties. This…

  • Groesbeck, TX · 0.7 mi

    In June 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation was read from the front porch of the largest slaveholder in the county, Logan Stroud, who held over 150 people in bondage. This event marked the beginning of Juneteenth…

  • When the World Rushed into Groesbeck · 0.7 mi

    Picture the quiet downtown streets you see today. Now imagine this county in 1922. Nothing about it was quiet. In October 1920 Colonel A. E. Humphreys finished a well at thirty-one hundred feet and opened the…

  • The Rebuilt Frontier · 0.7 mi

    Just outside Groesbeck, you can step back into one of the most famous and tragic stories of the Texas frontier. In 1836, a private stockade called Fort Parker was home to a handful of settler families. In May of that…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Groesbeck (Groesbeck) · 0.9 mi

    Groesbeck (Groesbeck, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Nick Sanchez (0.479 avg, 1 HR).

  • The Groesbeck Goats (and the Real Thing) · 0.9 mi

    The home team here in Groesbeck takes the Goat as its mascot, and it is a fitting one. A goat's pupil is a long horizontal rectangle rather than a round dot, which gives it a field of view of well over three hundred…

  • Groesbeck Independent School District · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Groesbeck Independent School District. Developers established the town of Groesbeck in February 1871, and Groesbeck College opened two months later on Trinity Street. Education for African American…

  • Faulkenberry Cemetery · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    David Faulkenberry, believed to have been born in South Carolina circa 1795, wed Nancy Douthit in 1814 in Tennessee. The couple had seven children. The family was part of Daniel Parker's Pilgrim Church, an Illinois…

  • Abram Anglin · 1.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the marker for Abram Anglin, born right here on December 28th, 1817. He was an early Ranger, serving in Captain Seale's Company from 1835 to 1836. That company was organized by order of the Council…

  • Bates, Seth H. · 2.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of Seth H. Bates, born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1811</say-as>. Bates was an early Texas Ranger, serving in Captain Seale's Company from 1835 to 1836. His company…

  • Kelly, Mrs. C. D. (ZADA Jane Sanders Kelly, 1881-1968) · 2.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the birthplace of Zada Jane Sanders Kelly, a woman who made a name for herself far beyond Groesbeck. After graduating college and marrying C.D. Kelly in 1910, she became a prominent clubwoman. Zada…

  • The Girl Who Didn't Want to Come Home · 2.5 mi

    In May of eighteen thirty-six — the same spring Texas declared independence — a force of Comanche, Kiowa, and allied warriors raided Fort Parker. Among the captives taken was a girl named Cynthia Ann Parker, estimated…

  • Fort Parker · 2.9 mi · Historical Marker

    Built 1834 for protection from Indians. Named for leaders who bought first Predestinarian Baptist church body to Texas: Elder Daniel Parker; his father, Elder John; brothers Jas. W., Benjamin, Silas, John. Also here…

  • Personville Cemetery · 3.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Limestone County, passing the Personville Cemetery. Established around 1891, this burial ground was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2002.

  • A Trooper Who Stopped to Help · 3.5 mi

    State Highway One Sixty Four in Limestone County, between Farm to Market Road Nineteen Fifty Three and County Road Seven Eighty Nine, is the Trooper Chad M. Walker Memorial Highway. Chad Walker had eighteen years in law…

  • Limestone County · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Limestone County is in Central Texas about thirty miles due east of Waco. Mexia, its largest community, is approximately eighty miles south of Dallas. Groesbeck, the county seat, is near the county's center, at…

  • Parker, Cynthia Ann · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Cynthia Ann Parker, a captive of the Comanches, was born to Lucy (Duty) and Silas M. Parker in Crawford County, Illinois. According to the 1870 census of Anderson County she would have been born between June 2, 1824,…

  • Fort Parker · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, near Groesbeck. Right here, in 1836, stood Fort Parker, a private settlement built for protection against Indian raids. On May 19th of that year, it was overwhelmed by a massive…

  • McMillin, Alvin Nugent [Bo] · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, not far from where Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin was born. This Texas kid, born in Prairie Hill in 1895, became a legendary football player and coach. In 1921, McMillin, playing…

  • Plummer, Rachel Parker · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, near what is now Limestone County. Back in 1835, this was the wild frontier. Rachel Parker Plummer and her family had just settled here, building Fort Parker. But in May of 1836,…

  • Woodbine Fault-Line Fields · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through east central Texas, a region that experienced one of the biggest oil booms in state history. Right here, along the Mexia Fault Zone, a series of fields known as the Woodbine Fault-Line fields were…

  • Transcontinental Oil Company · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    The Transcontinental Oil Company was established in June 1919, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with Foster Parriott, president, Michael Late Benedum, chairman of the board, and Levi Smith , a director responsible for field…

  • Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, heading southwest of Mexia, and right here are the Confederate Reunion Grounds. From the 1880s to the 1930s, this wooded spot on Jack's Creek was the place for Confederate…

  • Medlock, David, Jr. · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, and right here, in Springfield, a man named David Medlock, Jr. made history. Born into slavery in Georgia, he was brought to Texas and eventually settled near here after…

  • Mercer, Asa Shinn · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, Texas, where a fascinating character named Asa Shinn Mercer spent seven years of his life. Mercer was a man of many schemes, but he's most remembered for a controversial plan he…

  • Wills, Johnnie Lee · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, Texas, the birthplace of Johnnie Lee Wills. Born in 1912, he'd become a significant figure in Western Swing music. After a dispute with a foreman cost him his truck driving job,…

  • Datura, TX · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Datura, on Farm Road 1951 three miles south of Coolidge in northern Limestone County, appears to have formed in the late 1890s. A post office operated there from May 18, 1899, until sometime after 1930; Arthur Clinton…

  • Springfield, TX (Limestone County) · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Springfield, the first county seat of Limestone County, was in the north central part of the county at a site now included in Fort Parker State Park . It became a townsite in January 1838, when Moses Herin donated land…

  • Long, Ralph · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once Limestone, Navarro, and Hill counties, a region that sent Ralph Long to the Constitutional Convention of 1868. Born in Tennessee, Long arrived in Limestone County around 1846. He was…

  • Stroud, Beden · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Limestone County, and right here, in the 1830s and 40s, Beden Stroud was a key player on the Texas frontier. He served as a state senator for Robertson and Milam districts, but his…

  • Tyus, Benjamin Robert · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, Texas, and right here in the Springfield area, a Confederate captain named Benjamin Robert Tyus saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Civil War. He commanded the Sixth Texas…

  • Eutaw, TX · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Eutaw, two miles east of Kosse, was the most important town in southern Limestone County until the coming of the railroads after the Civil War . The town formed in the early 1840s during the Republic of Texas era and…

  • Oletha, TX · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Oletha is located ten miles east of Thornton on Farm roads 1246 and 937 in southeastern Limestone County. The area was first called Pottersville; in 1859 Alberry Johnson built a pottery shop because there was a good…

  • Oliver, John E. · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, and right here, in what was Springfield, lived John E. Oliver. He wasn't your typical soldier at first, being a farmer and merchant who owned slaves. But when the Civil War…

  • Perry, Aaron, Jr. · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, and right here, in what was Springfield, Aaron Perry Jr. served Texas. <break time="400ms"/> Born in North Carolina around 1810, Perry moved from Alabama to Texas in 1846 after…

  • Prendergast, Albert Collins · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, near where Springfield was founded. Right here, Albert Collins Prendergast was born in 1853. He became a lawyer, served in the Texas Legislature, and eventually landed a…

  • Smith, Erastus W. · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once Limestone County, where a farmer named Erastus Smith left his land and family in 1861 to join the Civil War. He rode eighty-five miles to Camp Hebert to enlist in the Twelfth Texas…

  • Big Hill, TX (Limestone County) · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Big Hill (Bighill), on Farm Road 2489 seven miles west of Thornton in western Limestone County, was named for an elevation used by the Indians as a lookout point. Settlement began there in the 1880s with the opening of…

  • Forest Glade, TX · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Forest Glade is on U.S. Highway 14 and Farm Road 1633, three miles west of the Southern Pacific tracks, eight miles north of Groesbeck, and two miles south of Mexia in northern Limestone County. The site is on a mail…

  • Frosa, TX · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Frosa, just off Farm Road 1245 fourteen miles northwest of Groesbeck in central Limestone County, was first named when a post office was established in the community in 1877 with Frederick P. Morey as postmaster. At…

  • Horn Hill, TX · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Horn Hill is seven miles northwest of Groesbeck in west central Limestone County. It was once known as Mount Vernon, but the name Horn Hill became better established. Two possible sources for the name Horn Hill have…

  • Munger, TX · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Munger is on State Highway 171 six miles north of Coolidge in northern Limestone County. It may have once been called Condor, as the area post office was named Condor in 1899. In 1905 either the name was changed to…

  • Personville, TX · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Personville is on State highways 164 and 39, twelve miles southeast of Groesbeck in southeastern Limestone County. It was founded in 1854 by B. D. Person, a native of North Carolina, who moved in 1851 from Shelby…

  • Prairie Hill, TX (Limestone County) · 4.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Prairie Hill is at the intersection of Farm Roads 339 and 73, about twenty-two miles northwest of Groesbeck in northwestern Limestone County. The town was named for a rise in the prairie between Christmas Creek and the…

  • Old Springfield · 4.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Limestone County, past the site of Old Springfield. This town was named for a big spring, and in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1838</say-as>, Moses Herrin donated land to anyone willing…

  • Civilian Conservation Corps at Fort Parker State Park · 4.6 mi · Historical Marker

    In August 1935, construction of a state park began here on the former town site of Springfield under the direction of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The group assigned to build Fort Parker State Park was Company…

  • Lynch, Joseph Penn · 4.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of Joseph Penn Lynch, a soldier who fought for Texas's independence. Born in Kentucky in 1810, Lynch served as both a private and a captain in the Army of the Republic of Texas. He…

  • Plummer Cemetery · 4.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Plummer Cemetery, a final resting place with a dramatic beginning. In 1834, Luther Thomas Martin Plummer and his wife Rachel arrived here, soon earning a massive Mexican land grant. But in 1836,…

  • Springfield Cemetery · 4.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Springfield Cemetery, a final resting place for folks who lived through some wild times on the Texas frontier. This burial ground started as a 10-acre plot in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Walker, Sanders · 4.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where Sanders Walker, a veteran of the Texas War for Independence, once lived. He fought for Texas' freedom between 1835 and 1836. Walker's service is remembered here, a quiet nod to the men…

  • Cobb Cemetery · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Cobb Cemetery, established in the 1850s on land owned by Pinckney Cobb, who married Mary Ellen Davis. Her father, Brinkley Davis, had moved here from Indiana in 1833 and received a huge land grant.…

  • Fort Parker · 6.7 mi · Historical Marker

    On May 19, 1836, a large Comanche raiding party attacked a small stockade settlement called Fort Parker in the Navasota River valley. Five settlers were killed and five were taken captive, including a nine-year-old girl…

  • Shiloh Baptist Churc · 7.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Shiloh Baptist Church. On this day in 1881, fifteen neighbors gathered to start their own Baptist congregation. For years, they met in the local schoolhouse, even sharing a Sunday School…

  • Thornton Schools · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Thornton, a town that sprang up with the railroad back in 1871. But this marker tells the story of its schools. Look for the site of the Thornton Male and Female Institute, founded in 1877 by Dr.…

  • Engineering a Town's Rise and Fall · 8.3 mi

    Thornton's story gets told as a railroad story, and the railroad is in it — but it didn't come first. Settlers were already here in 1868, and the community took its name from John E. Thornton, an early settler, not from…

  • The Banker Who Robbed Thornton's Bank · 8.4 mi

    On a Saturday in November nineteen sixty, a fire broke out in the feed and grain warehouse in Thornton, and police, firemen, and townspeople all hurried over to it. And while they were watching, a well-dressed man…

  • The Sheriff Behind the Oil Drums · 8.4 mi

    On Sunday, May fifteenth, nineteen fifty five, Limestone County Sheriff Harry Dunlap stepped out from behind two oil drums on a farm north of Thornton, to try to reason with a man who had barricaded himself in his…

  • Caught Asleep With a Gun in His Hands · 8.4 mi

    In the summer of nineteen thirty six, two escaped convicts ran out of road near Thornton, and they were caught sound asleep. Luke Trammel and Forrest Gibson broke out of the Retrieve State Farm, a prison farm down in…

  • The Doctor Who Talked the British Out of a Fire · 8.4 mi

    Thornton is named for an early settler, John E. Thornton. But there's another Thornton who saved a piece of American history by talking. Dr. William Thornton was born in seventeen fifty nine in the British Virgin…

  • The Alchemist Locked in a Castle · 8.4 mi

    Around Thornton, the ground holds a fine white clay called kaolin, and in the old days it was used here to make ceramics. That same kind of clay once got a young alchemist locked in a castle. The word kaolin comes from…

  • Hound Dog Was Hers First · 8.4 mi

    Thornton is named for an early settler, not for Big Mama Thornton. But we can't pass up the chance. Willie Mae Thornton, known as Big Mama, was a blues singer. Two young songwriters, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, wrote…

  • Thornton, TX (Limestone County) · 8.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Thornton, Texas, and right here in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1918</say-as>, this quiet community witnessed a first. Cyrus F. Smythe landed the very first airplane ever seen in…

  • Commencement in Latin · 8.4 mi

    In the eighteen seventies and eighties, a little railroad town of a couple hundred people had a school where graduation was held entirely in Latin. It was the Thornton Male and Female Institute, founded in eighteen…

  • Tidwell (Steele Creek) Cemetery and Community · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Tidwell Cemetery, once the heart of a frontier community along Steele Creek. Settlers arrived in the 1850s, calling their growing village Steele Creek, Tidwell, Shady Grove, and…

  • Moore, Azariah G. · 9.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Azariah G. Moore's Texas service. He fought in the Texas War for Independence, serving with Captain Billingsley's Mina Volunteers in 1836. This was a pivotal year in Texas history, and…

  • Rogers, Allan Jefferson · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lost Prairie, and right here is the marker for Allan Jefferson Rogers. He was a Sergeant in Company K of Bass' Regiment, part of the 20th Texas Cavalry. Rogers saw action across Arkansas, Indian…

  • Rogers, Mrs. Martha · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Martha Rogers' final home in Lost Prairie. Born around 1795, Martha was the daughter of General James Wilkinson, a big name in the early United States Army. But when she married Benjamin…

  • Reeves, Mrs. Mary E. · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a Texas pioneer woman who lived a long and impactful life. Mary Ellephan Hawkins was born way back in Georgia in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1828</say-as>. She married William…

  • Lost Prairie Cemetery and Church · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Limestone County, and right here is Lost Prairie. Legend says a man got lost in the woods, stumbled onto this prairie, and named it. This spot became a community hub. Volunteers established this…

  • Big Hill Cemetery · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Big Hill Cemetery, established in 1888. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2006.

  • Roberts, Sion · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Groesbeck, and right here is the story of Sion Roberts. He was a soldier in the Texas War for Independence, and he fought in the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. That was the battle that ultimately…

  • Mexia Oil Boom · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Mexia, Texas, the site of one of America's wildest oil booms! Back in 1912, local men found gas. Believing oil could be found here too, they brought in a famous wildcatter, A.E. Humphreys, and in…

  • Johnston, Joseph F., Reunion Grounds · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a massive Confederate reunion! Established in 1889, this was Camp No. 94 for the United Confederate Veterans. Imagine, thousands of Texans gathering every August for week-long…

  • Vinson Cemetery · 10.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Vinson Cemetery near Thornton. Wiley and Phebe Vinson arrived in Texas from Alabama way back in 1851. After settling in Limestone County in 1859, they farmed and ran a gristmill and tanning yard.…

  • The Boat at Comanche Crossing · 10.1 mi

    On Juneteenth night in nineteen eighty one, three young men went into Lake Mexia in a small aluminum boat with three officers, and only the officers came out alive. About five thousand people were at Comanche Crossing…

  • Booker T. Washington Park · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past a place with a powerful history, folks. This park, Booker T. Washington Park, was set aside in 1898 to celebrate a monumental event: June 19th, 1865. That's the day slaves in Texas first heard the…

  • Cox Cemetery · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Cox Cemetery, established in the Ferguson Prairie community. Arkansas native Obediah Cox settled here in 1864 after serving in the Civil War. His wife, Angeline, died and was buried here in February…

  • Site of Oletha Common School · 10.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Oletha Common School, a place that was once the heart of its community. Back in 1934, several smaller rural school districts combined to form the Oletha Common School District. A…

  • Eaton Cemetery · 10.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Eaton Cemetery, the final resting place for a family who helped settle this part of Texas. The Richard Eaton family arrived in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1833</say-as>, part of the…

  • The Boom that Built and Broke Mexia · 10.7 mi

    Imagine the streets you’re on now, but made of thick, inescapable mud. Imagine the population, normally a few thousand, swelling to 30,000 people in just a few months. That was Mexia in 1921. After the discovery of the…

  • The Fault That Fueled a Boom · 10.7 mi

    The reason Mexia became an oil capital isn't just that there was oil nearby; it's the shape of the rock. Imagine the layers beneath you like a stacked cake. Millions of years ago the earth here cracked and shifted along…

  • Anna Nicole's Mexia · 10.7 mi

    Anna Nicole Smith told the world she came from Mexia, and Mexia has never been quite sure what to do with that. She was born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Houston in 1967, and she came here as a teenager, around 1984, to live…

  • The Hitmaker of Mexia · 10.7 mi

    Not all of Mexia’s famous stories involve oil booms or scandal. For over 50 years, one of America’s greatest songwriters quietly worked from her home right here in town. Her name was Cindy Walker. You might not know her…

  • From POW Camp to State School · 10.7 mi

    As you pass the sprawling campus of the Mexia State Supported Living Center, you’re seeing a place with a surprising history. This land’s modern story begins during World War II, when it was chosen as the site for a…

  • Site of Dunbar High School · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Dunbar High School in Mexia. Public education for African Americans here started way back in 1883. After their first school burned down, trustees chose this spot for a new two-story brick…

  • Union Community · 10.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the historic Union Community, originally settled by Joseph and Hannah Ferguson back around 1847. It was first known as Ferguson Prairie, then even called Ivanhoe on some old maps. But the name…

  • Cindy Walker Days festival · 11.0 mi

    You may not know the name Cindy Walker, but you know her songs — and Mexia, Texas, sure knows her. She's the hometown songwriter, and now the town throws her a party. Cindy Walker Days: two days, kicking off the day…

  • Cindy Walker house and studio, South Brooks Street · 11.0 mi

    Down on South Brooks Street in Mexia, there's a house that was still holding songs nobody had ever heard. When the Cindy Walker Foundation bought the songwriter's old home and studio, they found close to seventy-five…

  • Cindy Walker (songwriter) · 11.0 mi

    You know her songs even if you've never heard her name. Cindy Walker was born near Mart in 1917 and wrote her first tune, "Dusty Skies," at about twelve years old. As a young woman she talked her way into recording…

  • The Preacher Who Bought a Town · 11.0 mi

    Mexia's oil boom made some people rich, and one of them used his money to buy an entire town. Lee Wilder Thomas was a Black preacher, and a trustee of St. Paul Industrial College here in Mexia. In nineteen nineteen he…

  • Thirty Thousand at Comanche Crossing · 11.0 mi

    Comanche Crossing, on the Navasota River southwest of Mexia, became home to one of the biggest Juneteenth celebrations in Texas. Limestone County had more than forty-five freedmen's settlements after emancipation, and…

  • "Did You Get Any Deer?" · 11.0 mi

    In January nineteen twenty two, the Mexia oil boom had a nightlife problem, and the State of Texas decided to deal with it in one night. On Saturday, January seventh, the state's adjutant general, Thomas Barton, came…

  • The Blank-Cartridge Joke · 11.0 mi

    In September eighteen ninety six, some young men in Mexia decided to play a joke on the town marshal, and it ended at the railroad depot with the marshal dead. The marshal was Tom Nowlin. A group that included a…

  • Reiter, Wilhelm Arthur · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, and right here is where a determined geologist named Bill Reiter struck black gold. He was so convinced there was oil in this area, even when his boss told him to pack it up,…

  • Mexia, TX · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Mexia, a town that boomed overnight thanks to Black Gold. In 1920, this quiet community struck it rich with a massive oil discovery. Suddenly, the population exploded from around 3,500 to a…

  • The Judge Who Drove Without Hands · 11.0 mi

    In nineteen oh five, a young man from Mexia lost both of his hands in a railroad accident, and seven years later he was a county judge who drove his own car. Quentin Corley was born in the old town of Mexia in January…

  • The Pitch to Raymond · 11.0 mi

    Before he coached in the NFL, Ray Rhodes had a choice to make in Mexia. In the late nineteen sixties, Mexia still had two high schools: Mexia High, and the all-Black Dunbar High. In nineteen sixty seven, students were…

  • Hord, Thomas Alan · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Dallas, but our story starts a bit east, in Mexia. Right here, in 1876, Thomas Hord became the town marshal. He wasn't just any lawman; he was a terror to outlaws. Hord survived multiple shootouts…

  • Mexía de Reygades, Ynés · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, Texas, the place that inspired a town name and a legendary career. Right here, in what is now Mexia, Ynés Mexía de Reygades spent her childhood on her family's eleven-league…

  • Mexía, Enrique Guillermo Antonio · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Limestone County, heading towards the town of Mexia. Right here, this community owes its very existence to Enrique Guillermo Antonio Mexía. Born in Mexico City, Mexía was a brigadier general in…

  • Neff, Pat Morris · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, maybe near Mexia. Back in January of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1922</say-as>, Governor Pat Neff declared martial law right here. Why? Because the oil boomtown was…

  • Stubenrauch, Joseph W. · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, near Mexia, where Joseph Stubenrauch settled in 1877. He came to America to avoid military service, but found his true calling right here, experimenting with peaches. The peaches…

  • Town Named for Gen. Jose Antonio Mexia · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mexia, a town named for a fascinating figure in Texas history: General Jose Antonio Mexia. <break time="400ms"/> He was a Mexican military officer and a big promoter of Texas colonization. <break…

  • St. Paul Industrial College · 11.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of St. Paul Industrial College, a beacon of higher education for African Americans founded in 1924. African American members of the Primitive Baptist Church wanted this institute, purchasing…

  • Mexia, TX · 11.0 mi

    Mexia sits on a bit of high ground, a subtle rise breaking up the long, flat stretch of the Blackland Prairie. That little bit of elevation makes a difference. You can feel it in the air, a slight breeze that might miss…

  • Clyde Barrow, Age Eleven · 11.0 mi

    Before Clyde Barrow was a famous outlaw, he was an eleven-year-old kid with a night job in the Mexia oil field. That comes from Fugitives, a nineteen thirty four book put together by Bonnie Parker's mother and Clyde's…

  • Fifteen Thousand People, Moved by a Few Soldiers · 11.0 mi

    During Mexia's weeks under martial law in nineteen twenty two, a fire broke out downtown, and the general in charge had to clear thousands of people off the streets with a handful of soldiers. The commander was General…

  • The Wildcatter and the Reunion Grounds · 11.0 mi

    Where Jack's Creek meets the Navasota River, Confederate veterans built a reunion ground, and an oil man gave it a second life. Starting in eighteen ninety two, veterans and their families paid five dollars a lot to…

  • Mexia's Lounge-Music Pioneer · 11.0 mi

    One of the big names in nineteen fifties lounge music was born in Mexia. Les Baxter was born here in March nineteen twenty two. When he was six, his family moved to Detroit looking for a better living, and in nineteen…

  • Why Mexico Has an X · 11.0 mi

    Mexia is named for General José Antonio Mexía, and around here, people say it muh-HAY-uh. That sound is a clue to a bigger puzzle. Why does Mexico have an X? According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the correct way to…

  • The Botanist Who Started Past Fifty · 11.0 mi

    Mexia is named for General José Antonio Mexía. His granddaughter, Ynés Mexía, became one of the great plant collectors of her time, and she didn't start until she was past fifty. She was born in eighteen seventy in…

  • Prendergast, Davis M'Gee · 11.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Limestone County, a place that was shaped by men like Davis M. Prendergast. He came to Texas in 1845, read law, and quickly became a prominent figure. By 1860, he was a wealthy lawyer…

  • Mexia - Oil, Vice, and the Rangers · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker

    When oil was struck near Mexia in November 1920, the town went from four thousand people to thirty thousand in months. The Mexia oil field was a gusher, and every roughneck, gambler, bootlegger, and grifter in Texas…

  • The Boom That Brought Martial Law to Mexia · 11.2 mi

    The quiet farm town around you exploded almost overnight. After the Mexia Gas and Oil Company drilled ten dry holes and finally struck gas on its eleventh try, the real transformation came on November 25, 1920, when…

  • The Cannon Buried Beneath a Buggy House · 11.2 mi

    At the bend where Jack's Creek meets the Navasota River sits the Confederate Reunion Grounds, where Limestone County veterans began gathering every year in 1888. Families came by buggy and special train from Dallas and…

  • German POWs and the Escapee Treed by a Bull · 11.2 mi

    During World War II, the federal government opened Camp Mexia in 1942 to hold German prisoners of war. Under wartime labor shortages, prisoners were allowed out in supervised work parties to help local farmers,…

  • The Mexia House That Was a Hidden Hit Factory · 11.2 mi

    On a quiet street in this small town stood one of country music's most unlikely engines. Songwriter Cindy Walker came home to Mexia in the 1950s and lived here for more than half a century, far from Nashville or…

  • The Railroad That Built One Town and Erased Another · 11.2 mi

    Mexia was laid out in 1870-71 as the Houston and Texas Central Railway pushed toward it, and the rails made it almost instantly. The town soon had a post office, newspapers, banks, mills, an opera house, and businesses…

  • Muh-HAY-uh: The General Behind the Name · 11.2 mi

    First, the local password: it's pronounced muh-HAY-uh, not MEX-ee-uh, and saying it right marks you as someone who belongs. The town takes its name from the Mexía family, recipients of an eleven-league Mexican land…

  • The 1916 Opera House Explosion · 11.2 mi

    In the heart of old Mexia, the opera house was one of the proudest buildings of the railroad-era town, the kind of place where a small farming community showed off its ambitions. Then, on February 16, 1916, disaster…

  • How a Fault Line Trapped the Oil Under Mexia · 11.2 mi

    The chaos above ground started with quiet geology far below your feet. The Mexia field taught petroleum geologists how oil collects along a fault line. The Mexia Fault Zone crosses several East-Central Texas counties,…

  • Cindy Walker Days, the Town's Songwriter Festival · 11.2 mi

    Every summer, Mexia throws a party for its quiet musical giant. Cindy Walker Days is an annual music and songwriter festival held near Walker's July birthday, spread across Mexia and the nearby town of Wortham,…

  • The Mexia Rodeo, Going Strong Since the 1930s · 11.2 mi

    Mexia keeps a deep Western streak, and nothing shows it like the Mexia Area Chamber of Commerce Rodeo, a tradition that reaches back to roughly 1930. Late each June the town fills up for an event that has run for the…

  • Smith, L.P. · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the L.P. Smith house, built in 1876 by a Mexia merchant and banker. He bought this site back in 1868 for $400 in gold. Take a look at the classic details: cedar shingle roof, cedar post foundations,…

  • Texas State Teachers Association · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mexia, and right here, in this very spot, the Texas State Teachers Association was born. Back in 1877, two regional groups were already meeting, but it was here, in 1880, that about 40 educators…

  • St. John's A. M. E. Church · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Mexia, and right here is where St. John's A.M.E. Church began. Services for the African American community started way back in the 1870s, and this building even served as a schoolhouse during…

  • First Presbyterians Church of Mexia · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the First Presbyterian Church of Mexia. This congregation started way back in 1817, not here, but twelve miles southwest in Old Springfield. When the Houston & Texas Central Railroad laid tracks and…

  • Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken and the Future Anna Nicole Smith · 11.3 mi

    If you want a meal wired straight into Mexia's stranger history, pull up to Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken at 312 E. Milam Street, a town staple since December 1974. Locals come for fried chicken, catfish, and hot rolls,…

  • Means, Harvey · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a remarkable life in Teague, the story of Harvey Means. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1868</say-as>, Means started as a shoe-shine boy, but found his calling when he…

  • Personville · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Personville, a town that started with a bang in 1854. Benjamin Person laid out the streets, and by 1855, a post office was up and running. The town grew to include a bank, hotel, a dozen…

  • First Baptist Church of Mexia · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the First Baptist Church of Mexia. Its story begins way back on January 14th, 1872, when Reverend W. Henry Parks organized this congregation. Some of the original members actually came from…

  • Miss Rogers' Music Room. · 11.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Miss Rogers' Music Room in Mexia. Imagine this: Laura T. Rogers taught piano and choral music here, six days a week, from seven in the morning to seven at night, for eight months of the…

  • Karner, John · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mexia area, where John Karner arrived in Texas back in 1835. The very next year, he fought for Texas independence at the Battle of San Jacinto. Imagine that – arriving in a new land one year, and…

  • Steel, Alfonso · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where Alfonso Steel, the very last survivor of the Battle of San Jacinto, lived. Steel fought bravely in that pivotal battle, the one that won Texas its independence. But he didn't leave…

  • Site of Old Potter's Shop · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of an old pottery shop, a real engine of industry here in Limestone County. Starting in the 1840s, this shop used fine, white kaolin clay mined nearby to create everything from everyday jars…

  • Mace, Albert R. · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mexia area, home to Albert R. Mace, a lawman who served Texas for 45 years. Mace joined the Texas Rangers at just 21, then moved into county sheriff roles, leading Limestone County for 12 years.…

  • Stubenrauch, Joseph W. · 12.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the land where Joseph Stubenrauch, a German immigrant with a genius for agriculture, transformed Texas soil. Born into a family of horticulturists in Bavaria, he came to Texas in 1876 and bought 100…

  • Kirk · 12.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what used to be Kirk, Texas, a community that started popping up in the 1870s and 80s. Originally Elm Grove, it got a post office in 1887 and was renamed Kirk after a local merchant. At its…

  • Old Sandy Creek Cemetery · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Old Sandy Creek Cemetery, a place that tells the story of freedom and community right here in Limestone County. After Emancipation in 1865, many formerly enslaved people put down roots in this area,…

  • Furney Richardson High School · 13.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a vital community hub for African American children in western Freestone County. In 1933, the Busby and Grove Island schools merged, creating a new district. This campus, named for its…

  • Oakes Cemetery · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Oakes Cemetery, a final resting place that began with two burials back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1861</say-as>. Later, John Collins Oakes and his wife Winnie, who came from Alabama…

  • The Navasota River's Many Names · 13.7 mi

    The Navasota River, in central-east Texas, has carried several names. The indigenous people knew it as the Nabasoto. The Spanish explorer Domingo Teran de los Rios called it the San Cypriano; the Franciscan missionary…

  • Odds Community · 13.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Limestone County, near the old Odds Community. Settled around 1854 by the David Barron family, this place was first called Buffalo Mott. But when the post office opened in 1899, the name had to…

  • Oak Island Presbyterian Church and Cemetery · 13.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Freestone County, near Teague. Look to your right, and you'll see the Oak Island Presbyterian Church and Cemetery. This spot marks the very first church organized in what would become Freestone…

  • Ferguson Cemetery · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Limestone County, passing the site of the Ferguson Cemetery. This land was part of Ferguson Prairie, settled in the 1830s by Joseph and Hannah Ferguson, pioneers who arrived years before Texas was…

  • Cotton Gin · 14.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Cotton Gin, a town that bloomed and faded before the railroad even arrived. Settled before 1848, it got its start with Dr. J. S. Wills and his mule-drawn cotton gin. By 1851, it had a…

  • Criswell Cemetery · 14.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the old Criswell Cemetery, a burial ground that's been here since at least 1873. The earliest marked graves belong to C.M. Criswell and Thomas Durham. An association formed in 1950 still maintains…

  • John Sadler · 14.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of John Sadler, a veteran of the Texas Revolution. He arrived in Texas back in 1833, just a few years before the fight for independence. Sadler answered the call, serving as a…

  • Brown Family Cemetery · 14.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Brown Family Cemetery, a final resting place for a family that shaped Texas history. Ervin and Matilda Brown settled here in 1857, but their son, Thomas Jefferson Brown, served as a Confederate…

  • One-Half Mile North_Trinity University · 14.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Tehuacana, and just a half-mile north of here, a college once stood. Trinity University opened its doors way back in 1869, founded by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It wasn't just your…

  • The University That Left Town · 14.9 mi

    Imagine building a town around a single, magnificent institution. That was Tehuacana. In 1869, Trinity University was founded here, and for three decades, it was the town's entire reason for being. The university grew,…

  • The Railroad That Sealed a Town's Fate · 14.9 mi

    The rise and fall of Tehuacana is a powerful lesson in the importance of infrastructure. In the late 1800s, Trinity University was thriving here, but it had a problem: the nearest railroad was miles away. Everything and…

  • The Athens of Texas · 14.9 mi

    It's hard to picture now, but for three decades this quiet village on a limestone ridge was one of the most serious college towns in Texas. Tehuacana Academy opened here in 1852. Then in 1869 John Boyd persuaded the…

  • The Campus's Second Act · 14.9 mi

    When Trinity University left Tehuacana in 1902, it seemed like the end. The magnificent stone buildings were empty, and the town's purpose was gone. But the story wasn't over. That very same year, the Methodist…

  • Tehuacana, TX · 14.9 mi

    Tehuacana's founding can be traced back to 1847 when a post office called 'Tewockony Springs' was established in the area. The town came in second in an election held in 1850 to decide the new Texas state capitol, which…

  • Cotton Gin Cemetery · 14.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Cotton Gin Cemetery, a place with roots stretching back to 1845. That's when Margarette Wills and her family, along with their enslaved people, arrived here. Her son, Dr. James S. Wills,…

  • Tehuacana, TX (Frio County) · 15.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Frio County, near where Tehuacana Settlement once thrived. Settlers arrived here around 1870, carving out a life on Tehuacana Creek. They built a schoolhouse that doubled as a community center and…

  • Holland, James Kemp · 15.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Tehuacana, Texas, the place where James Kemp Holland met his end. Holland was a man who served Texas in many ways: a legislator in multiple sessions, a Mexican War veteran, and a colonel on the…

  • Tehuacana, TX (Limestone County) · 15.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Tehuacana, a town that owes its existence to a post office established way back in 1847, originally called Tewockony Springs. <break time="400ms"/> It was named for the Tawakoni Indians who once…

  • Yoakum, Charles Henderson · 15.0 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, heading toward the heart of the Lone Star State. Right here, near Tehuacana, was the birthplace of Charles Henderson Yoakum. He wasn't just any Texan; he was a lawyer, a state…

  • Boyd, Jr., William Rufus · 15.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the marker for William Rufus Boyd, Jr., a man who packed a lot into his life! Born in 1885, he was licensed to practice law at just 19 and became Teague's first mayor at 21. He led the U.S. Chamber…

  • Notley, Llewellyn · 15.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Teague, Freestone County, past the life of Llewellyn Notley. Born in Paris, Texas, in 1888, Notley dedicated his life to education and history. After earning his degrees from the University of…

  • Tehuacana · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Tehuacana, a town sitting pretty at one of the highest points between Dallas and Houston. This spot was first noted way back in 1797 by Philip Nolan's trading expedition. It was home to the Tehuacana…

  • Rees, William - Builder of Old Trinity University Structure · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Tehuacana, and right here is the site of Old Trinity University. Look for the stone building, parts of which were built by William Rees. Rees was a master stonemason from England, who came to…

  • Union Cemetery · 15.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Union Cemetery, a place that's been serving this community for over a century and a half. It started way back in 1860, when Jacob Tacker gave this land for both a school and a graveyard. For a while,…

  • Haley, Charles Q. · 15.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a soldier in the Texas War for Independence! Charles Q. Haley fought in the Texas Revolution between 1835 and 1836. He was a volunteer, answering the call to defend Texas's future.…

  • The King of Western Swing Was Born Here · 15.5 mi

    Right near this small town, a giant of American music was born. On a farm in the Moss Springs area a few miles outside Kosse, James Robert 'Bob' Wills entered the world on March 6, 1905. From these rural Texas…

  • The Engineering That Built a Town · 15.5 mi

    The town of Kosse is, at its core, a product of 19th-century civil engineering. Before 1869, there was nothing here. The Houston and Texas Central Railway decided to build a town at this exact spot as part of a massive…

  • Kosse, TX · 15.5 mi

    Kosse's history began in the mid-1840s as a community known as Eutaw. It became a stage stop for stagecoach routes and later, with the planned route of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, Kosse was established two…

  • McKenzie Cemetery · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past McKenzie Cemetery, a quiet resting place that started with a tragedy on the frontier. Back in 1853, Joseph S. McKenzie and his family settled this area, then known as McKenzie Prairie. But the first…

  • Bassett House · 15.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Bassett House, built in 1875 by Henry Caleb Bassett. He was a Connecticut native who moved to Texas and settled near Kosse. This two-story brick house, one of Limestone County's…

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