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Junction, Texas

Everything Junction is known for

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Music in Junction

Songs About Junction

I’ve Been Everywhere...In Texas
Brian Burns
1%
"Junction"

Artists From Junction

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Rivers & Roads in Song near Junction

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

Interstate 10 36 songs San Saba River 2 songs Pedernales River 6 songs Guadalupe River 18 songs Nueces River 3 songs

History of Junction

Junction, TX RoadyGoat

Junction's history began in 1876 when it was founded after the organization of Kimble County. Originally named 'Denman' after Marcellus Denman, the surveyor who platted the new community, the name was quickly changed to 'Junction City'. It won the county seat designation from Kimbleville in late 1876. By 1882, Junction City had around 300 residents and its first newspaper, the West Texas. The community became known simply as 'Junction' in 1894. Throughout the 1890s, Junction saw infrastructure improvements, including the city's first waterworks provided by Ernest Holekamp in 1895. The present courthouse was constructed in 1929, replacing a previous courthouse that was partially destroyed by fire in 1888. Junction officially incorporated as a city in 1927, with Ernest Holekamp elected as its first mayor.

Junction, TX RoadyGoat

Junction was founded in 1876, following the organization of Kimble County earlier that year. The original town site was named 'Denman' after Marcellus Denman, who surveyed and platted the new community. The name was quickly changed to 'Junction City'. In late 1876, Junction City won the designation of county seat from the unsuccessful and flood-prone settlement of Kimbleville.

Junction, TX RoadyGoat

Junction is located near the western end of the Texas Hill Country, which grades into the southernmost parts of the West Texas Rolling Plains to the west. The city is named for its location at the confluence of the North and South Llano Rivers. The South Llano River played a significant role in the city's development, with a dam built in 1896 to provide power and water to the city and irrigation to surrounding lands. The city has a total area of 2.3 square miles, of which 0.01 square miles, or 0.26%, is covered by water.

Stevenson, Coke Robert

1948

Coke Robert Stevenson, governor of Texas, named for Methodist bishop Thomas Coke, was born on March 20, 1888, to Robert Milton and Virginia (Hurley) Stevenson in a log cabin in Mason County, Texas. His father was a schoolteacher and surveyor in various Hill Country areas, including Sutton County, where Stevenson finished his formal schooling (a total of seven years of three-month school terms). His father opened a general store in Junction, Kimble County, and as a teenager Coke went into the business of hauling freight between Junction and Brady. He studied history and bookkeeping by the light of campfires, sold the freight line, and went to work as a janitor for the Junction State Bank. He was soon doing the bank's bookkeeping, and by the time he was twenty he was made cashier. He studied law at night, passed the state bar examination in 1913, left the bank to practice law, and organized and became president of the First National Bank in Junction. As a young man he was involved in many small businesses in Kimble County, including the Junction Warehouse Company, a motion-picture house, a hardware store, an automobile agency, a weekly newspaper, a drug business, and the establishment of the Las Lomas Hotel in Junction. In Kimble County he served as county attorney (1914–18) and as county judge (1919–21). He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1928, and he was a member of that body from 1929 to 1939. He served as speaker of the House from 1933 to 1937, the first person ever to hold that office for two successive terms. Stevenson was elected lieutenant governor of Texas, and served from 1939 to August 4, 1941, when he became governor after W. Lee O'Daniel resigned to become United States senator. Stevenson was elected governor on his own in 1942. He was reelected in 1944 by an overwhelming vote, and his tenure from August, 1941, to January, 1947, was the longest consecutive service of any Texas governor up to that time. Stevenson's record in the legislature showed a concern for soil conservation laws, expansion of and a permanent financing policy for the state highway system ( see HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT ), an enlarged building program for the University of Texas, and increases in teachers' salaries. He was a strong believer in fiscal responsibility, and as governor he emphasized conservative financial policies; his administration began with a state treasury deficit and ended with a surplus. Not an extremist on states rights, he was nevertheless against the centralization of governmental power, and he opposed some of the domestic policies of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. Coke Stevenson was married to Fay Wright on December 24, 1912; they had one son. During Stevenson's first year as governor, in January, 1942, his wife died. He remained a widower until January 16, 1954, when he was married to a widow, Marguerite (King) Heap; they had one daughter. When he left the Governor's Mansion in 1947, Stevenson returned to his 15,000-acre ranch at Telegraph, near Junction. His last political race, for United States senator in 1948, was the only one he ever lost, and it perhaps gave him more national attention than he had ever received before. That election, which he lost to Lyndon Baines Johnson by eighty-seven votes, may have changed the course of history, for Johnson went on to become president of the United States. The contest between Stevenson and Johnson was the closest senatorial race in the nation's history; after Stevenson appeared to be the winner, an amended return came in from Precinct 13 in Jim Wells County, a stronghold of George B. Parr , giving Johnson 201 votes and Stevenson only 2 votes; this decided the election in Johnson's favor, with a total state vote of 494,191 for Johnson and 494,104 for Stevenson. Stevenson contested the election, claiming there had been fraudulent votes cast in Duval County and in Precinct 13 in Jim Wells County. The dispute was carried all the way to the United States Sup

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Coach Bear Bryant and the Junction Boys

1954

Paul “Bear” Bryant, former coach at Maryland and Kentucky, became head football coach at Texas A&M in 1954. To evaluate his new players, Bryant sought a preseason camp far from the main campus. The Texas A&M adjunct opened in Junction in 1951, on 411 acres purchased by citizens of Kimble County. It was here that a grueling ten-day training camp thinned the roster while laying a foundation for future champions. Nearly 100 players filled two buses for the 250-mile drive to Junction on Sep. 1. Although the site was normally well-watered near the South Llano River, the region was in the grip of a long-term drought in 1954. There was hardly any grass, and one player recalled “any time you got knocked down you had to avoid the prickly sandspurs.” With high heat, rough ground and long practices, players slipped out by night. By the end of the camp, only 35 men remained to board buses returning to College Station. That fall, the team won a single game, the only losing record in Bryant’s 38-year career. Two years later, the 1956 team went undefeated, won the Southwest Conference, boasted seven all-conference players, and finished ranked fifth in the nation. Many of the camp survivors were successful in their chosen careers, including two with long coaching careers in college and the National Football League. Bryant left Texas A&M for Alabama, winning six national championships and retiring as college football’s winningest coach in 1982. Bryant and the Junction Boys met here again in 1979, reunited at a place which became legendary in Texas and American sports history. (2014)

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Crow, John David

1954

John David Crow, Heisman Trophy-winning football player, coach, and athletics administrator, was born on July 8, 1935, in Marion, Louisiana, to David Harry Crow, a paper mill worker, and Velma (Jenkins) Crow. When he was born, a midwife struggled to remove the umbilical cord around Crow's neck, which resulted in nerve damage that paralyzed the left side of his face. Crow grew up in Springhill, Louisiana, where he excelled in football, basketball, and track at Springhill High School. Crow, a running back, helped the football team win the state title in 1952, and he rushed for 1,366 yards on 84 carries in 1953. Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, along with assistant coach Elmer Smith, recruited Crow to attend the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) in 1954. Bryant had come to Texas A&M to revive a struggling football program. He needed to learn who could play to his demanding standards. In September 1954, before his first football season began, Bryant took two busloads of Aggie football players to Junction, Texas, for a grueling ten-day training camp. Many players quit amidst the heat and tough conditions. Those players who stuck it out, later called the "Junction Boys," were the heart of a Bryant-led, revitalized Aggie football program. Crow became part of that success, though as a freshman he was ineligible to play in 1954 and therefore did not participate in the Junction training camp. The Aggies won only one game in Bryant's first season and finished 1-9. It was the only losing season in Bryant's thirty-eight-year coaching career. The team turned around in 1955, Crow's sophomore year, and Texas A&M finished with a 7-2-1 record for its first winning season since 1951. In Crow's junior season, 1956, the Aggies finished with a 9-0-1 record and won their first Southwest Conference title since 1941. In Crow's senior season, 1957, the Aggies finished with an 8-3 record. Crow was known for a tough, physical running style and that season rushed for 562 yards and six touchdowns. Also a defensive player, he got five interceptions. He was awarded the Heisman Trophy, becoming the first Texas A&M player, and only player for Bryant, to receive the honor. When Bryant retired from coaching in 1982, he stated, "John David Crow was the finest player I ever coached. Watching film on him was like watching a grown man play with boys." Regarding Bryant's tough coaching style, Crow later commented that he "wasn't any tougher than my dad." Crow graduated from Texas A&M with a business administration degree in 1958. He was named to the 1957 American Peoples Encyclopedia Scholastic All-America Team. He was also named to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. Crow's football success continued as a professional. The Chicago Cardinals (who moved to St. Louis in 1960; present-day Arizona Cardinals) selected him with the second overall pick in the 1958 NFL draft. He played eleven NFL seasons for the Cardinals (1958-64) and the San Francisco 49ers (1965-68) and was a team captain on both teams. As of 2024 he held the Cardinals team record for longest run from scrimmage, scoring on an eighty-three-yard run against Washington in a 1958 game. Overall, he was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the All-Pro team of the 1960s. Playing the halfback position for the majority of his professional career, he rushed a total of 4,963 yards and scored 38 touchdowns in 125 games. After his playing days ended, Crow joined Bear Bryant's University of Alabama staff as an assistant coach. He served as an assistant coach with two NFL teams, the Cleveland Browns (1972-73) and San Diego Chargers (1974-75), before joining Northeast Louisiana University (today the University of Louisiana Monroe) as head coach and athletics director. In 1983 Texas A&M football coach and athletics director Jackie Sherrill brought Crow back to serve as associate athletics director. In late 1988 Crow became athletics director and served until 1993. His

Tsha Handbook →

O.C. Fisher

1903

Author, attorney and politician Ovie Clark Fisher (1903-1994) was born at the Kimble County Ranch Home of his parents, Jobe and Rhoda (Clark) Fisher. He graduated from Junction High School and received a law degree from Baylor University. He married Marian DeWalsh in 1927, and the couple had one daughter. O.C. was Tom Green County Attorney from 1931-35 before serving as State Representative and then District Attorney. In 1942 he was elected to the U.S. Congress, and represented west Texas for nearly 32 years. A prolific author, he compiled oral interviews for it occurred in Kimble, and how (1937), and wrote several books about Texas history and his life in politics. He and his wife are buried at Junction Cemetery. (2017)

Historical Marker →

Coke R. Stevenson

1935

First Texas governor to serve more than two terms (1941-1947). First speaker of the house to succeed himself (1935-1937). Lieutenant Governor, 1939-1941. Was first to hold the three highest state offices. As governor, placed state on a cash basis without curtailment of services to the people and without a tax increase. Changed a $34,000,000 deficit to a $35,000,000 surplus. Lifetime resident, Kimble County. Son of pioneer settlers, R. M. and Virginia Hurley Stevenson. Born March 20, 1888. In school only 22 months; studied throughout his life. At 10 got a ranch job; at 16 owned and operated Junction-Brady Freight Line; at 18, entered banking as a janitor, advancing to president. Studied law and was licensed in 1913. County attorney, county judge; legislator, 1929-1939. While he was speaker, State House of Representatives, landmark legislation included first driver's license law; municipal indebtedness reporting Law; creation of state auditor's office; Lower Colorado River Authority; Highway Department pay-as-you-go plan. Over 50 years a Methodist, lawyer, Mason, rancher. Married in 1912, Fay Wright (deceased 1942); in 1954, Mrs. Marguerite King Heap. Children; Coke, Jr. and Jane.

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Frontier Battalion

1874

The Frontier Battalion, composed of six companies of Texas Rangers of seventy-five men each, was organized in 1874 as a result of a recommendation of Governor Richard Coke that Texas organize its own force to protect the frontier. On May 2, 1874, John B. Jones was commissioned major of the force. By July 10, 1874, all six companies were in service. Camps were established along the entire frontier line; Jones himself visited all of the companies, enforcing discipline, and, to tie the command together, established a line of couriers to ride from camp to camp to carry information and pick up Indian signs. By October 8, 1874, Jones reported the battalion in good working order. During the first seventeen months of its organization, the battalion had twenty-one fights with Indians; from September 1875 to February 1876 no Indians appeared on the border guarded by the battalion, and a new feeling of security resulted. The Frontier Battalion was established to control ordinary lawbreakers as well as for defense against Indians. This control was particularly necessary in the period of lawlessness and social collapse following the Civil War and Reconstruction . The situation was aggravated by the proximity of Texas to Mexico and the conflict between agrarian and cattle interests, as the farm frontier began to encroach on the ranching area. Men of the battalion made arrests, escorted prisoners, guarded jails, and attended courts; hundreds of lawless men were arrested; thousands fled. Among the special tasks assigned to the group were settling the Mason County War, cleaning outlaws out of Kimble County in 1877, ending the Horrell-Higgins Feud in Lampasas County, terminating the Salt War of San Elizario , and capturing Sam Bass . The breakup of the Frontier Battalion began with the death of Major Jones and the resignation of the principal captains in 1881. A court ruling in 1900 destroyed the authority of the force by allowing only commissioned officers to execute criminal process or make arrests. In reality the order destroyed the battalion. The work of the Frontier Battalion in making Texas "a fairly safe place in which to live" was largely responsible for the tradition which came to surround the term, "Texas Ranger."

Tsha Handbook →

Everything Near Junction

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

  • Junction, TX

    Junction's history began in 1876 when it was founded after the organization of Kimble County. Originally named 'Denman' after Marcellus Denman, the surveyor who platted the new community, the name was quickly changed to…

  • Junction, TX

    Junction is located near the western end of the Texas Hill Country, which grades into the southernmost parts of the West Texas Rolling Plains to the west. The city is named for its location at the confluence of the…

  • Junction City, TX

    The present courthouse in Junction was constructed in 1929, replacing a second, two-story brick and stone courthouse that was partially destroyed in an 1888 fire. The 1888 courthouse had been repaired and remained in…

  • Stevenson, Coke Robert · 0.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Coke Robert Stevenson, governor of Texas, named for Methodist bishop Thomas Coke, was born on March 20, 1888, to Robert Milton and Virginia (Hurley) Stevenson in a log cabin in Mason County, Texas. His father was a…

  • Crow, John David · 0.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    John David Crow, Heisman Trophy-winning football player, coach, and athletics administrator, was born on July 8, 1935, in Marion, Louisiana, to David Harry Crow, a paper mill worker, and Velma (Jenkins) Crow. When he…

  • Kimble County · 0.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kimble County, a place that was once a wild frontier and a haven for outlaws. For centuries, this rugged land on the Edwards Plateau was home to various Native American tribes, including the…

  • Spencer, William Addison · 0.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kimble County, and right here in Junction, you're passing through the later life of William Addison Spencer. Born in Tennessee in 1840, Spencer was a Confederate officer who served bravely along…

  • First United Methodist Church of Junction · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and right here is the First United Methodist Church. Back in the 1870s, early residents held religious meetings in brush arbors. Soon, a Methodist Society formed, hosting traveling…

  • Junction, TX · 0.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Junction, Texas, a town named for where two rivers meet: the North and South Llano. It all started back in 1876 when the county was organized. Originally called Denman, the town quickly became…

  • First Baptist Church of Junction · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Junction's First Baptist Church. Organized in 1880 by local residents and served by a pastor from Menardville, the congregation eventually built a white frame sanctuary here in 1887.…

  • College Street Church of Christ · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, where in 1880, A. J. Bush led the founding of this Church of Christ. They built their first sanctuary in 1882, and this site saw a new building constructed in 1890, replaced by the…

  • O.C. Fisher · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Author, attorney and politician Ovie Clark Fisher (1903-1994) was born at the Kimble County Ranch Home of his parents, Jobe and Rhoda (Clark) Fisher. He graduated from Junction High School and received a law degree from…

Show all 104 nearby places
  • Coke R. Stevenson · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    First Texas governor to serve more than two terms (1941-1947). First speaker of the house to succeed himself (1935-1937). Lieutenant Governor, 1939-1941. Was first to hold the three highest state offices. As governor,…

  • Rock Store, 1879 · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Junction, and right here, you're passing the Old Rock Store, built way back in 1879. It started as a general merchandise shop, serving travelers who stayed at the nearby hotel and used the wagon…

  • John Sterling Durst, Pioneer Minister · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and just ahead is the site of a remarkable life. John Sterling Durst, born in 1841, served in the Confederate Army before a sermon changed his path to ministry in the Church of Christ.…

  • Kimble County Courthouse · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and you're passing the Kimble County Courthouse. This is the third courthouse for the county, but it's notable for its design. Architect Henry Truman Phelps, who designed over ten Texas…

  • Court once met under a live oak · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, created back in 1858 and named for Lt. George C. Kimble, who died defending the Alamo. The county was officially organized in 1876, with court sessions held under a live oak tree.…

  • Kimble County · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Created in 1858 out of Bexar County, Kimble County was attached temporarily to Gillespie County for judicial purposes. It was named for Lt. George C. Kimble, slain March 6, 1836, in the siege of the Alamo. The county…

  • The Junction Eagle · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past The Junction Eagle. Kimble County's first newspaper began operations in February 1882. Editor J. F. Lewis' Washington Press printed four incarnations of the Junction newspaper: THE WESTERN TEXAN, the…

  • Fight of Sheriff's Posse with Cattle Rustlers · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, not far from where a wild west showdown went down on February 6th, 1897. Sheriff John L. Jones and his deputies tracked a trio of cattle rustlers – brothers Jim and Jourd Nite, and…

  • Colonel John Griffith · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Junction, and we're thinking about Colonel John Griffith. He fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. When the war ended, he learned his family had made an incredible journey to Texas, fleeing…

  • First Post Office · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and just across the street, south, you can imagine the first building ever dedicated to housing this town's mail. Before that, in 1876, the first postmaster, Mrs. Harriet Kountz, kept…

  • A haven for outlaws until the 1880s · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, a place that's seen it all. For centuries, Jumano and Apache tribes called this land home, followed by the fierce Comanche. Spanish explorers charted these lands in the 1700s, and…

  • Kimble County · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    JUMANO AND APACHE INDIANS INHABITED REGION WHEN SPANISH EXPLORERS TRAVELED ACROSS IT IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES, AND WERE DISPLACED BY THE COMANCHE TRIBE BY THE MID-19TH CENTURY. AREA WAS UNDER MILITARY JURISDICTION…

  • Junction · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, but did you know this town wasn't always called Junction? It started life in 1876 as 'Denman,' named for the county organization. But the voters decided they liked the location better,…

  • Junction's First Waterworks · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Junction's very first waterworks, a system that powered more than just homes. In 1895, local business leader Ernest Holekamp dug a canal, half a mile south of the courthouse, stretching…

  • First Livery Stable · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and right here was the heart of the action back in the day. This was the First Livery Stable, built in 1879 by John Allen on a spot that had served as a public corral since at least…

  • Marvin E. and Retta Ann Blackburn House · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Marvin E. and Retta Ann Blackburn House in Junction. Marvin Blackburn arrived in 1902 to become County Attorney, but he stayed, practicing law and serving as District Judge and a four-term state…

  • Kimble County Jail · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Kimble County Jail in Junction, built in 1892 for over three thousand dollars. Its two-foot thick stone walls earned it a reputation as tough as Huntsville State Prison. This fortress held many…

  • Burt M. Fleming American Legion Post No. 237 · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Burt M. Fleming American Legion Post No. 237, organized way back in 1919. It was named for local hero Burt M. Fleming, killed in World War I. This post built its own home here in…

  • South Llano Crossing · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the South Llano River, a crossing that's been key to Junction since its founding in 1876. The big story here is the Old Spanish Trail Highway bridge, built in 1916, which was later replaced by…

  • Log Cabin · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past an old log cabin, a real survivor from the 1870s and 80s. This one was built by Emery B. Pierce for John Kountz, his boss, on a ranch just south of town. Imagine this sturdy structure standing out on…

  • Kimble County's First Sawmill · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    Hey road trippers, check this out! You're cruising past the site of Kimble County's very first sawmill, started way back in 1877. The Denman brothers, Claud and Lon, and their pioneer kin, got this operation going on…

  • Taylor, William Walter · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the stomping grounds of William Walter Taylor, a man whose family tree was already rooted in Texas frontier defense. His own grandfather and grandnephew fought at the Battle of Bandera Pass back in…

  • Schreiner Park · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Schreiner Park in Junction, a place that's seen gatherings for generations. Long before Capt. Charles Schreiner officially deeded it in 1916, this was the spot for picnics and political rallies.…

  • Bradbury Settlement · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Bradbury Settlement, one of Kimble County's earliest communities. James Bradbury, Sr., a frontiersman, moved his six children here between 1850 and 1864, after his wife passed away.…

  • Coach Bear Bryant and the Junction Boys · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    Paul “Bear” Bryant, former coach at Maryland and Kentucky, became head football coach at Texas A&M in 1954. To evaluate his new players, Bryant sought a preseason camp far from the main campus. The Texas…

  • Isaac Kountz · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the spot where a young life was tragically cut short on Christmas Eve, <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1876</say-as>. Isaac Kountz, just sixteen years old, was herding sheep for his father…

  • Little Mexico (Northeast Junction) · 1.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Northeast Junction, better known as Little Mexico. This community, separated from Junction by the Llano River, began taking shape in the 1920s. Early residents established a cemetery, Campo Santo, in…

  • Frontier Battalion · 1.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    The Frontier Battalion, composed of six companies of Texas Rangers of seventy-five men each, was organized in 1874 as a result of a recommendation of Governor Richard Coke that Texas organize its own force to protect…

  • Taylor, Creed · 1.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Kimble County, but back in the 1840s, this was Ranger territory. Creed Taylor, a veteran of the Texas Revolution at just fifteen, joined John Coffee "Jack" Hays' Texas Rangers. Imagine…

  • Llano River · 1.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the heart of the Texas Hill Country, and the Llano River is your constant companion. But did you know this beautiful river has a Spanish past? Back in the early 1700s, explorers like Domingo Ramón…

  • Pedernales River · 1.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the Texas Hill Country, following the Pedernales River. Its name comes from the Spanish word for the flint rocks that litter its bed, a name first used by explorers and missionaries way back in…

  • London, TX (Kimble County) · 1.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Kimble County, heading towards London. This farming community started in the late 1870s, thanks to Len L. Lewis, a Union Army veteran and horse trader. He moved here in 1878, married a local…

  • Cleo, TX · 1.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Cleo is on Farm Road 2291 ten miles northwest of Junction in northern Kimble County. Around 1860 Raleigh Gentry settled a mile south of the present location of Cleo. The first attempt to establish a community took place…

  • Noxville, TX · 1.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Noxville is on Farm Road 479 and the James River, twenty-one miles east of Junction in southeastern Kimble County. Creed Taylor, one of the first Anglo settlers in the area, built a two-story stone house on the James…

  • Yates, TX · 1.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Yates, also known as Yates Crossing, is twelve miles northeast of Junction in eastern Kimble County. It was named by Joseph A. Yates, who opened a post office in June 1907 on his land near a ford of the Llano River on…

  • The Governor and the 87-Vote Loss · 1.8 mi

    A man who shaped Texas, and nearly the nation, came from just down the road. Coke R. Stevenson was a rancher from nearby Telegraph who rose to become Governor of Texas. In 1948, he ran for the U.S. Senate against Lyndon…

  • The Mohair Capital of the World · 1.8 mi

    For a long stretch of the twentieth century, the fashion world ran partly on the goats of the Texas Hill Country, and Junction was where the fiber came to market. Angora goats thrive on the Edwards Plateau, and their…

  • Engineering the Interstate Across the Llano · 1.8 mi

    Around Junction you're in country that has always fought the highway engineer. The Edwards Plateau is cut by river valleys, and before modern design a road had to follow the contours, winding through the bottoms and…

  • The River's Two Faces: The Great Floods · 1.8 mi

    The Llano River gives Junction life, and twice it nearly took the town away. The first blow came on the first of September, 1932, when the Llano ran 106,000 cubic feet per second past this town - a wall of water that…

  • First Court in Kimble County · 1.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and just half a mile northwest of here, the very first court in Kimble County was held back in the spring of 1876. Picture this: no courthouse, no benches, just a live oak tree with a…

  • Smith, John James · 1.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, passing the final resting place of John James Smith, an Illinois native who lived an incredible life spanning over a century. He fought in the Mexican War, served as a Texas Ranger…

  • The Killing of Sam Speer · 1.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, near where a tragedy struck on Christmas Eve, 1876. Seventeen-year-old Sam Speer was driving in horses when a band of Indians attacked and killed him. His brother's gun famously…

  • First Court Tree · 2.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and right here is the site of the First Court Tree. Imagine this: it's <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1876</say-as>, and Judge W. A. Blackburn is holding court. The accused?…

  • Oliver Pecan · 2.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Junction, where a pioneer named Young P. Oliver arrived in 1876. He bought this land in 1896, finding hundreds of pecan trees already here. Oliver became a pioneer in the pecan industry, especially…

  • Site of Four Mile Dam · 3.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving near Junction, where the Four Mile Dam once stood. Built starting in 1896, this project aimed to harness the river's power for mills and mining, and to water vast tracts of land and livestock. Though it…

  • De Rubi, Marques · 3.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and right here, this spot was a campsite for a very important Spanish visitor back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1767</say-as>. The Marques de Rubi was sent by the King of…

  • Bear Creek Texas Ranger Camp · 3.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, and right here is the site of a Texas Ranger camp established in October of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1877</say-as>. This patrol base for Company E of the Frontier…

  • Hoggett Home · 4.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and right here is the Hoggett Home, built between 1877 and 1879. This wasn't just any house; it was the very first two-story home in Kimble County. Built on tough caliche soil with no…

  • Cloud Point · 4.4 mi · Historical Marker

    Hey road trippers! You're cruising near Junction, and just ahead is a spot that's been a landmark for ages: Cloud Point. Named for the Cloud family, who settled here after the Civil War, this cliff overlooks the Llano…

  • Cloud Place · 4.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Cloud Place, built in 1879 near Junction. This wasn't just a home; it was an early social center for Kimble County. W. J. Cloud, a veteran of Terry's Texas Rangers during the Civil War, built this…

  • Miller-Browning Colony · 4.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Miller-Browning Colony. Located about one mile north in late 19th century. Composed of two families prominent in early Kimble County affairs. Started in 1874 by John and Martha Miller. Known as…

  • Teacup Mountain · 6.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Teacup Mountain, named for its unusual shape. This spot was a vital lookout for both Native Americans and early settlers. It was also the scene of a dramatic frontier event in <say-as…

  • Brambletye · 7.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Brambletye, a rare slice of English architecture out here in the Texas Hill Country. Built between 1895 and 1900 by William Hall, an English immigrant who arrived in Texas in 1888, this stone house…

  • Military Road · 7.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the old Military Road, a vital lifeline in the 1850s. Texas was a frontier back then, with two-thirds of the state threatened by Comanche raids. To protect settlers, the U.S. Army established forts…

  • Coke Stevenson and the Eighty Seven Votes · 7.8 mi

    West of Junction, U.S. Highway Three Seventy Seven is the Governor Coke R. Stevenson Memorial Highway, and Kimble County is where his career started. Born in a log cabin in Mason County in eighteen eighty eight,…

  • Old Noxville School · 7.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Old Noxville School. Erected about 1880. Used as a school until the district was consolidated with Harper, 1940. Native limestone was quarried nearby, laid by local people including Noah Nox (who…

  • Bear Creek Settlement · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the heart of Kimble County, near where Bear Creek gave its name to a growing Texas settlement. It all started in the 1850s with Raleigh Gentry, who built a log house and cleared a farm. By 1862,…

  • Turner, R. M., Family · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, passing the historic ranching grounds of the R.M. Turner family. R.M. and his bride Emma arrived here in 1879, settling on the banks of the South Llano River. Turner quickly became…

  • First Murr Ranch · 9.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, passing the historic Murr Ranch. Look for signs of this enduring legacy. Henry and Adam Murr, brothers who served in the U.S. Army, discharged honorably from Fort McKavett. After…

  • Outlaws of Pegleg Station · 10.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving near Junction, Texas, where a notorious outlaw's chase came to a dramatic end on January 18, 1878. Dick Dublin, suspected of murder and part of a gang that robbed the U.S. Mail at Pegleg Station, was…

  • Morales Ranch · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, on land that was settled by Meliton Morales. Born in Mexico in 1837, Morales had a life far from ordinary. As a young man, he was kidnapped by Native Americans and spent nine long…

  • Wooten Cemetery · 10.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, passing Wooten Cemetery. It's a typical pioneer burial ground, established by April of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1880</say-as> with the burial of one-year-old Cornelius…

  • Ivy Chapel and School · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the old Ivy community, named for the brothers who settled here in the late 1800s. Look for the site of the Ivy Chapel and School. In 1898, S. H. Ivy donated land for a school, and a building went…

  • Johnson Fork Colony · 12.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Johnson Fork Colony, one of the very first settlements in Kimble County. Founded in the early 1800s on land once owned by cattleman Samuel Maverick, this place was named for its…

  • Gully Cowsert · 12.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the area where Gully Cowsert lived out his long life. He served overseas with the U.S. Marines in World War I, then came back to Texas and joined the Rangers in 1942. For fourteen years, he commanded…

  • Copperas Methodist Church, First Church in Community · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Junction, and right here is the site of the Copperas Methodist Church, the very first church in this community. It was organized way back in 1881 by circuit rider Andrew Jackson Potter, a key…

  • Telegraph Store and Post Office · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the historic Telegraph Store and Post Office, a Kimble County landmark that's served the community for over a century. It got its name from a nearby canyon where trees were harvested for telegraph…

  • A Town Named for Its Poles · 13.8 mi

    You're in Telegraph, Texas, so here's the long-distance communication tangent behind the name: Telegraph was named for poles cut in this area to support communication lines running to early United States Army forts east…

  • How a Telegraph Spoke · 13.8 mi

    You're in Telegraph, Texas, so here's the long-distance communication tangent behind the name: an operator closed a key to complete and interrupt an electrical circuit. Current traveling along wire activated an…

  • Morse Code and SOS · 13.8 mi

    You're in Telegraph, Texas, so here's the long-distance communication tangent behind the name: Morse code represents letters and numbers with short and long signals separated by carefully timed spaces. Skilled operators…

  • Did Jim Bowie Sleep Here? · 13.8 mi

    Now here is a legend that even the experts cannot put to rest. On the old Stevenson Ranch near Telegraph stands a small log cabin, and the Stevenson family long believed it once belonged to Jim Bowie. Yes, that Jim…

  • The Wire That Beat the Pony · 13.8 mi

    You're in Telegraph, Texas, so here's the long-distance communication tangent behind the name: completion of the transcontinental telegraph in eighteen sixty one linked eastern and western United States networks and…

  • From Ocean Cable to Glass Fiber · 13.8 mi

    You're in Telegraph, Texas, so here's the long-distance communication tangent behind the name: submarine telegraph cables connected continents but demanded insulation, powerful engineering, and understanding how long…

  • The Bird That Belongs Only to Texas · 13.8 mi

    Just down the road from Telegraph, the South Llano River rolls out of the hills, and it hides a bird you cannot see anywhere else on Earth. It is called the golden-cheeked warbler, a little songbird with a black throat…

  • The Whole Information Age in One Word · 13.8 mi

    So let that name sink in one more time as the mile markers slip by. Telegraph. It is a big, world-changing word bolted onto one of the smallest communities you will ever pass. And the beauty of it is the honest version…

  • Jones, John L. · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, where cattle drives and frontier justice once ruled. Look around and imagine the vast ranch established about 1875 by Jim Ike and John L. Jones. Jones became a legendary cattle…

  • Coalson-Pullen Colony · 14.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, near the site of the Coalson-Pullen Colony. In 1866, Nick and Jennie Coalson opened this ranch, surviving on stockraising and hunting. Jennie even cured bear meat for their 'bacon'!…

  • Reichenau Gap · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Reichenau Gap, a pass that's been a traveler's shortcut for over a century. It's named for Adolph Reichenau, a German immigrant who first settled in the nearby Big Saline Valley in 1860. But his…

  • London Town Square · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through London, and right here is its historic town square! This place was platted around 1878 by postmaster Len L. Lewis, who originally wanted to name the town Betty Lewis after his wife. Postal…

  • Fort McKavett - Fort Clark Military Road · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past a stretch of old Texas history, a vital artery from the 1850s. This road, established in 1852, connected Fort Terrett to both Fort Clark and Fort McKavett, chosen mainly for its reliable water…

  • Roosevelt · 17.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Kimble County, and right here is the site of Roosevelt. This community kicked off in 1898 with the establishment of its post office. Fun fact: the postal service in Washington actually named it…

  • London Post Office · 17.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through London, the site of its post office, which has been serving the community for over a century. Bettie Lewis became the first postmaster in 1882, formalizing a postal station she'd run from her…

  • The Store That Raised a Governor · 17.4 mi

    Here's a thread most drivers never catch. The first store on the London townsite was opened around eighteen eighty-one by three brothers, Ed, Tom, and Robert Stevenson. That last name matters. Robert Stevenson was the…

  • Eighty-Seven Votes and Box Thirteen · 17.4 mi

    You're rolling through London, Texas, in Kimble County, and this quiet crossroads sits at the edge of one of the most famous elections in American history. The link is Coke Stevenson, whose family ran a store on the…

  • Now, About the Original London · 17.4 mi

    The name on the sign here is London, Texas, a young Hill Country town that borrowed a very old name, so let's actually talk about that oldest London for a minute, the one on the Thames across the Atlantic. It is old in…

  • The Night London Burned · 17.4 mi

    This is London, Texas, a small Hill Country town, not the famous capital across the Atlantic. But that other London has a story worth the detour, because the old city has burned more than once. The most famous fire…

  • The Union Officer's County Seat · 17.4 mi

    Before there was a name, there was a man with a plan. Len L. Lewis, a horse trader and former Union Army officer, drifted into this stretch of Kimble County around eighteen seventy-eight. He married a local widow,…

  • Clear Water on the Edwards Plateau · 17.4 mi

    Step out of the truck here and look at the land itself, because the geology is doing quiet work under your boots. London sits in the northeastern Kimble County hills, near Big Saline Creek and the Llano River, on the…

  • The River That Made It All · 17.4 mi

    You're still in London, Texas, but there is one more thread on the original London worth following before we come home, and it is the reason any London exists at all: the River Thames. It runs about two hundred fifteen…

  • One Name, an Ocean of Threads · 17.4 mi

    So think about how much a single small town name can carry out here. Pull on London, Texas and the whole thread unspools. It leads back across an ocean to a Roman city on the Thames. It leads to a Union officer laying…

  • Old Beef Trail Crossing · 17.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Old Beef Trail Crossing. Once used for revivals, this Llano River crossing became a main line of the spring cattle drives from 1867 to the 1880s. Capt. C.A. Schreiner and his partners herded cattle…

  • Site of Creed Taylor Ranch Home · 18.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Creed Taylor Ranch Home, a man who saw some serious Texas history unfold. Taylor fought in the Battle of Gonzales in 1835, the very start of the Texas Revolution. He also saw action…

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