In 1937, the voters of Kyle did something that landed their town in Life magazine and, later, Ripley's Believe It or Not. They elected Mary Kyle Hartson, a seventy-two-year-old great-grandmother and a daughter of town founder Fergus Kyle, as mayor, and they did it by write-in vote. Life ran her picture on May 10, 1937, calling her the only woman mayor in Texas at the time. Hartson was no novice to public life; she had served as Kyle's postmistress for nearly a quarter-century. As mayor she pushed through real improvements, building a municipal water system, installing street lights, and modernizing the fire department. Then it got more remarkable: in 1944 the town elected an all-woman city council to go with its woman mayor, making Kyle, by the accounts of the era, the only town in Texas with an entirely female government. In an age when women had held the vote for barely two decades, this small railroad town quietly ran itself on women's leadership, and the oddity of it carried Kyle's name across the country. (Source: Handbook of Texas; Austin American-Statesman.)

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Kyle, TX RoadyGoat

In the late 19th century, Kyle, Texas, was born out of a strategic decision by railroad tycoon Jay Gould. Seeking to expand the International-Great Northern Railroad between Austin and San Marcos, Gould opted for a direct route through the private lands of Fergus Kyle and his wife, Anne Moore. This decision, made for $1 and the enhanced value of 200 acres of developed land, set the stage for Kyle's growth. The town was plotted by the Texas Land Company in 1880, with the first lots sold under the 'Auction Oak'. By 1883, Kyle's population had exceeded 500. The town faced a decline during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl but was incorporated in 1928. A unique moment in Kyle's history came in 1944 when Mary Kyle Hartson, daughter of Fergus Kyle, led an all-woman city council, a first for Texas.

Kyle, TX RoadyGoat

In 1937, Kyle made history when Mary Kyle Hartson, daughter of Fergus Kyle, was elected mayor by a write-in vote. She went on to win re-election in 1944 and served as mayor as part of an all-woman city council, making Kyle the only Texas town with an all-woman government at the time.

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Porter, Katherine Anne

1890

(May 15, 1890 - September 18, 1980) Katherine Anne Porter, one of America's most distinguished writers of fiction, was born Callie Russell Porter in Indian Creek, Brown County, Texas. Her mother, Mary Alice Jones Porter, died in 1892, and her father, Harrison Boone Porter (1858-1942) returned with the children to his native Hays County to live with his mother, Catherine Ann Skaggs Porter (1826-1901). Porter spent her childhood in Kyle and attended the public schools here. Following a brief failed marriage, she left Texas in 1915. She went to Chicago and, using the name she adopted from her grandmother, became a journalist. She traveled throughout the world and began her writing career. Porter's first book of short stories, "Flowering Judas and Other Stories," was published in 1930. Considered a preeminent writer of short stories, she published another collection, "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" in 1939. Her acclaimed 1962 novel "Ship of Fools" was followed by the Pulitzer prize-winning "The Collected Stores of Katherine Anne Porter" in 1965. Porter returned to Texas to visit her former homes in her later years and, according to her request, upon her death her ashes were interred next to her mother's grave in the Indian Creek Cemetery. (1990)

Historical Marker →

Hartson, Mary Lucy Kyle

1937

Mary Lucy Kyle Hartson, early woman mayor, was born on December 6, 1865, at Kyle, Texas, the daughter of Anna Elizabeth (Moore) and Fergus Kyle , for whom the town was named. She was the granddaughter of Lucy (Bugg) and Claiborne Kyle , who settled with their eight children near the Blanco River in 1850. Both her grandfather and father served in the Texas legislature. Her brother Edwin Jackson Kyle was president of the athletic association at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (later Texas A&M University) and later ambassador to Guatemala. Mary attended school at Blanco Chapel and the Kyle Seminary. In 1888 she graduated from Sam Houston Normal Institute at Huntsville and began a teaching career in Taylor, Texas. While visiting in Dallas in 1891 she met George Dorr Hartson, a young electrical engineer from New York, who moved to Texas to supervise the construction of the Electrical Street Car System. On November 21, 1891, Mary and George were married in Kyle. They made their home in Dallas, later in Laredo, and in 1898 George Hartson accepted the position of electrical supervisor with the Avino Mining Company, thirty miles from Durango, Mexico. On February 4, 1901, Hartson was killed in an accident during an inspection tour of the upper mines, leaving Mary a young widow with two children and another born three months after his burial in Kyle, Texas. In the spring of 1901 Mary Kyle Hartson was appointed postmistress of Kyle, and although a staunch Democrat she served through five administrations until August 1925. As a seventy-two-year-old great-grandmother she was elected mayor of Kyle by a write-in vote in 1937. A picture of Mayor Hartson appeared in the May 10, 1937, Life magazine, where she was written up as the only woman mayor in Texas at the time. From 1937 until 1941 and from 1944 until 1946 Mary Hartson was mayor, and along with the "all woman" city council elected in 1944 made Ripley's Believe It or Not . During her term of office as mayor, the town built a municipal water system, installed street lights, updated the fire department, and kept the city clean. Of her administration Mrs. Hartson said, "We balanced the budget, and cleaned up the town. Then when everything was under control, I retired." After retiring at age eighty-one, she went to Wichita Falls to live with her daughter. She continued to be active in the Woman's Forum in Wichita Falls, the Daughters of the American Revolution , and the United Daughters of the Confederacy . She was a Methodist. She died on March 20, 1956, and was buried in the Kyle cemetery.

Tsha Handbook →

Nance, Ezekiel Edward

1852

Ezekiel Edward Nance, farmer, cattleman, and mill owner, one of two sons of Lewis and Lucy (Kepler) Nance, was born in Tennessee on September 12, 1816. In the late 1820s Lewis Nance moved his family to a farm near Fulton in Hempstead County, Arkansas. Later orphaned, Ezekiel in his youth lived with various relatives. Eventually he settled at Old Washington, Hempstead County, Arkansas, and on October 22, 1840, he married Luany Weightsell Pate, the daughter of Jeremiah and Sarah Pate. Ezekiel and Luany had two daughters and four sons, including Jeremiah Milton Nance . In 1847 Ezekiel filled out the term of the sheriff of Hempstead County when the incumbent resigned. He then ran and won a full term. Nance also served as treasurer of the state of Arkansas from 1848 to 1854. His wife died on February 22, 1852, and later that year he made a hurried exploratory trip to Texas seeking a homestead there. He selected a site at the junction of a small creek (which he named the Little Arkansas) and the Blanco River, to the west of what is now Kyle in Hays County. On June 15, 1852, Nance acquired title to about 10,000 acres in the Seaborn Berry and J. W. Fogg surveys. He later increased his holdings to more than 14,000 acres. He returned to Arkansas and on April 7, 1853, in Hempstead County, married Martha Jane Alexander; the couple had six children. That fall Nance returned to Texas. With him went his new wife, the five surviving children from his first marriage, his first wife's sister (Deborah Jane Pate), his brother James Nance, and George Green and his wife; he also took a number of slaves. James Nance and the Greens went on to San Marcos. In November 1853 Ezekiel registered a horse brand in Hays County, the second-oldest such brand recorded there. One of the first things he did upon arriving was to put up a rock fence around his cropland to protect it from roving wild cattle. He developed one of the earliest working ranches in the area, and, with his sons and slaves, he and his neighbors annually rounded up and branded wild cattle. On the Blanco River , Ezekiel built a dog-run house with a large fireplace at the end of each room. As his family grew, he added three rooms and covered the chinked log walls with cypress panels sawed at his mill; in 1994 the house still stood at its original site. At the site were also built a smokehouse, slave quarters, a carriage house, and an additional two-room house for the eight boys in the family (this house in 1994 bore a Texas Historical Commission marker). Within five years, using slave labor, Nance had built a dam on the Blanco. There he built a sawmill, a gristmill, and later a cotton gin. The Blanco Community (also called the Nance Community and Nance's Mill ) grew rapidly during the late 1850s. Residents conducted much of their business at Mountain City, four miles to the northeast, which had a post office and was on the stage road from Austin to San Antonio. Nance built a blacksmith shop and tenant houses. In April 1858 Nance (with Edward Burleson, Jr. , and William Smith) was appointed by the Hays County commissioners to locate a road from San Marcos to Nance's house on the Blanco River; from there the road ran on to Dripping Springs. In 1860 Nance built a one-room log schoolhouse (and chapel) on his property for his family and his neighbors. That year he persuaded a Bishop Kavanaugh (of Tennessee) to move to Texas to preach and teach school. In 1865 he built of native limestone a larger schoolhouse-chapel that came to be called the Blanco Chapel; it served as a school and a place of worship until 1881. Later for a brief period it served as a Mexican Presbyterian church. In 1863 during the Civil War , Ezekiel operated a small cotton textile mill that supplied coarse cloth to the Confederacy; he also shipped hogsheads of beef to the Confederate Army. In late 1863 he had his slaves fence several thousand acres of his land. After the war ended in April 1865, he applied for-and on May 23 was gr

Tsha Handbook →

Bunton, John Wheeler

1833

Born in Sumner County, Tenn., John Wheeler Bunton migrated to Texas in 1833. To secure freedom for his new homeland, he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, helped draft a constitution, and fought in the Siege of Bexar and the Battle of San Jacinto. A lawyer, rancher, and owner of extensive lands, Bunton served in the 1st and 3rd congresses of the Republic of Texas. He lived in Austin and Bastrop counties before settling in Hays County near Mountain City. Originally buried in this county, Bunton was reinterred in the state cemetery in Austin in 1932.

Historical Marker →

Kyle

1880

Two antebellum settlements, the Blanco or Nance community (7 mi. W) and Mountain City (3 mi. W), provided the early population and business for Kyle after the city was founded in 1880. Fergus Kyle, for whom the town was named, and the family of David Moore donated 200 acres of land for a townsite when the International & Great Northern Railroad built a line from Austin to San Antonio. Lots were first sold in October 1880 as an auction held beneath a liveoak at 204 S. sledge Street. The first business was a saloon and meat market owned by Tom Martin. An 1895 election incorporated the town but voters discontinued the status two years later. Kyle was incorporated again in 1906 and J. W. Tompkins served as the first mayor. In the 1940s Kyle residents elected an all-woman municipal government. The mayor, who won using a write-in campaign, was Mary Kyle Hartson (1865-1956), daughter of Fergus Kyle. Her brother Edwin Jackson Kyle (b. 1876) was dean of the Texas A&M School of Agriculture. He later served in the administrations of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman as the ambassador to Guatemala (1944-48). Kyle Football Field at Texas A&M University is named in his honor.

Historical Marker →

Kyle, Claiborne

1844

Claiborne Kyle, early Texas politician and settler of Mountain City, Hays County, was born on August 8, 1800, in Hawkins County, Tennessee, the son of Maj. John William and Rebecca (Young) Kyle. His parents had been early settlers in Tennessee and were large landholders there. Kyle married Lucy Bugg in 1829 in Lincoln County, Tennessee, and the couple had nine children. After leaving Tennessee, the Kyles lived in Alabama and Mississippi, where their children were born. Kyle served as state senator in Marshall County, Mississippi, from 1837 to 1841. After a friend for whom he had posted bond absconded, Kyle and his family were placed in great financial difficulty, which precipitated their move to Texas about 1844. The family spent a year in Gonzales, then lived in Austin from 1846 to 1850, when they moved permanently to Hays County. In Texas, Kyle was a member of the Travis County District Court grand jury in 1849. In November 1850 he served on the first grand jury of Hays County and as county treasurer. He also served in the fifth Texas Senate (1853–54) and in the Texas House of Representatives during the Civil War . Five of Kyle's sons fought in the Civil War. One son, Fergus Kyle , founded the town of Kyle, served as captain of Terry's Texas Rangers (the Eighth Texas Cavalry ) during the Civil War, and replaced his father in the Texas House, where he introduced a bill to save the Alamo and a bill to establish Southwest Texas Normal School (later Southwest Texas State University) at San Marcos. A daughter, Lucy Emma, married Maj. Edward Burleson, Jr. , and their son, Albert Sidney Burleson , became postmaster general under the Woodrow Wilson administration. In Hays County Kyle's family built an unusual four-room log house near Kyle, Texas, which has been restored and is open to the public on special occasions. In 1863 Lucy died, and Claiborne died in 1867. Both are buried on land they donated to establish the Kyle Cemetery.

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Things to Do in Kyle

historical 21.2 mi away

Gruene Hall

Gruene Hall opened in 1878 and has never closed its doors making it the oldest continuously operating dance hall in Texas. The wooden floor is scuffed smooth…

food 21.3 mi away

Franklin Barbecue

Legendary Austin BBQ with 2-3 hour waits. Obama waited in line here.

nature 7.3 mi away

San Marcos Springs

San Marcos Springs is the second-largest spring system in Texas and the longest continuously inhabited site in North America. Archaeologists found evidence of…

food 14.0 mi away

Kreuz Market

Charles Kreuz opened his meat market in 1900 and by the nineteen twenties the butcher was smoking cuts out back and serving them hot off the pit with no plates…

food 14.1 mi away

Black's Barbecue

Edgar Black opened this Lockhart meat market in 1932 and four generations of Blacks have run the pits ever since making it the oldest family-run barbecue joint…

food 14.1 mi away

Black's Barbecue

Texas' oldest BBQ joint in continuous operation since 1932. Lockhart institution where the beef sausage is legendary.

food 14.1 mi away

Smitty's Market

Walk through the flames to get your meat. Built around the original Kreuz pit room in Lockhart since 1999.

food 14.2 mi away

Kreuz Market

No sauce no forks no kidding. Lockhart's iconic smoked meat temple since 1900. Post oak pits and old-school rules.

day trip

Day Trip to Kyle 🥧 (FULL EPISODE) S14 E2

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

Everything Near Kyle

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

When the Whole Town Government Was Women
In 1937, the voters of Kyle did something that landed their town in Life magazine and, later, Ripley's Believe It or Not. They elected Mary Kyle Hartson, a seventy-two-year-old great-grandmother and a daughter of town…
The Kyle Behind the Other Kyle Field
Every fall, more than a hundred thousand fans pack Texas A&M's Kyle Field, and almost none of them know the name traces back to this little Hays County town. Edwin Jackson Kyle was born here on July 22, 1876, a son of…
Kyle, TX
In the late 19th century, Kyle, Texas, was born out of a strategic decision by railroad tycoon Jay Gould. Seeking to expand the International-Great Northern Railroad between Austin and San Marcos, Gould opted for a…
Kyle, TX
In 1937, Kyle made history when Mary Kyle Hartson, daughter of Fergus Kyle, was elected mayor by a write-in vote. She went on to win re-election in 1944 and served as mayor as part of an all-woman city council, making…
The Captain Who Gave the Railroad His Land, and His Name
The town around you exists because the railroad found a shortcut through one man's farm. In the late 1870s the International-Great Northern was pushing a line south from Austin toward San Marcos, and the cheapest route…
The Red Sox Ace Out of a 13-Kid Graduating Class
Before he was a Boston Red Sox ace, Cecil Carlton Hughson was a ranch kid in Kyle whose graduating class topped out at about a dozen students. Born in nearby Buda in 1916, Hughson grew up here where his father ran the…
How a Town Became the Pie Capital of Texas
Kyle's official claim to fame is sweet and a little absurd: by act of the Texas Legislature, this is the Pie Capital of Texas. The story starts in downtown Kyle, where baker Julie Albertson opened the Texas Pie Company…
Bunton, John Wheeler · Historical Marker
Born in Sumner County, Tenn., John Wheeler Bunton migrated to Texas in 1833. To secure freedom for his new homeland, he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, helped draft a constitution, and fought in the Siege…
The Bakery That Put Pie on the State Books
If you only stop one place in downtown Kyle, make it the Texas Pie Company at 202 West Center Street. Baker Julie Albertson opened it decades ago, and the shop has been turning out pies, quiches, casseroles, and…
The Pulitzer Winner Who Grew Up on Center Street · 0.1 mi
The modest L-shaped house at 508 West Center Street raised one of America's finest short-story writers. Katherine Anne Porter, who would win the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her 1965 Collected Stories…
Cotton, Cattle, and the Depot That Burned and Came Back · 0.1 mi
For its first half-century, Kyle ran on whatever the trains could haul out. The town sat where the Balcones Escarpment meets the blackland prairie, with cotton and corn farms spreading east and ranchland rolling west,…
Kyle · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker
Two antebellum settlements, the Blanco or Nance community (7 mi. W) and Mountain City (3 mi. W), provided the early population and business for Kyle after the city was founded in 1880. Fergus Kyle, for whom the town was…

Show all 200 nearby places

Katherine Anne Porter House · 0.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever heard of Katherine Anne Porter? This unassuming house in Kyle is where the acclaimed writer spent her childhood. Built in 1890 by Porter's widowed grandmother, the house became home to the Porter family after the…
Lex Word and the Bon Ton · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Kyle, passing the site of the Bon Ton, a general store that was the heart of this community for decades. Lex Word opened it in 1926, and despite the Great Depression, he expanded it to include a…
Young, D. A. · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Kyle's first permanent store, built in 1881 by D. A. Young. Young was one of many Hays County men who fought in the Civil War, even suffering a wound. When the railroad arrived, he and…
First Baptist Church of Kyle · 0.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Kyle's First Baptist Church. Founded in 1872 at Mountain City by Pastor J. C. Tally, this congregation was dynamic. Within two months, they licensed a minister, and in 1879, they sent…
The 300-Year-Old Oak That Sold the Town · 0.2 mi
On Sledge Street stands a live oak that watched Kyle come into existence in a single afternoon. When the railroad townsite was platted in 1880, the company didn't build an auction hall; it simply gathered buyers in the…
Porter, Katherine Anne · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker
(May 15, 1890 - September 18, 1980) Katherine Anne Porter, one of America's most distinguished writers of fiction, was born Callie Russell Porter in Indian Creek, Brown County, Texas. Her mother, Mary Alice Jones…
Kyle Auction Oak · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the historic Kyle Auction Oak, right in the heart of Kyle! Back in 1880, when the International & Great Northern Railroad was laying down tracks, this giant live oak was the spot for a massive public…
WPA Projects at Kyle School · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Kyle Public Free School, a place that got a major boost from the federal government during the Great Depression. By the 1930s, the school needed new facilities, so the school board…
Cora Jackman Donalson House · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Cora Jackman Donalson House, built in 1913. Cora was the daughter of a Confederate general and married the owner of a massive ranch. She had this house built from a plan book, and it still looks…
Hartson, Mary Lucy Kyle · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Mary Lucy Kyle Hartson, early woman mayor, was born on December 6, 1865, at Kyle, Texas, the daughter of Anna Elizabeth (Moore) and Fergus Kyle , for whom the town was named. She was the granddaughter of Lucy (Bugg) and…
Nance, Ezekiel Edward · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Ezekiel Edward Nance, farmer, cattleman, and mill owner, one of two sons of Lewis and Lucy (Kepler) Nance, was born in Tennessee on September 12, 1816. In the late 1820s Lewis Nance moved his family to a farm near…
Kyle, Claiborne · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Claiborne Kyle, early Texas politician and settler of Mountain City, Hays County, was born on August 8, 1800, in Hawkins County, Tennessee, the son of Maj. John William and Rebecca (Young) Kyle. His parents had been…
Nance, Jeremiah Milton · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, Texas, not far from Kyle. Right here, Jeremiah Milton Nance was building a Texas ranching empire. In 1877, he gathered 2,300 head of cattle, forty ponies, and ten cowboys, and headed…
Kyle, TX · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Kyle, Texas, a town that owes its very existence to a railroad and a bit of political savvy. Back on July 24, 1880, land was deeded to the International-Great Northern Railroad, and the town of…
Nance's Mill, TX · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, not far from Kyle. Right here, back in 1850, Ezekiel Nance arrived and built a mule-powered gristmill and cotton gin on the Blanco River. This riverside operation became the hub for…
Kyle, Fergus · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Fergus Kyle, politician and founder of Kyle, Texas, the son of early settlers of Hays County, Lucy (Bugg) and Claiborne Kyle , was born on September 6, 1834, in Hinds County, Mississippi. The family moved to Texas in…
Jackman, Sidney Drake · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, Texas, near Kyle, where Confederate Brigadier General Sidney Drake Jackman ended up after the Civil War. Jackman led his own band of guerilla troops, known as Jackman's Missouri…
Kyle, Edwin Jackson · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Kyle, a town named for Edwin Jackson Kyle's family. But Kyle himself was a giant of Texas agriculture and education! He graduated from Texas A&M, where he was the only student to ever hold both…
Mather, Samuel E. · 0.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Samuel E. Mather, state legislator and businessman, was born on October 8, 1812, in Northumberland, England, son of Andrew Mather. Mather married Sarah Parker Smith on August 28, 1846, in San Augustine, Texas; they had…
The Veracruz Family of Kyle · 1.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Kyle, where the Veracruz family carved out a legacy in the Texas cattle industry. Pedro Veracruz arrived in Texas as a boy, guarding mule trains for General Santa Anna's troops during the Battle of…
Trooper Randall Vetter Memorial Highway · 1.7 mi · Historical Marker
Honors TX DPS Trooper Randall Wade Vetter, killed 2000 by a 72-year-old motorist he had stopped for a seatbelt violation on I-35 in Hays County. Became a flashpoint in Texas seatbelt-law debate.
The Only Four-Pen Dogtrot Left in Texas · 2.2 mi
Out on Old Stagecoach Road sits a log house that is both a family relic and a small lesson in frontier engineering. Claiborne Kyle, an early Texas politician and the father of town founder Fergus Kyle, built it around…
Kyle, Claiborne · 2.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of a home built by John Claiborne Kyle, a pioneer who came to Texas from Tennessee in 1844 with his wife Lucy. They built this hand-hewn cedar log house soon after buying land in 1850. This…
Kyle Family Pioneer Cemetery · 2.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Kyle Family Pioneer Cemetery, also known as the Old Slave Cemetery. It's the resting place for Claiborne Kyle's slaves and former slaves, with burials spanning from the 1850s to 1938. You might…
Kyle Cemetery · 2.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Kyle Cemetery, a resting place for many of Hays County's earliest settlers. The first recorded burial here was in 1849, for Willie Parks, adopted son of Colonel Clairborne Kyle. But local legend…
Bunton Branch Bridge · 2.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Bunton Branch Bridge, a survivor from the dawn of Texas highways. Built in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1915</say-as>, this 42-foot concrete arch was part of the very first federal aid…
Beef for the Confederacy · 2.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Hays County, deep in the heart of Texas, and right now, you're passing through a place that played a vital role in the Civil War. Back in the 1860s, beef wasn't just food; it was ammunition for…
The Man Who Built Kyle Field · 2.6 mi
If you're a Texas A&M fan, you're passing through sacred ground. The namesake of the legendary Kyle Field, Edwin Jackson Kyle, grew up right here. He was the son of Fergus Kyle, the town's founder. After graduating from…
A Writer's Childhood Home · 2.6 mi
Some of America’s most celebrated literature has its roots right here in Kyle. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Katherine Anne Porter spent her formative years in this town, from 1892 to 1901. After her mother died,…
Engineering a Mega-Corridor · 2.6 mi
The highway you're on right now, Interstate 35, is more than just a road; it's a massive, ongoing civil engineering project. Kyle's explosive growth has put incredible strain on this corridor. For engineers, the…
The Pie Capital of Texas · 2.6 mi
You might not know it, but you're driving through the official 'Pie Capital of Texas' - and that's not just a folksy nickname, it's a registered trademark. The story starts with a local bakery, the Texas Pie Company,…
Trooper Randy Vetter Memorial Highway · 2.9 mi · Historical Marker
Interstate Thirty Five in Hays County, from River Ridge Parkway in San Marcos north to Farm to Market One Fifty in Kyle, is named for Trooper Randy Vetter. On the third of August, two thousand, Vetter pulled over a…
The Town the Train Forgot · 3.4 mi
In the 1870s, Mountain City was on the map. As a key stop on the stagecoach road between Austin and San Antonio, its future seemed bright. But in 1880, surveyors for the International-Great Northern Railroad were…
An Engineer's Line on a Map · 3.4 mi
The fate of Mountain City was decided by a simple principle of engineering: the path of least resistance. In the 1870s, the town thrived on the stagecoach road, which followed the natural contours of the land, winding…
Mountain City, TX · 3.4 mi
From the early 1850s until the 1880s, Mountain City was a bustling hub in the ranching and farming industries of Hays County. The first settlers, like Phillip Allen, arrived around the time of the Texas Revolution in…
A City by Choice, Not by Chance · 3.4 mi
If you look at a map, Mountain City seems like a quiet island in a sea of suburban growth. It has been an island before. From the early 1850s to the 1880s this was a sprawling community strung along the old Stagecoach…
Before the Iron Horse · 3.4 mi
As you drive roads like Old Stagecoach Road, try to erase the pavement and imagine it as a dusty, rutted track. Before 1880, this was the main highway. A journey from Austin to San Antonio took days, and a stop like…
Haupt, William Walton · 3.6 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County right now, near Mountain City. This area owes its name to William Walton Haupt, a man who was so much more than just a farmer. Haupt was an inventor, a scientist, and an innovator. He…
Mountain City, TX · 3.6 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, and right here is the site of Mountain City. It was a bustling supply center before the Civil War, serving farmers and ranchers. This spot even hosted one of the earliest stagecoach…
Immanuel Baptist Church · 4.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Kyle, and right here is the site of Immanuel Baptist Church. It all started back in 1886 when sixteen German settlers, including Christian Siebenhausen and Karl Wiegand who arrived just three…
Barton Cemetery · 5.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Barton Cemetery, a quiet resting place that started with a baby's grave. James Barton brought his family to Texas in the 1850s, settling on land originally granted by Mexico. In 1873, his infant…
Goforth · 5.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Goforth, once the cotton-producing heart of Hays County. It all started in the 1870s when James Taylor Goforth opened a general store, which quickly became the social and banking hub for…
San Marcos-Blanco Cemetery · 5.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the San Marcos-Blanco Cemetery, a resting place for the African American citizens of the Blanco community. Established in 1893, though burials began as early as 1886, this site served not only as a…
Club 21 · 5.6 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving past Uhland, Texas, right near where Club 21 once stood. Built around 1893 by August Garbrecht, this wasn't just a dance hall; it was a community hub for German settlers, starting as a saloon. By 1912, it…
Max and Anna Schiwitz Homestead · 5.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Max and Anna Schiwitz Homestead, a testament to early 20th-century Texas ingenuity. Built in 1933, this vernacular-style home was designed with practicality in mind. Anna Schiwitz, wife of a…
The Railroad That Passed Uhland By · 5.9 mi
Drive around Uhland and you will notice something missing. There are no railroad tracks. The line that mattered around here went in five miles west, at Kyle, where in July of 1880 David Moore and Fergus Kyle deeded two…
When Plum Creek Became a Monster · 5.9 mi
The gentle-sounding Plum Creek, which flows near Uhland, holds a darker potential. This area sits in the heart of 'Flash Flood Alley,' and residents have seen the creek's power firsthand. On Halloween of 2013, a storm…
The Science of a Flash Flood · 5.9 mi
The devastating flash floods that hit Uhland aren't just bad luck; they're a result of specific scientific factors. First, you have weather. Moist air from the Gulf of Mexico often collides with drier air, stalling out…
Uhland, TX · 5.9 mi
Uhland, Texas, was settled by German emigrants in the 1800s, making it part of the Texas-German belt. The city's name honors the German poet Ludwig Uhland. In 2026, Uhland experienced a significant event when the mayor,…
Edward Burleson, Jr. Home · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the home of Edward Burleson, Jr., a frontier fighter who built this place in the 1850s. It was right here that A. S. Burleson was born. He went on to serve as a member of President Woodrow Wilson's…
The Jefferson Davis Highway Plan · 6.3 mi
Several Texas highways carry an old honorary name, the Jefferson Davis Highway. It grew out of a plan conceived in nineteen thirteen and promoted by the United Daughters of the Confederacy: a coast to coast road named…
From the Gary Job Corps to the Hundred and First · 6.4 mi
State Highway Twenty One between State Highway Eighty and Yarrington Road carries the name of Private First Class Kristian Menchaca. In twenty nineteen, the Hays County Commissioners Court voted to support the PFC…
Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame · 6.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Central Texas, and maybe you've got some classic western swing on the radio. Well, right here in Buda, Texas, a nonprofit was founded back in 1988 to honor the legends of that sound. Al Dressen, a…
Hughson, Cecil Carlton, Jr. [Tex] · 6.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Central Texas, maybe near Buda, where Cecil 'Tex' Hughson Jr. was born. He wasn't just any kid; he became a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. In 1942, Hughson had an absolutely…
Antioch Colony, TX · 6.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through eastern Hays County, not far from Buda. Right here is the site of Antioch Colony. In 1859, a man named Joseph Rowley bought this land. After the Civil War, he sold tracts to freed slaves, and they…
Buda, TX · 6.4 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving past Buda, a town with a name that might just be a linguistic accident. It was officially established in 1881, but the area had been settled earlier. The railroad pushed through in 1880, and the…
Sink Springs · 6.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising through San Marcos, and right here are the Sink Springs, a vital part of this city's history. Since the late 1800s, these springs, pushed to the surface by artesian pressure, have been the lifeblood for…
Martin Church of Goforth · 6.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through the Goforth community near Buda. This church was established in 1874 to serve pioneer settlers. While weekly services ended in 1945, an annual homecoming is still held each June.
First Methodist Church of Buda · 6.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Buda, and right here is the site of the first Methodist Church. It all started back in July of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1882</say-as>, just a year after this town was founded. A few…
The Wiener Dog Capital of Texas · 6.8 mi
Every April this quiet town turns into a stampede of stubby legs. The Buda Lions Club Country Fair and Wiener Dog Races began in 1997, after resident Diane Krejci came back from Savannah, Georgia, raving about dachshund…
The Town the Railroad Widows Named · 6.8 mi
Buda almost wasn't Buda. When the International-Great Northern Railroad punched a depot through here in 1881, the stop took the name Du Pre, and folklore says that came from the Mountain City postmaster begging a rail…
Built Around a Depot, Run on Cotton and Cheese · 6.8 mi
Buda exists because of a railroad's straight line. When the International-Great Northern pushed its track from Austin toward San Antonio in 1880, landowner Cornelia Trimble platted a townsite right beside the new depot…
Judith, the Lady in the Antique Mall · 6.8 mi
Some buildings come with a tenant who never leaves. At the antique mall in old downtown Buda housed in a structure that's stood since 1915 the longtime ghost has a name: Judith. Owner Jeff Brown started out a skeptic,…
The Store With an Aquarium and a Mountain Inside · 6.8 mi
When the giant outdoor outfitter Cabela's opened in Buda in 2005, it didn't just bring a store it put the town on the map as a roadside destination. The 185,000-square-foot showroom sits on 126 acres right off…
Buda School · 6.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Buda School. THE BUDA SCHOOL SYSTEM ORGANIZED FROM THE CONSOLIDATION OF SEVERAL 19TH CENTURY RURAL SCHOOLS, INCLUDING ELM GROVE (LARGEST SCHOOL IN HAYS COUNTY IN 1876), GOFORTH, TURNERSVILLE,…
Buda · 6.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Buda, a town with a name that sparks curiosity. It all started back in 1881, when Cornelia A. Trimble donated land for the townsite along the railroad. Back then, it was called Du Pre. The name…
Buda Christian Church · 6.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Buda Christian Church, organized way back in 1893. They met in another church until they built their own in 1903. Disaster struck in 1909 when a storm ripped it apart, but they…
Antioch Colony · 6.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Hays County, near Buda, where formerly enslaved African Americans forged a new life after the Civil War. In 1870, a businessman named Joseph Rowley began selling parcels of land to these freedmen…
Lime Kiln · 6.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of an old lime kiln, right here near the San Marcos River. This spot was part of a land grant way back in 1834. Later, General Edward Burleson, a big name in early Texas, owned the land and…
Buda United Methodist Church · 6.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Buda, and right here is the site of the town's first church. Established in 1880 by Reverend Thomas Garrett, a pioneering Methodist circuit rider, this congregation was the very first in the new…
Riverhead Farm · 6.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Riverhead Farm, established in 1905 by William Green. He envisioned a massive truck-farming operation, using irrigation from the San Marcos River and powered by hydroelectricity. Although…
The Rock That Carries the Town's Name · 7.0 mi
Buda gave the world more than wiener dog races. There is a whole layer of rock named after this town, and it stretches for hundreds of miles across Texas. In nineteen hundred, a geologist named T.W. Vaughan was mapping…
The Layer That Steals Your Mud, Then Kicks Back · 7.0 mi
That Buda Limestone, the rock layer named after this town, has a nasty reputation in the oil patch. Ask anyone who has drilled a well through Central Texas about the Buda and watch them wince. The problem is that the…
A Hard Bench of Ancient Seafloor · 7.0 mi
The Buda Limestone, the rock named after this town, is basically a slice of sea floor from the age of dinosaurs, turned to stone. Picture Central Texas around ninety-five million years ago. Not hills and live oaks, but…
The Faults That Cracked the Rock and Raised the Hills · 7.0 mi
Why is the Buda Limestone under this town so badly cracked up? The same reason the land just west of Buda tilts up into hills. It is the Balcones fault zone, and Buda sits right along it. Roughly twenty million years…
Buda, TX · 7.0 mi
The land around Buda tells a quiet story of slow change. It’s a place where the Blackland Prairie begins its subtle shift toward the Hill Country, a gentle roll of fertile ground carved by the winding path of Plum…
Standing on a Sponge: The Edwards Aquifer · 7.2 mi
As you travel through Buda, you're driving over one of the most important and sensitive pieces of natural infrastructure in Texas: the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. The limestone bedrock beneath you, along the Balcones…
McElroy-Severn House (Stagecoach House and Onion Creek Post Office) · 7.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of what was once a vital stop on the old San Antonio road. Back in 1875, this bluff above Onion Creek was home to the Onion Creek Post Office and a stagecoach house. Imagine travelers…
The Carrington Hotel: Heart of the Railroad · 7.2 mi
Buda began on April 1, 1881, when a woman named Cornelia Trimble donated land for a townsite beside a brand-new International and Great Northern depot. The depot was called Du Pre at first, and the older community of…
San Marcos Springs · 7.3 mi · Things to Do
San Marcos Springs is the second-largest spring system in Texas and the longest continuously inhabited site in North America. Archaeologists found evidence of…
San Marcos Springs · 7.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past San Marcos Springs, the source of the San Marcos River. For thousands of years, this incredible water has been a magnet for life. Indigenous peoples knew it well, and so did the Spanish explorers. In…
San Marcos - The Salamander That Has Never Seen the Sun · 7.4 mi · Web Research
Underneath San Marcos lives a creature that has never seen daylight and never will. The Texas blind salamander, scientific name Eurycea rathbuni, exists in exactly one place on Earth: the San Marcos pool of the Edwards…
Mission San Francisco Xavier de los Delores · 7.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Mission San Francisco Xavier de los Dolores, a Spanish outpost established way back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1746</say-as>. Franciscan missionaries hoped to convert and…
Merriman, Eli T. · 7.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the second home built in San Marcos by Dr. Eli T. Merriman. He graduated from Yale in 1838 and settled in Texas that same year, becoming the area's first physician. Merriman was also one…
Post San Marcos · 7.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Post San Marcos. Back in 1838, the Republic of Texas Congress ordered military roads and forts built from the Red River all the way to the Nueces. A vital road was planned, connecting…
The Oldest Building on Main Street · 7.6 mi
The trim Victorian at 320 North Main Street is the oldest surviving building in downtown Buda, and it's where the town's name was practically cooked up. L.D. and Sarah Carrington, who came down from Austin, built it in…
Surveying a Ghost Road · 7.7 mi
The road running past Niederwald was mapped by real engineering. By the early 1900s the Old San Antonio Road had faded into wagon ruts and guesswork, so in 1915 the Texas legislature put up 5,000 dollars to find and…
San Marcos Mill Tract · 7.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past what used to be the industrial heart of San Marcos. This land, originally granted in 1831, was bought by Edward Burleson in 1844. He was quite a character – a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto, a…
The Little Low Woods · 7.7 mi
You are standing in Niederwald, a name German settlers carried straight from the old country. In German it reads as low woods, though the Handbook of Texas ties it to brushwood, a tangle of mesquite in the shallow…
A Road That Is Also a Border · 7.7 mi
The town of Niederwald sits astride an old idea: that a road can double as a border. The Old San Antonio Road, the storied Spanish and Mexican route to San Antonio, was set as the boundary between Hays and Caldwell…
San Marcos National Fish Hatchery · 7.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the first federal fish hatchery in Texas, right here in San Marcos! Established in 1893 on the old W. D. Wood place, this facility wasn't just about stocking local streams. Early on, it…
Old Main · 7.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Old Main, the original administration building for Southwest Texas Normal School, completed in 1903. This Victorian Gothic structure, built on land donated by the city of San Marcos, still stands…
The Flapper Bandit Hits the Bank · 7.9 mi
On December 11, 1926, a poised young woman walked into the Farmers National Bank of Buda and pulled off one of the strangest robberies in Texas history. She was Rebecca Bradley, a University of Texas history student…
San Marcos - Tubing the River and the Lions Club Tradition · 7.9 mi · Web Research
Every summer, tens of thousands of people show up in San Marcos to do something almost no other Texas town offers: float down a clear, spring fed river at a constant seventy two degrees, in an inner tube, with a beer.…
The Stagecoach Stop That Outlived the Stagecoach · 7.9 mi
Before the railroad, travel through here meant a stagecoach on the old San Antonio road and the McElroy-Severn House, the Stagecoach House at 880 Main Street, is what's left of that slower world. Built in 1875…
Cold Drinks Under the Old Oaks · 7.9 mi
If you want a meal and a beer with some Buda character, Willie's Joint at 824 Main Street is the local pick. It runs out of a 1940s ranch-style house tucked under a stand of big historic oak trees just off Main, a short…
San Marcos - LBJ at Southwest Texas State · 8.0 mi · Web Research
Lyndon B. Johnson attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University) 1927-1930. Took 1928-29 year off to teach at segregated Mexican-American Welhausen School in Cotulla as teacher + principal.…
Fish Hatchery Office Building · 8.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the original office building of the San Marcos National Fish Hatchery. Established in 1893, it was one of the first federal fish hatcheries in Texas, right near the headwaters of the San Marcos…
Beverly Hutchison House · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising past a piece of presidential history in San Marcos! This beautiful house, designed by German architect Charles S. Sinz, was built in 1896 for the Beverly Hutchison family. But it earned its place in…
Moon, William W. · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of one of Texas's very first Anglo-American settlements in Hays County. William W. Moon was orphaned just two days after his birth in Alabama, but he made his own way to Texas. He first saw…
The Oldest House Still Standing in San Marcos · 8.1 mi
At 400 East Hopkins Street stands the oldest surviving home in San Marcos, a square limestone house built in 1867 by Charles S. Cock from pine, elm, cedar, and native stone, with walls two feet thick. It's the last…
Cock, Charles S. · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the former home of Charles S. Cock, a prominent figure in early San Marcos. He built this limestone, elm, pine, and cedar house in 1867. Cock wasn't just a farmer; he also served as the city's mayor…
Site of Hays County's First Public Building · 8.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Hays County's very first public building, right here in San Marcos. Imagine this: back in 1847, early settlers threw up a simple log house. Built from elm, cedar, and cypress, it started…
McGehee Crossing · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising past McGehee Crossing, a spot that’s seen some serious Texas history. This crossing on the San Marcos River was part of the Camino Real, the King's Highway, first traveled by Frenchman Louis Juchereau de…
First National Bank of San Marcos · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the heart of San Marcos, where a local legend in banking got its start. Back in 1879, Ed J. L. Green opened 'Green's Bank' right here on the Courthouse Square. It wasn't just a bank; he rented out…
Founding of the First Methodist Church · 8.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here, in the log house of John D. Pitts, something historic happened on August 5th, 1847. Circuit rider A. B. F. Kerr organized the very first church in Hays County. This…
One of the Oldest Front Porches in America · 8.3 mi
Under the calm green water of Spring Lake, just north of downtown, sits one of the most important archaeological sites on the continent. Fed by more than 200 openings where the Edwards Aquifer surfaces, the San Marcos…
Ralph the Swimming Pig and the Underwater Theater · 8.3 mi
For decades this was where Texas families came to watch a pig dive into a lake. The story starts in 1926, when A.B. Rogers, a San Marcos furniture and funeral-home owner, bought the land around the springs; his son Paul…
The Hill Where a President Went to College · 8.3 mi
The red-roofed Victorian building crowning the hill above campus is Old Main, finished in 1903 as the first building of what was then a small teachers' school. It opened with 303 students. Two decades later one of them…
Sun God (Dillon Scott) at Sewell Park · 8.3 mi
If you're on the San Marcos River around eleven in the morning, sun overhead, you just might see the Sun God. His real name is Dillon Scott, born in 1956. He grew up in a San Antonio military family and swam this river…
The Wittliff Collections · 8.3 mi
On the Texas State campus in San Marcos, there's a place where the Southwest keeps its memory. The Wittliff Collections — an archive and museum built by the writer Bill Wittliff to preserve the creative legacy of this…
¡Viva Terlingua! The Big Bang of Texas Music (exhibition) · 8.3 mi
Go up to the seventh floor of the Alkek Library at Texas State University, and the Wittliff Collections keeps a piece of music history most people never knew was recorded. In August of 1973, Jerry Jeff Walker cut "¡Viva…
Creatures That Live Nowhere Else on Earth · 8.3 mi
The springs feeding the river here are home to animals found nowhere else in the world, and a federal lab in San Marcos exists to keep them from vanishing. The strangest is the Texas blind salamander, a ghost-pale,…
San Marcos - Spring Lake · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker
The springs that feed the San Marcos River have been drawing people here for at least 12,000 years, making this one of the longest continuously inhabited sites in North America. Archaeological excavations from the lake…
Texas Jamm Band - San Marcos, Texas · 8.3 mi
That was George Strait -- now here's a deep cut from his world. Down in San Marcos there's a band called the Texas Jamm Band, and it's pretty much George's band on their night off. A few of the Ace in the Hole boys…
Named for a Saint, a River, and a Ranger · 8.3 mi
The town you're rolling through carries a name handed down through three different stories. Spanish explorers on Alonso de Leon's 1689 expedition reached a river east of the Guadalupe on April 25, the feast day of St.…
The Student Who Never Left Old Main · 8.3 mi
After dark, the hill below Old Main has a reputation. The 1903 building is the heart of one of campus's oldest ghost stories: a young woman, by legend a student, is said to have fallen, jumped, or been pushed from the…
San Marcos, TX · 8.3 mi
The story of San Marcos is really the story of its river. For thousands of years, the springs that feed the San Marcos River have drawn people here. We know that even very early peoples were here, following the water…
The Courthouse That Anchors the Square · 8.3 mi
The stately domed building in the middle of downtown is the Hays County Historic Courthouse, and it's the fourth one the county has built. Designed by Austin architect Charles H. Page in the Classical Revival style and…
Hays County Courthouses · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Hays County's long line of courthouses, a story of rebuilding and resilience. From a log church-schoolhouse in 1848, the county has seen courthouses built, burned, damaged by earth…
Tacos by the River Since 1976 · 8.3 mi
If you want a meal that's older than the outlet malls and rooted in town life, Herbert's Taco Hut at 419 Riverside Drive is the one. Herbert Rizk Sr. and his wife Dora opened it on May 19, 1976, in a modest spot near…
First United Methodist Church · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here is the site of the first church in Hays County. Organized way back in 1847 with just nine members, this Methodist congregation met in homes and even a log house that…
Cheatham-Hohenberg Cemetery · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Cheatham-Hohenberg Cemetery, a quiet resting place with a story stretching back thousands of years. Originally known as Indian Hill, this knoll was a strategic lookout for native…
John Matthew Cape House · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the John Matthew Cape House, built in 1902. Cape was a big deal in San Marcos, owning cotton gins along the river and helping start both the San Marcos Utilities and the State Bank & Trust Company.…
Robert Early McKie House · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Robert Early McKie House in San Marcos. Built in 1906 for two thousand dollars, this home was constructed by local contractor H.C. Leffingwell for McKie himself, a San Marcos native, attorney,…
First Presbyterian Church · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here is the site of the First Presbyterian Church. Back in 1848, Presbyterian settlers gathered in the old log courthouse to hear sermons from Reverend Nathaniel P. Charlot,…
First Christian Church of San Marcos · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the First Christian Church of San Marcos. It all started way back in 1853 with just two members and Reverend Henry Thomas. By 1856, the congregation had grown to fifty. After the Civil…
Eddie Durham · 8.5 mi
You're driving past Eddie Durham. The Texas influence on jazz history, especially through the careers of individual artists, is well documented. The efforts and influences of African American jazz musician Eddie Durham…
Calaboose · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past what locals called the Calaboose, the first jail in Hays County, built way back in 1873. For years, it held prisoners, but it also served a different purpose. In the 1940s, this brick building got a…
Coronal Institute · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Coronal Institute, founded back in 1868 by O. N. Hollingsworth. This private school, coeducational and even offering military training for boys, got its name because it sat like a…
Peter Cavanaugh Woods · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the San Marcos area, home to Dr. Peter C. Woods. He wasn't just a doctor; he was a Confederate Colonel during the Civil War. Woods learned a revolutionary aseptic technique in New York, which he used…
Cephas, Ulysses · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here is the story of Ulysses 'Boots' Cephas. Born in 1884, the son of freed slaves, Ulysses learned the blacksmithing trade from his father. He became so skilled that he…
Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Fort Street Presbyterian Church) · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past a real San Marcos landmark, the former Cumberland Presbyterian Church, now known as Fort Street Presbyterian Church. Look for its stunning Gothic Revival windows and those unique octagonal towers…
Wesley Chapel A. M. E. Church · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Wesley Chapel A.M.E. Church, believed to be the oldest African American congregation in San Marcos. Its history traces back to 1875, and the first church building rose on this very spot in 1879. For…
San Marcos Cemetery · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving by the San Marcos Cemetery, a place with roots stretching back to a Mexican land grant in 1834. While the first recorded burial was in 1876, local tradition says enslaved people were laid to rest here…
San Marcos Cemetry Chapel · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the San Marcos Cemetery Chapel, a Carpenter Gothic beauty built around 1890. This isn't just any chapel; it's been the heart of remembrance for this community for over a century. Imagine the services…
San Marcos - Cheatham Street Warehouse and Young George Strait · 8.6 mi · Web Research
On Cheatham Street, right by the railroad tracks, sits an old weather beaten warehouse that birthed modern Texas country music. In June of nineteen seventy four, a man named Kent Finlay and his partner Jim Cunningham…
Where George Strait Played His First Gig · 8.6 mi
This low building by the railroad tracks at 119 Cheatham Street launched one of the biggest careers in country music. It went up in 1910 as a grocery warehouse, taking in goods off the trains, until 1974, when Texas…
Caldwell-Kone-Hyatt House · 8.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Caldwell-Kone-Hyatt House, a place that's seen three prominent Texas families live within its walls. Robert M. Caldwell, son of early colonists, built this home in 1869. Later, it was acquired by…
Heard-Baker House · 8.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Heard-Baker House in San Marcos, a beautiful example of Queen Anne architecture. This home was built around 1889 by William Green, but it's named for the rancher Samuel McGehee Heard, who bought…
Storey, James Gray · 8.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the former home of James Gray Storey, a man who wore many hats in Hays County. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1830</say-as>, Storey served as district clerk and then captain of…
The Oldest Neighborhood in North America · 8.7 mi
The city of San Marcos is about 170 years old. But people have been living right here, on the banks of this river, for over 13,000 years. That makes this spot one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites on the entire…
Aquarena and the Swimming Pig · 8.7 mi
For over 40 years, the main attraction in San Marcos wasn't the university or the outlet malls—it was a theme park called Aquarena Springs. Built around the headwaters of the San Marcos River, its centerpiece was the…
An Underwater Island of Life · 8.7 mi
The San Marcos Springs are more than just beautiful—they're a unique biological laboratory, an 'island' of life found nowhere else on Earth. The reason lies in the hydrogeology of the Edwards Aquifer. The water that…
Finlay, James Kent · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here, you're passing the legendary Cheatham Street Warehouse. <break time="400ms"/> This is where Kent Finlay, a true Texas music guru, nurtured countless careers. <break…
The Ace in the Hole · 8.7 mi
If you’re a country music fan, you’re passing through a historic place. In the mid-1970s, a young agriculture student at Southwest Texas State University named George Strait was looking for a band. He posted a flyer on…
Ace in the Hole Band · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, the birthplace of a legendary sound. Back in 1975, right here, George Strait, then an agriculture major, auditioned for a band called Ace in the Hole. They met at Southwest Texas State…
Cummings, James Dell · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, and right here in San Marcos is where James Dell Cummings, known as 'Mr. Pipeliner,' spent his later years. Born in Kansas, Cummings was a farmer who hated seeing men struggle with…
Durham, Eddie · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, the hometown of Eddie Durham, a titan of the Swing Era. Born here in 1906, Durham wasn't just a musician; he was a groundbreaking composer and arranger who shaped the sound of jazz. He…
Rodriguez, Cleto Luna · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, Texas, the birthplace of Cleto Luna Rodríguez. Back in February of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1945</say-as>, during the brutal battle for Manila, Sergeant Rodríguez…
San Marcos Springs · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, and right here, you're passing the San Marcos Springs, the second largest natural springs in Texas! These waters, first seen by Europeans in 1709, were a vital stop on the Old San…
Ragsdale-Jackman-Yarbrough House · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Ragsdale-Jackman-Yarbrough House in San Marcos, built in 1868 by a veteran of the Texas Republic army. His wife actually ran a school for girls right here after he passed. Later, this house…
Aquarena Center · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here are the famous Aquarena Springs. Long before it was an amusement park, these springs were known to the Tonkawa Indians as 'warm water.' Explorers likely stumbled upon…
Gary Air Force Base · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here is the site of Gary Air Force Base. It started as San Marcos Army Air Field back in 1942, training thousands of navigators during World War II. After the war, thanks to…
Lindsey, William F. · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, a city founded by a man named William F. Lindsey. Lindsey arrived in Texas in 1836, and after surveying Galveston Island and serving as a surveyor in San Antonio and Fayette County, he…
Merriman, Eli T. · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving past San Marcos, and right here is where the town itself got its start, thanks to a doctor named Eli T. Merriman. He was the very first physician in town, arriving in 1847 and building his log cabin. But…
Moon, William Washington · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, and right here is where William Washington Moon, a man who saw his share of Texas history, decided to settle. Born in Alabama in 1814, his parents died shortly after his birth. He…
San Marcos River · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, and right here is the San Marcos River. For over 10,000 years, people have called this place home, from ancient Clovis hunters to the Tonkawa Indians. When Spanish explorers arrived…
Texas Natural and Western Swing Festival · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here, you're experiencing a living piece of Texas music history. This is the home of the Texas Natural and Western Swing Festival, an annual celebration born in 1988. It…
Woods, Peter Cavanaugh · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, and right here is San Marcos, the hometown of Colonel Peter Cavanaugh Woods. When the Civil War broke out, Woods raised a cavalry company from this area, which became Company A of the…
San Marcos, TX · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, a city with roots stretching back to Spanish Texas. Long before it was a bustling hub on I-35, this area was the site of ambitious Spanish colonization attempts. In 1755, the San…
Brown, O. T. · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the former home of O. T. Brown, built way back in 1878. Brown, a Civil War veteran and lawyer, bought this place in 1882. He'd been a prisoner of war, but found success here in San Marcos as a civic…
Farmers Union Gin Company · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Farmers Union Gin Company in San Marcos. In 1908, local farmers pooled their resources to buy this land and establish the gin. Led by Oscar Calvin Smith, it became the first…
Kone-Cliett House · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
Driving past San Marcos, you're looking at the Kone-Cliett House, a home with deep roots in Hays County history. Edward Reeves Kone, a man who wore many hats – county attorney, sheriff, judge, and education…
McGehee, George Thomas · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the former home of George Thomas McGehee, a true pioneer who arrived in San Marcos way back in 1846. He wasn't just a settler; McGehee fought with Terry's Texas Rangers in the Civil War and later…
Malone, Eliza Pitts · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the former home of Eliza Pitts Malone, a woman who saw Texas through immense change. Arriving in 1842 as a young girl, she became a charter member of San Marcos' First Methodist Church and a devoted…
Talmadge, George Henry · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the George Henry Talmadge house, a beautiful Victorian built in 1889 right here in San Marcos. Talmadge himself was a Union Army veteran who moved to Texas after the Civil War. He was also a…
Grant, Boston P., Jr. · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through North Texas, and right here in San Marcos is where Boston P. Grant, Jr. got his start. Born in 1924, he grew up to be a decorated army medic in World War II and later, a legendary track and field…
Hays County · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, a place with a history stretching back thousands of years. Indigenous peoples were farming here by 1200 AD, drawn by the abundant springs, especially the San Marcos Springs, the…
Hollingsworth, Orlando Newton · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
Right here in San Marcos, you're driving past the site of Coronal Institute, founded in 1868 by Orlando Newton Hollingsworth. After fighting in the Civil War and being wounded at the Battle of Corinth, Hollingsworth…
Hutchison, William Oscar · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, a town that played a small role in the Civil War and later became a political battleground. William Oscar Hutchison arrived here in 1859, setting up a law practice. He fought in the…
Pitts, John Drayton · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, a town that owes a lot to John Drayton Pitts. He arrived in Texas in 1841, calling it a 'land of plenty' and encouraging eleven families to join him. Pitts was a government official,…
San Marcos Baptist Academy · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving west of San Marcos on Ranch Road 12, heading towards a unique Texas institution. Right here is the San Marcos Baptist Academy, founded back in 1907 by the Southwest Texas Baptist Conference. It started…
Texas Wild Rice · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos right now, and just ahead, in the spring-fed headwaters of the San Marcos River, lives a plant found nowhere else on Earth: Texas wild rice. It's a rare, endangered aquatic grass,…
McBride, Samuel Bender · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, not far from San Marcos, where in the late 1870s, Samuel Bender McBride was deeply involved in local education. He helped establish a free public school right here, serving both boys…
Cooper, Margaret Anne Becker · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Hays County, near San Marcos, where Anne Cooper made her mark. She wasn't your typical politician; she was a mom, a teacher, and a fierce advocate for education and conservation. Cooper, a former…
Thompson's Island Homeplace · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Thompson's Island, named for Dr. William Alexander Thompson. Back in 1850, Thompson and his neighbors agreed to harness the San Marcos River. With his sons and slave labor, they built a…
Rylander-Kyle House · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising past the Rylander-Kyle House, built between 1912 and 1913. Agriculturalist Ignatius Bramwell Rylander commissioned this impressive Colonial Revival home, designed by architect Roy L. Thomas. Notice the…
Belvin, Robert Hixon · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past a building that started as one of the first schools in San Marcos, built around 1859. By 1875, it became a family home for Rev. Robert H. Belvin, president of Coronal Institute. Later owners expanded…
Burleson, Albert Sidney · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Central Texas, and you might be passing through San Marcos, the birthplace of Albert Sidney Burleson. He wasn't just any politician; he served as U.S. Postmaster General under President Woodrow…
Dobie, Dudley Richard, Sr. · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, a town that was home to Dudley Richard Dobie, Sr. He started collecting books in the winter of 1927, a passion that would define his life. He became a bookseller in 1935, even scouting…
Flowers, John Garland · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, home to Southwest Texas State College, now Texas State University. For twenty-two years, this campus was led by John Garland Flowers. He took the helm in 1942, guiding the college…
Julian, Isaac Hoover · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through San Marcos, a town that was home to Isaac Hoover Julian, a newspaper editor who arrived here in 1873. He was already a seasoned publisher, having edited papers in Indiana that advocated for…
Harris, Thomas Green · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
Thomas Green Harris, college president, was born on May 27, 1854, at Sweetwater, Tennessee, the son of Ezekiel and Celina (Green) Harris. He attended Carson-Newman College at Jefferson City, Tennessee, where he received…
Taylor, James [1901–1962] · 8.7 mi · Tsha Handbook
James Taylor, historian, son of Charles Walter and Effie (McGuyer) Taylor, was born on January 5, 1901, in Rogers, Bell County, Texas. After graduating from Rogers High School, he attended North Texas State Normal…
The Night the Blanco Came Up the Streets · 8.8 mi
On the night of May 23, 2015, Memorial Day weekend, the rivers that make San Marcos beautiful turned deadly. A thunderstorm cluster stalled over the Hill Country and dumped as much as 10 to 13 inches of rain in a few…
Dunbar School · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising through San Marcos, and right here is the story of Dunbar School. While private lessons for Black children might have started way back in 1847, the first public school opened its doors in 1877, serving…
Sanders-Grosgebauer Huse · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising past the Sanders-Grosgebauer House, built around 1913. It's a prime example of the American Foursquare architectural style, a design rarely seen in San Marcos back then. But this house holds a…

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