Martindale, Texas

Name: Martindale, Texas
Address: Martindale, TX

Everything Martindale is known for

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Music in Martindale

Songs About Martindale

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Artists From Martindale

Gunnar Latham

country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Martindale

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

Blanco River 4 songs US Route 90 9 songs Interstate 35 45 songs Interstate 10 36 songs Guadalupe River 18 songs Texas State Highway 71 2 songs

History of Martindale

Hollywood on the San Marcos RoadyGoat

If you feel like you've seen this town before, you might be right. Martindale's downtown has a second life as a Hollywood backlot. Its authentic turn-of-the-century brick storefronts are a filmmaker's dream. The most famous picture shot here was 1993's 'A Perfect World,' filmed around Martindale in the country between San Marcos and Lockhart, with Kevin Costner on the run and Clint Eastwood directing and chasing him. The town also turns up in 1998's 'The Newton Boys,' the true story of a family of Texas bank robbers, with Matthew McConaughey and Ethan Hawke. And it stood in for backroads horror in the 2003 remake of 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,' which needed a place that looked like nothing had been updated in forty years. Film crews love Martindale because it looks the part without much set dressing, and music videos and television have come through as well. It's a town that has aged gracefully, and its quiet streets provide the perfect unspoiled backdrop for stories of another time.

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The River of Constant Temperature RoadyGoat

The San Marcos River, which is the heart of Martindale, is an engineering marvel of nature. Its water doesn't come from rainfall runoff like most rivers. Instead, it bursts forth from the Edwards Aquifer at hundreds of springs just a few miles upstream in the city of San Marcos. This massive underground limestone formation acts as a natural reservoir and filtration system. Because the water has been deep underground, it emerges at a remarkably constant temperature, about 72 degrees Fahrenheit, all year long. That’s why the river feels so refreshing in the summer and surprisingly mild in the winter. This consistent, clear, and clean water creates a unique aquatic ecosystem, allowing certain plants and animals to thrive here. So as you pass by the river in Martindale, know that you’re looking at the end result of a fascinating hydrological system—a river that begins its life inside the earth.

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Martindale, TX RoadyGoat

Martindale's founding is closely tied to the Crayton family. John Crayton, along with his son James Lasater Crayton and their slaves, moved to the banks of the San Marcos River in what is now downtown Martindale in 1839. John later sold the land to George Martindale, which Nancy Martindale, who established the city, later donated for the town's development.

Staples, TX

1912

Staples, on the San Marcos River in northeastern Guadalupe County, is located at the intersection of State Highway 621 and County Road 1977. Some of the earliest settlers were the McKean brothers, John and William, who arrived in the vicinity in 1852. They were later joined by the families of Leonidas Hardeman, Stokely Holmes, J. G. Lilley, Hedley Polk, John D. Staples, Nelson Tuttle, and Robertson Waller. In 1861 Camp Edward Clark, a Confederate regimental training site, was located in the area. Here Capt. Stokely Holmes organized an infantry company of local recruits that became part of Col. Peter C. Woods 's regiment. In 1867 Leonidas Hardeman harnessed the waterpower of the San Marcos River to operate a cotton gin. Subsequent owners of the gin used waterpower in the off season to grind corn, saw lumber, and crush sugar cane. At the turn of the century the turbine was supplemented with steam power during periods of low river flow. In 1871 Civil War veteran Col. John Douglas Staples established a country store in a live oak grove on the George Allen league, 500 yards from Hardeman's cotton gin. On May 19, 1879, a post office was opened there. The place was called Staples Store until 1891, when the post office department dropped "Store" from the designation. The office and its duties were passed about frequently for the first half century of its existence. The postmaster was usually a business owner who was willing to house the postal operation as a part-time duty. Initially, the Staples office was served by rerouting the twice-weekly Luling–San Marcos mail run along the San Marcos River between Prairie Lea and Martindale. In 1884 the only business enterprises were the store, the gin and gristmill, and the school. By 1890 a machinist, a doctor-druggist, a beekeeper, and another general store had been added. The Lowman brothers, Quincy and Roston, established the Staples Water Power Company and began construction of a wooden water tower in April of that year. The population had grown from thirty to forty-five in the preceding six years; by 1892 it had surged to 125, and the town had added a wagonmaker. In 1896 the community had 150 people and its own cemetery. The Staples Telephone Company was established in 1901 in the home of entrepreneur Fred Gabriel. Electric service, as such, was provided by a 1,000-volt dynamo that the Lowman brothers installed at their gin in 1903. The lights were turned off each night at 10:00. In 1913 both a new schoolhouse and a new metal water tower were completed. The earliest arrivals in the area were served by two churches. The Woodlawn Baptist Church, established in 1875, was two miles southwest of the settlement. There were two Methodist churches: Harris Chapel two miles east and Pleasant Ridge three miles northwest. In 1887 a Baptist church was built next to the schoolhouse in Staples, and in 1902 a Methodist church was erected just up the street. The Baptist church has had an intermittent existence with prolonged periods of inactivity; the Methodist church has been continuously active. The watershed event in Staples history was the goring of Mrs. Tom Anderson by her Durham milk cow in the spring of 1912. While attempting to separate the cow from its newborn calf, forty-nine-year-old "Granny" Anderson was completely disemboweled by a swift hook of the cow's horn. Hearing an agonized scream, frantic neighbors rushed to improvise a stretcher by ripping a barn door from its hinges and carrying the gravely injured woman to young Dr. Wilburn Williams' office, where they laid her on the only available surface—the dining room table. After cleaning the gaping wound with tap water from a system that remained unapproved until 1954, he replaced her intestines, sewed her up, and pronounced her as good as dead. Mrs. Anderson carried the scar of this encounter to her grave at the age of 105 in April 1968. She outlived the doctor by more than two decades and remained his most famous case. For that generation

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Burial Site of Rev. John McCullough

1838

(April 3, 1805 - January 7, 1870) Born in Pennsylvania; educated at Princeton; in New Jersey, 1835, ordained a missionary. In 1838 came to Texas. Elected chaplain, House of Representatives, Third Congress, Republic of Texas, 1839. Founded First Presbyterian Church, Galveston, 1840. Moved in 1841 to Columbia-on-the-Brazos. Driving an ox-drawn Conestoga wagon, "Little Church in the Wilderness," moved 1846 to San Antonio. Helped built "Old Adobe," city's first Protestant church. Founded Galveston Seminary in 1849. Moved to Burnet County in 1859, and to Prairie Lea, 1869. Continued to preach and teach. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967.

Historical Marker → · 4.3 mi away

Camp Clark, C.S.A.

1861

Named for Edward Clark, first Confederate governor of Texas, whose executive order June 8, 1861, created voluntary camps of instruction such as this. Food, camp facilities and guns were voluntary gifts by local people. Farmers, merchants, artisans, laborers gave goods and services. Men with military training and experience gave their time as drillmasters. This and 50 or 60 other camps of instruction mainly taught walking to Texans brought up with the habit of moving about on horseback. (6 out of 10 Texans joined the Cavalry. Governor Clark felt compelled to say in his executive order that infantry service was actually a matter of honor.) Operated despite scorn of 18 to 35 year old recruits who had fought Indians most of their lives and were impatient for battle -- not for training. Though neither Texas nor the Confederacy in 1861 had funds for camps of instruction, by 1862 privates were paid $11 a month, officers $50. This Guadalupe County camp of instruction was convenient to roads and to water. Area units that trained here included Co. D, 4th Texas Infantry, of Hood's famous Texas Brigade, and 4th Texas Cavalry (Partisan) under Captain William P. Hardeman. (1965)

Historical Marker →

Rector, Pendleton

1836

He fought for Texas Independence at Velasco, the Siege of Bexar and San Jacinto. Erected by the State of Texas 1962

Historical Marker → · 4.4 mi away

Toler, Gary Dan [Doc]

1943

Doc Toler, singer and songwriter, was born Gary Dan Toler in Shreveport, Louisiana, on May 29, 1943, to Earl Ralph Toler and Delta Mae Toler. Doc was raised in the sawmill towns of Northeast Texas and began playing music as a child. He grew up listening to the Louisiana Hayride . By his teens he discovered his love for traveling and making music. About 1965, while in his early twenties, he married his wife Di from Red Lick, Texas. When he discovered she could sing harmony, they began traveling the country and making music, often singing for their meals. As they toured, Di learned to play the acoustic bass, complementing Doc's guitar work and providing a stronger rhythm for the music. Doc and Di settled in Martindale, Texas, about the late 1970s to raise their four children. They continued to make music for a living and gained a following playing fairs and festivals across Texas. His format was a traveling medicine show , and it was through this that he became known as "Doc." The show continued as the children grew and joined their parents on the medicine wagon stage. From the mid-1980s to 1995 Toler hosted a radio show broadcast live on Fredericksburg radio station KFAN from New Canaan Farms in Dripping Springs and the Stage Stop Ranch near Fischer. The shows featured music, storytelling, and Doc's peddling of his souvenir "Torpedo Tonic"-a mixture of cayenne pepper and grain alcohol. The family band continued to tour, mostly playing fairs across the state, until Doc's health began to fail. They garnered critical acclaim, including awards from the Kerrville Folk Festival , the Airplay International Awards Group in Nashville, and the Austin Music Awards. The Tolers also released several albums through the years. One of his songs, "More Than One Gun on the Rio Grande," was the Independent Country Music Song of the Year in 1993. Toler also wrote a music column for Hill Country Sun , a monthly magazine published out of Wimberley. Doc Toler, one of the last true Texas troubadours, died in Martindale on September 16, 2005. He was survived by his wife Di; daughters Fagan, Banjo, and Island; son Von; and his parents Earl and Delta Mae.

Tsha Handbook → · 4.5 mi away

Lowman, Harmon Luther

1918

Harmon Luther Lowman, teacher and school administrator, the son of Quincy Joseph and Mellie (Scott) Lowman, was born on November 30, 1894, at Staples, Texas. He was a student at Coronal Institute in San Marcos from 1909 until 1911. He was enrolled in a prelaw course at Washington and Lee University from 1915 until April 1917, when he volunteered for military service. Lowman served with the 345th Field Artillery, Ninetieth Division, in the American Expeditionary Forces and attained the rank of first lieutenant. After World War I he accepted a position as replacement teacher in Staples and decided to devote his life to teaching. He received a B.A. from Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Southwest Texas State University) in 1924, an M.A. from the University of Texas in 1925, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1930. He was director of the Demonstration School and professor at Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College (now Stephen F. Austin State University) from 1925 until 1936, superintendent of the Livingston, Texas, schools in 1936–37, and superintendent of the Goose Creek district (Baytown) schools; from 1937 to 1940 he was president of Lee Junior College (now Lee College). In 1941, after serving for a year as executive secretary of Southern Methodist University, Lowman became president of Sam Houston State Teachers College (now Sam Houston State University). During the twenty-three years that Lowman was president of Sam Houston, enrollment increased from 1,200 to 5,200, the annual budget grew from $448,000 to $6 million, and the value of college buildings increased from $1,118,000 to $21 million. In addition to promoting the school's growth, Lowman was concerned with the welfare of students, especially those in financial need. He often helped poor students with his own money and at times took students into his home so that they could remain in school. In recognition of his generosity, in 1963 the board of regents named the new student union building the Lowman Student Center. Lowman married Marguerite Hightower on April 6, 1918. They had two sons. Lowman was a member of the National Education Association and the Texas State Teachers Association . He was author of History of Teacher Training in the Gulf States (1930). He died on January 26, 1964, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville.

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Things to Do in Martindale

historical 19.1 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 9.2 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.

food 9.3 mi away

Black's Barbecue

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

food 9.5 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 9.6 mi away

Smitty's Market

When the Kreuz family feud split in 1999 one daughter kept the original 1900 brick building on Commerce Street and named it Smittys after her father. The long…

food 9.7 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 10.2 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…

nature 10.7 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…

Everything Near Martindale

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

Hollywood on the San Marcos
If you feel like you've seen this town before, you might be right. Martindale's downtown has a second life as a Hollywood backlot. Its authentic turn-of-the-century brick storefronts are a filmmaker's dream. The most…
The River of Constant Temperature
The San Marcos River, which is the heart of Martindale, is an engineering marvel of nature. Its water doesn't come from rainfall runoff like most rivers. Instead, it bursts forth from the Edwards Aquifer at hundreds of…
Martindale, TX
Martindale's founding is closely tied to the Crayton family. John Crayton, along with his son James Lasater Crayton and their slaves, moved to the banks of the San Marcos River in what is now downtown Martindale in…
When the Gins Roared
It is quiet now, but Martindale was built on farm machinery and on one woman's rules. The town was laid out in 1855 by Nancy Martindale, who had come to Texas from Mississippi four years earlier and donated the land for…
The Quiet River
While thousands of people float the San Marcos in the city of San Marcos every summer, the stretch down here runs quieter, and Martindale is the base camp for it. Texas Parks and Wildlife's Luling Zedler Mill Paddling…
The Dam That Built a Town · 2.7 mi
The true heart of old Staples isn't on a street corner; it's in the San Marcos River. If you get a chance to look at the river here, you can still see where the dam stood that made this town possible. Leonidas Hardeman…
Harnessing the River: 19th-Century Hydropower · 2.7 mi
The old dam at Staples was a simple but effective piece of 19th-century engineering designed to convert the river's kinetic energy into mechanical power. It was a 'low-head' dam, meaning it created only a small change…
Staples, TX · 2.7 mi
In a pivotal moment for the community, residents of what is now known as Staples, Texas, voted to incorporate as a city on May 10, 2008. Out of 125 votes cast, 87 were in favor, marking a significant majority of 69.6%.…
Camp Clark, C.S.A. · 2.7 mi · Historical Marker
Named for Edward Clark, first Confederate governor of Texas, whose executive order June 8, 1861, created voluntary camps of instruction such as this. Food, camp facilities and guns were voluntary gifts by local people.…
Staples, TX · 2.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Staples, on the San Marcos River in northeastern Guadalupe County, is located at the intersection of State Highway 621 and County Road 1977. Some of the earliest settlers were the McKean brothers, John and William, who…
Lowman, Harmon Luther · 2.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
Harmon Luther Lowman, teacher and school administrator, the son of Quincy Joseph and Mellie (Scott) Lowman, was born on November 30, 1894, at Staples, Texas. He was a student at Coronal Institute in San Marcos from 1909…
Fentress United Methodist Church · 2.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Fentress United Methodist Church. It was organized on October 15, 1905, by 18 men and women. The congregation held services in another church before completing their own sanctuary in…

Show all 200 nearby places

Humphreys Cemetery · 3.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Humphreys Cemetery, a resting place for some of Caldwell County's earliest settlers. The Jennings and Humphreys families arrived in the 1850s, establishing this burial ground on land Joseph Humphreys…
Fentress Community Cemetery · 3.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Fentress Community Cemetery, a public burial ground deeded to the Odd Fellows Lodge in 1915. Seven graves here date back to 1888, including five for young children whose families faced…
Burial Site of Rev. John McCullough · 4.3 mi · Historical Marker
(April 3, 1805 - January 7, 1870) Born in Pennsylvania; educated at Princeton; in New Jersey, 1835, ordained a missionary. In 1838 came to Texas. Elected chaplain, House of Representatives, Third Congress, Republic of…
Rector, Pendleton · 4.4 mi · Historical Marker
He fought for Texas Independence at Velasco, the Siege of Bexar and San Jacinto. Erected by the State of Texas 1962
Toler, Gary Dan [Doc] · 4.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
Doc Toler, singer and songwriter, was born Gary Dan Toler in Shreveport, Louisiana, on May 29, 1943, to Earl Ralph Toler and Delta Mae Toler. Doc was raised in the sawmill towns of Northeast Texas and began playing…
Martindale, TX · 4.5 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Martindale, a town with a founding decree still in effect today! Back in 1855, Mrs. Nancy Martindale donated the land for this community, but she added a condition: the town must remain dry.…
Ebenezer Lutheran Church · 5.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving by the site of Ebenezer Lutheran Church. Organized in 1886 with 20 charter families, the congregation built this Gothic Revival church building in 1924. It was designed by architect Leo Dielmann.
San Marcos Primitive Baptist Church · 6.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the San Marcos Primitive Baptist Church, organized way back in 1853. Its first pastor, George Daniels, also hosted the initial meeting at his home. Five charter members started it all.…
George Francis Home_Dublin Plantation · 6.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Dublin Plantation, home to George Francis. He fought in the Texas War for Independence in 1836. Later, in 1849, he built this house on York's Creek. But the real story here is his six…
Rafael Rios No. 1 · 6.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the spot where Texas oil history was made! This is the discovery well of the Luling Field, a major oil-producing area. Wildcatter E.B. Davis, drilling on land owned by R. Rios, hit pay dirt here on…
Cementerio del Rio · 6.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving near San Marcos, along the San Marcos River, where a cemetery holds echoes of a vibrant past. Cementerio del Rio, established by a deed in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1893</say-as>, was set…
Redwood Cemetery · 6.9 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Redwood Cemetery, a final resting place established by German settlers in 1895. They bought two acres near Cottonwood Creek for their graveyard. The earliest marked grave here belongs to Lizzie…
Don Felipe Roque de la Portilla · 7.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of San Marcos de Neve, an early Spanish colony established in 1808 by Captain Felipe Roque de la Portilla. He brought 52 settlers from New Spain, but hardships like floods, raids, and lack…
Site of the First Town of San Marcos · 7.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the very first town of San Marcos, officially known back then as Villa de San Marcos de Neve. Mexican settlers established this community in 1807. Imagine, by January 6th of the very next…
Charles Lewis McGehee Cabin · 7.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of the Charles Lewis McGehee Cabin, a piece of Hays County history standing since 1859. The McGehee family arrived in Texas from Alabama back in 1847. Charles Lewis McGehee Jr. bought this…
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…
Graded by mules, shovels and black powder · 8.6 mi
The town of Kingsbury is a direct result of a massive 19th-century engineering project. When you drive along Highway 90 here, you’re roughly paralleling the route chosen by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio…
From Stagecoach to Steam Engine · 8.6 mi
Before Kingsbury was a railroad town, this was stage country. Coaches worked the rough overland gap between Seguin and Luling, and an English settlers' agent named Sam Neel had built a home near here in the early 1870s.…
From the Gary Job Corps to the Hundred and First · 8.7 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…
Withers, Marcus Allen [Mark] · 8.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Central Texas, heading towards Lockhart. Right here, you're passing through the heart of cattle country, made famous by legendary trail drivers like Mark Withers. He started young, making his…
Wright, William Lee · 8.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through South Texas, and right here you're passing through the territory once policed by William Lee Wright, known as El Capitán Diablo – 'The Devil Captain.' Wright was a Texas Ranger for nearly four…
Mebane House · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising past the Mebane House, a place that grew a world-famous crop right here in Central Texas. Alexander Duff Mebane built this home in 1918, but he was more than just a farmer. He developed a special kind of…
Mebane, Alexander Duff · 8.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Caldwell County, and right here is Lockhart, home of Alexander Duff Mebane. He wasn't just a farmer; he was a revolutionary plant breeder! In 1882, after a storm devastated some cotton plants but…
Lockhart, TX (Caldwell County) · 8.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Lockhart, a town with roots stretching back to the Texas Republic. It all started in 1831, when Byrd Lockhart received this land as payment for surveying work. For years, settlers were wary of…
Fuller, Maud Anna Berry · 8.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving past Lockhart, Texas, the birthplace of Maud Anna Berry Fuller. Born in 1868, she became a powerful voice for Black Baptists nationwide. For forty years, she led the Women's Auxiliary of the National…
Myers, John Jacob · 8.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Caldwell County, and right here is the area where John Jacob Myers made his mark. He was a man who served in two armies – first as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War, and later…
McDowell, Samuel J. P. · 8.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Caldwell County, and right here in Lockhart, Samuel J. P. McDowell decided to make his mark. He arrived from Tennessee in 1853, drawn by tales of Texas. But he wasn't just a farmer; McDowell was a…
Rogan, Edgar Huntley · 8.8 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Lockhart, Texas, a town that Edgar Huntley Rogan helped shape for decades. Born in Tennessee in 1833, Rogan arrived here in 1852, quickly becoming a lawyer and then founding the Texas Watchman…
Cheatham-Hohenberg Cemetery · 8.9 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…
Hector Family Cemetery · 9.0 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Hector Family Cemetery, a quiet resting place with a story of love and loss. Astyanax Troy Hector, born in 1823, came to Texas with his family and became a farmer, hatmaker, and surveyor. He…
Kreuz Market · 9.2 mi · Things to Do
No sauce no forks no kidding. Lockhart's iconic smoked meat temple since 1900. Post oak pits and old-school rules.
Black's Barbecue · 9.3 mi · Things to Do
Texas' oldest BBQ joint in continuous operation since 1932. Lockhart institution where the beef sausage is legendary.
Karbach-Flowers Home · 9.3 mi · Historical Marker
Hey road trippers! You're cruising past the former home of Julius Karbach, a big-time cotton buyer who built this place in 1911. Take a look at those Victorian and Classical Revival details – pretty sharp! Karbach sold…
Coopwood House · 9.4 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Lockhart, and right here is the Coopwood House. Businessman James Blanks bought this lot back in 1896 and built up the house you see today in the classical revival style. A few years later, in…
Smitty's Market · 9.5 mi
When the Kreuz family split in 1999, Nina Sells Schmidt kept the original 1900 building in downtown Lockhart and renamed it Smitty's Market. Walk through the screen door and you pass directly by the open pit room — an…
The Mansard-Roofed Castle on the Square · 9.5 mi
Dominating the square at 110 South Main, the Caldwell County Courthouse is one of the most dramatic county buildings in Texas, a three-story Second Empire pile that looks more like a French chateau than a Hill Country…
How a County-Seat Cow Town Became the Barbecue Capital of Texas · 9.5 mi
You are rolling into the official Barbecue Capital of Texas, and that is not just a chamber-of-commerce slogan. The Texas House of Representatives first declared Lockhart the Barbecue Capital of Texas in a 1999…
The Courthouse Movie Star · 9.5 mi
If you're near the town square, you can't miss it: the grand three-story building in cream limestone and red sandstone, with the intricate mansard roof and a clock tower carrying a four-faced Seth Thomas clock and a…
The Oil Boom That Saved Lockhart · 9.5 mi
Barbecue made Lockhart famous, but for a while it was oil that decided who ran this county. In 1922 Edgar B. Davis's United North and South Oil Company brought in the Luling field down the road, and Caldwell County's…
Lockhart, TX · 9.5 mi
The city of Lockhart, Texas, has a rich history that dates back to the early 19th century. It was named after Byrd Lockhart, an assistant surveyor who was reportedly the first Anglo to set foot in Caldwell County. A…
Hannig, Susanna Dickinson · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Susanna Dickinson Hannig's home here in Lockhart. She arrived in Texas in 1831, just before the Texas Revolution. Her first husband, Almeron, died defending the Alamo. Susanna and her…
The Surveyor Who Got Paid in Land, and a Town · 9.5 mi
The town around you carries the name of a man who measured Texas for a living. Byrd Lockhart was born in Virginia in 1782 and came to Mexican Texas in 1826, settling in Green DeWitt's colony and making his living as a…
Where the Longhorns Pointed North · 9.5 mi
The prairie around Lockhart was once a staging ground for one of the great migrations in American history: the long drive of Texas cattle to the railheads of Kansas. After the Civil War, a longhorn worth about four…
The Dirty Old One Man Band Was Born Here · 9.5 mi
Lockhart's barbecue gets the headlines, but the town also gave the world one of the loudest one-man acts in American roots music. Scott H. Biram, who bills himself as The Dirty Old One Man Band, was born in Lockhart on…
The Oldest Library in Texas, Built on a Doctor's Heartbreak · 9.5 mi
At 217 South Main stands the Dr. Eugene Clark Library, finished in 1899 and opened in 1900, and it has never stopped lending books since, making it the oldest continuously operating library in Texas still housed in its…
The New Deal Park With Texas' Only State-Run Golf Course · 9.5 mi
A few miles southwest of town, Lockhart State Park preserves a working monument to Depression-era labor. The Civilian Conservation Corps, the New Deal program that put young unemployed men to work on public lands, began…
The Oldest Library in Texas · 9.5 mi
Just a block off the main square stands a testament to civic pride and education. Look for the red brick building with limestone trim at 217 South Main, where Prairie Lea Street comes in. That is the Dr. Eugene Clark…
The Battle of Plum Creek · 9.5 mi
As you travel north of Lockhart, you're crossing historic ground where one of the most significant conflicts of the Texas Republic took place. In August 1840 a massive Comanche war party swept down the Guadalupe valley…
The Invisible Chemistry Behind the Pink Ring · 9.5 mi
In the pits of Lockhart's smokehouses, a quiet bit of chemistry produces the most prized sign of good barbecue: the pink smoke ring just under a brisket's bark. Counterintuitively, the visible smoke billowing from the…
Smythe, Dr. D. Port · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Dr. D. Port Smythe's practice in Lockhart. Born in 1824, this pioneer physician trained at the University of Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon for the Texas…
Cardwell Home · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Cardwell Home in Lockhart. John Madison Cardwell, a Civil War veteran, returned to town and opened a store. In 1917, he had this beautiful Classical Revival home built with its grand two-story…
Dr. Eugene Clark Library · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Lockhart, and right here is the Dr. Eugene Clark Library. Built in 1899 and dedicated on July 6, 1900, this beautiful building was financed by Dr. Clark himself. He was a prominent physician,…
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lockhart · 9.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the First Christian Church of Lockhart, a congregation that started way back in 1852 with just seven members. Their first building, erected in 1858, quickly became too small for the growing…
Black's Barbecue · 9.6 mi
Black's Barbecue has been smoking meat in Lockhart, Texas since 1932, making it the oldest continuously operated BBQ joint in the state. Founded by Edgar Black Sr., the restaurant started as a small grocery store that…
Plum Creek, Battle of · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Plum Creek, Battle of. The harsh anti-Indian policies of President Mirabeau B. Lamar and Mexican efforts to weaken the Republic of Texas stirred Indian hostilities. Hatred increased after the Council…
Battle of Plum Creek · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
As Buffalo Hump's warriors pulled back from the ruins of Linnville they were driving somewhere between two and three thousand stolen horses and mules, and dragging the contents of a seaport behind them: mirrors, bolts…
Smitty's Market · 9.6 mi · Things to Do
When the Kreuz family feud split in 1999 one daughter kept the original 1900 brick building on Commerce Street and named it Smittys after her father. The long…
I Know, Mom, but I Am Willing · 9.6 mi
Highway One Eighty Three between Austin and Lockhart is the Corporal Jason K. LaFleur Memorial Highway. Jason LaFleur was born in Houston in nineteen seventy nine, and his family moved to Lockhart in nineteen eighty…
Caldwell County · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Caldwell County, and this land has a frontier story stretching back to the 1820s. It began as part of De Witt's Colony, seeing its first settlements along Plum Creek and the San Marcos River. By…
Caldwell County Courthouse · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Caldwell County Courthouse in Lockhart. The first courthouse here went up in 1848, the same year the county was organized and named for Texas Ranger Mathew Caldwell. That wood and stone building…
Emanuel Episcopal Church · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Emanuel Episcopal Church in Lockhart, a place with a story stretching back to <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1853</say-as>. Organized by Reverend Joseph Wood Dunn, this parish built its own…
Andrew Lee Brock · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Andrew Lee Brock's early homestead. A Tennessee native, Brock moved to Caldwell County in 1848, eventually building a log cabin on land given as a wedding gift. He cultivated crops,…
Lockhart - BBQ Capital of Texas · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker
In 2003, the Texas legislature made it official: Lockhart is the Barbecue Capital of Texas. But the locals already knew that. This small Caldwell County seat has been smoking meat over post oak since the late 1800s,…
Black's Barbecue · 9.7 mi · Things to Do
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…
Texas' Oldest Barbecue Joint, Run by One Family Since 1932 · 9.7 mi
Black's Barbecue at 215 North Main Street holds a claim few places in Texas can: no family has continuously owned and operated a major barbecue business longer. The Black family moved to Lockhart from East Texas around…
Thompson's Island Homeplace · 9.7 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…
First Presbyterian Church of Lockhart · 9.7 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of Lockhart's First Presbyterian Church. It organized with ten members in 1849 and held early services in homes and the masonic hall. The congregation bought this site in 1854, completing…
Cementerio Navarro Historico · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past Cementerio Navarro Histórico, also known as the Mexican Cemetery, serving Lockhart's Mexican-American community since around 1900. The earliest burial here is from 1901, and it's been a resting place…
Thompson's Islands · 9.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the San Marcos River, and right here, you're passing Thompson's Islands. In <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1850</say-as>, William A. Thompson and his family arrived in Texas. Using slave…
Kreuz Market · 9.9 mi
Kreuz Market has been the temple of Central Texas BBQ since 1900, when Charlie Kreuz opened a meat market in downtown Lockhart. The rules are simple and non-negotiable: no sauce, no forks, meat on butcher paper. When a…
The Day They Carried the Fire Across Town · 9.9 mi
Kreuz Market, now at 619 North Colorado Street, may be the most storied smokehouse in Texas, and its history reads like a chain of handoffs. The business began in 1875 when Jesse Swearingen opened a meat market and…
The Night the Blanco Came Up the Streets · 9.9 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…
Kingsbury, William Gilliam · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook
William Gilliam Kingsbury, dentist, agriculturalist, and immigration agent, was born at Booncillo, Oneida County, New York, on November 6, 1823. He attended the district school and a seminary at Cazenovia and studied…
The Jefferson Davis Highway Plan · 10.0 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…
Stamps, Thomas Dodson · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving near Kingsbury, Texas, the birthplace of Thomas Dodson Stamps. Born in 1893, Stamps wasn't just a local kid; he became a decorated brigadier general in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He served with…
Kingsbury, TX · 10.0 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Kingsbury, a town born from the railroad. <break time="400ms"/> Back in 1875, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway pushed through this part of Guadalupe County. <break time="400ms"/>…
Lockhart Vocational High School (Carver HS) · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through Lockhart, and right here is the site of the former Lockhart Vocational High School, also known as Carver High. Imagine this: in 1923, this school for African American students was built, possibly…
Tacos by the River Since 1976 · 10.1 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…
Finlay, James Kent · 10.2 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…
Kreuz Market · 10.2 mi · Things to Do
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…
Ace in the Hole Band · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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…
Aquarena Center · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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. · 10.2 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. · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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…
Grant, Boston P., Jr. · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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…
Burleson, Albert Sidney · 10.2 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. · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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 · 10.2 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] · 10.2 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…
Bethel Primitive Baptist Church · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through McMahan, in eastern Caldwell County, and right here is Bethel Primitive Baptist Church. This congregation started way back in 1852, but what makes it special today is its connection to Sacred Harp…
Hardeman, Thomas Monroe · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Caldwell County, not too far from Prairie Lea, where Thomas Monroe Hardeman settled down. But before that, he was in the thick of it. He arrived in Texas in late 1835, joining the fight against…
Twenty-Sixth Texas Cavalry · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
You're driving through Southeast Texas, and right here is where the Twenty-Sixth Texas Cavalry Regiment made its mark during the Civil War. Organized from volunteers across the region, this unit, under the command of…
La Sociedad Mutualista CuauhtÃ©moc · 10.3 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here is the story of La Sociedad Mutualista Cuauhtémoc. In the early 1900s, Mexican Americans here sought better social and educational programs. This led to the formation of…
Doom, Randolph Columbus · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
Randolph C. Doom, judge, politician, and participant in the battle of San Jacinto , was born in Caldwell County, Kentucky, on January 7, 1811, and arrived in Texas on May 18, 1836. He served as a volunteer in Capt.…
Fentress, TX · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
Fentress is on the San Marcos River at the southwestern edge of Caldwell County. A settlement, first called Riverside, began developing there in the vicinity of a Cumberland Presbyterian church established in 1869. A…
McMahan, TX · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
McMahan, once known as Wild Cat (Wildcat) and as Whizzerville, is at the intersection of Farm roads 713 and 3158, ten miles east of Lockhart in eastern Caldwell County. The land was part of a grant made to Ambrose…
Maxwell, TX · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
Maxwell is on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad at the juncture of State Highway 142 and Farm Road 1966, eight miles west of Lockhart in northwest Caldwell County. In 1887 the Katy built through the community and…
Prairie Lea, TX · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
Prairie Lea, a community in southwestern Caldwell County near the San Marcos River ten miles southwest of Lockhart, was built on the 1820 land grant of Joe Martin of Gonzales. It is Caldwell County's oldest community…
Lytton Springs, TX · 10.3 mi · Tsha Handbook
Lytton Springs is on Farm Road 1854 ten miles northeast of Lockhart in northern Caldwell County. Settlement of the area began in the 1850s, and the early, somewhat scattered, community was known as Albade. A post office…
The Oldest Neighborhood in North America · 10.5 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 · 10.5 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 · 10.5 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…
San Marcos - Cheatham Street Warehouse and Young George Strait · 10.5 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 · 10.5 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…
The Ace in the Hole · 10.5 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…
King's Highway - Camino Real - Old San Antonio Road · 10.5 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving along what was once known as the King's Highway, or the Camino Real. This old San Antonio Road was a vital route, marked way back in 1918 by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the State of…
Farmers Union Gin Company · 10.5 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…
Immanuel Baptist Church · 10.5 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…
San Marcos - Tubing the River and the Lions Club Tradition · 10.6 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 Oldest House Still Standing in San Marcos · 10.6 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. · 10.6 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…
Sink Springs · 10.6 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…
Riverhead Farm · 10.6 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…
Fish Hatchery Office Building · 10.6 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…
San Marcos - The Salamander That Has Never Seen the Sun · 10.7 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…
San Marcos Springs · 10.7 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…
Moon, William W. · 10.7 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…
Mission San Francisco Xavier de los Delores · 10.7 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…
San Marcos Springs · 10.7 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…
First National Bank of San Marcos · 10.7 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…
Merriman, Eli T. · 10.7 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 · 10.7 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…
Wesley Chapel A. M. E. Church · 10.7 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…
Site of Hays County's First Public Building · 10.7 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…
One of the Oldest Front Porches in America · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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) · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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,…
Eddie Durham · 10.8 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…
San Marcos - Spring Lake · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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 · 10.8 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…
Calaboose · 10.8 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…
San Marcos Mill Tract · 10.8 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…
First Baptist Church NBC of San Marcos · 10.8 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here is the site of a church with a powerful story of resilience. In 1866, Rev. Moses Johns organized San Marcos' very first African American congregation, the Colored…
Hays County Courthouses · 10.8 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…
Cephas, Ulysses · 10.8 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…
Lime Kiln · 10.8 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…
San Marcos National Fish Hatchery · 10.8 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…
Beverly Hutchison House · 10.9 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…
Dunbar School · 10.9 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…
Ragsdale-Jackman-Yarbrough House · 10.9 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…
Rylander-Kyle House · 10.9 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…
First United Methodist Church · 10.9 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…
First Christian Church of San Marcos · 10.9 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…
Founding of the First Methodist Church · 10.9 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…
San Marcos - LBJ at Southwest Texas State · 11.0 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.…
Sanders-Grosgebauer Huse · 11.0 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…
John Matthew Cape House · 11.0 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.…
Heard-Baker House · 11.0 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…
Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Fort Street Presbyterian Church) · 11.0 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…
San Marcos-Blanco Cemetery · 11.0 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…
Old Main · 11.0 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…
Coronal Institute · 11.1 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…
Rosenwald School · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the site of a school that was part of a groundbreaking national initiative. In 1925, this Rosenwald School opened its doors in Luling, replacing an earlier school that started in 1874. Funded by…
Caldwell-Kone-Hyatt House · 11.1 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…
McGehee, George Thomas · 11.1 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 · 11.1 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…
First Presbyterian Church · 11.1 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,…
Augusta Hofheinz House · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving past the Augusta Hofheinz House, built in 1908. Augusta was the widow of Daniel Hofheinz, who ran a San Marcos hotel back in the 1870s. Their son Walter oversaw the construction of this beautiful…
Johnson, Lloyd Gideon · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're cruising past the former home of Lloyd G. Johnson, a local banker who built this place with his wife Katherine back in 1919. Designed by the famous architect Atlee B. Ayres, it's a cool mix of Mediterranean style…
Belvin Street Historic District · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker
You're driving through San Marcos, and right here is the Belvin Street Historic District. It was named in 1876 for Reverend R. H. Belvin, who led the Coronal Institute right here in town. By the 1870s, San Marcos was…

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