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Rockdale, Texas

Everything Rockdale is known for

1 song mention this city 2 artists from here

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Music in Rockdale

Songs About Rockdale

Texas Overture
Pere Ubu
97%
"No Teeth Barbecue, Rockdale, Texas"

Artists From Rockdale

P
Pee Wee Crayton
blues
B
Broken to Brave
rock

Rivers & Roads in Song near Rockdale

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

Brazos River 43 songs Interstate 35 45 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs Texas State Highway 71 2 songs

Musical Heritage

Johnny Horton's Last Ride RoadyGoat

In the early morning hours of the fifth of November, nineteen sixty, country star Johnny Horton, the voice of The Battle of New Orleans, was driving east through Milano, headed home to Shreveport after a show at the Skyline Club in Austin. On the narrow, two lane railroad overpass on the west side of town, a pickup coming the other way, driven by a nineteen year old college student who had been drinking, scraped both guard rails and hit Horton's Cadillac head on. Horton was still alive when the ambulance left, but he was dead on arrival at the hospital in Cameron. He was thirty five. His brother Frank later said Johnny had a premonition, a certainty, that he would be killed by a train. After riding one to his last Ed Sullivan Show appearance, he never rode another. He also believed he would be killed by a drunk. He died on a railroad overpass, hit by a drunk driver. And one more twist: Horton's wife, Billie Jean, was already the widow of Hank Williams.

RoadyGoat → · 9.0 mi away

History of Rockdale

Rockdale, TX RoadyGoat

Rockdale's a place where the past feels close, a living thing. Drive around, and you’ll see the post oak savanna stretching out, much like it did when the Tonkawa called this land home. But the real story, for me anyway, is the people who left their mark here. We’re not talking about sprawling cities with endless lists of famous names, but a few folks who carried a piece of Rockdale with them.

Rockdale, TX RoadyGoat

Rockdale's always been a town tied to industry and the land. For decades, the Alcoa plant dominated the landscape, both physically and economically. You could see it for miles, those towering structures a testament to the jobs it provided. But when Alcoa closed in 2008, it left a hole bigger than any mine pit. Folks worried about the future, about how a town of around 5,300 could possibly recover from such a blow. It was a tough time, no doubt, but Rockdale's got a resilience you can't deny. Now, you see a different kind of energy, a cautious optimism. The old Alcoa land is being repurposed, attracting new kinds of businesses. Agriculture, of course, remains a constant, just like the post oak savanna that surrounds us. But there's a renewed focus on small business, on creating a future that isn't dependent on one single giant. And you still hear the echoes of the past, too. It’s a slow climb, but there's a feeling that Rockdale's finding its footing again, building on its history while looking ahead.

Rockdale, TX RoadyGoat

Rockdale's history is deeply intertwined with the establishment of missions and the railroad. In the 18th century, a wooden fort named San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo Presidio was built to protect three missions in the area. The town's development took a significant turn in 1873 with the arrival of the International-Great Northern Railroad, which greatly influenced its growth. Rockdale was incorporated in 1878, and its population nearly doubled within a few years of the Alcoa aluminium smelting facility's arrival in 1952, shifting from an agricultural to a manufacturing-driven economy. The Alcoa plant, which could produce 1.67 million pounds of aluminum per day, closed in 2014, marking the end of an era.

Ganzabal, Juan José de

1748

Juan José de Ganzabal, a missionary priest in Spanish Texas , was assigned to the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro , a Franciscan institution in Mexico. He and Father Mariano Francisco de los Dolores y Viana were staunch advocates of the San Xavier missions , on the San Gabriel River near the site of present Rockdale, Texas. It fell to Father Ganzabal to make special pleadings with the auditor de guerra for crown support of the missions and a presidio to guard them. That task occupied him in Mexico City for eight months in 1748. Despite opposition in Texas from Governor Pedro del Barrio Junco y Espriella , by July 1749 three missions had been established on the San Gabriel River. Ganzabal was the first regular missionary at San Ildefonso Mission, where he directed his initial efforts toward the recruitment of several bands of Orcoquiza Indians. In May 1750 a horrible smallpox epidemic spread through neophytes of the mission, and Father Ganzabal could do little other than minister to the needs of the dying. After the establishment of San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo Presidio in 1751 and appointment of Capt. Felipe de Rábago y Terán as its commander, the status of the missions deteriorated rapidly under the influence of the roguish captain. When matters came to a head over an adulterous affair between Rábago and the wife of soldier Juan José Ceballos and the immoral conduct of the garrison, Ganzabal delivered Father Miguel de Pinilla 's decree of excommunication and posted it at the gate of the presidio. But within a few days, Ganzabal granted absolution and penance to the repentant soldiers. Matters, however, continued to worsen at the San Gabriel outposts. On May 11, 1752, Ceballos and Ganzabal died, respectively, of gunshot and arrow wounds at Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria Mission. The attack was almost certainly instigated by Rábago but was blamed on Coco Indians. Ganzabal was one of only a few Franciscans to suffer violent death in Texas. His murder stands alone as the extreme expression of marred relations between the missionary clergy and presidial soldiers on the frontier of Spain in America.

Tsha Handbook →

Rabago y Teran, Felipe de

1750

Felipe de Rábago y Terán, Spanish soldier, was likely born in New Spain during the third decade of the eighteenth century. A contemporary, Texas Governor Jacinto de Barrios y Jáuregui in remarking about Rábago's early life, noted that he had acquired a good deal of wealth from the mines of Zacatecas and that he possessed more money than judgment. Rábago first appears in the written record at the exact mid-point of the 1700s. On March 6, 1750, King Ferdinand VI designated him as commander of a proposed presidio in Central Texas, soon to be named San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo. En route to his post, which he reached in December 1751, Rábago, then a young man in his early thirties, scandalized the Franciscans in his party by engaging in licentious relations with Indian and Hispanic women, whether married or single. After conducting a brief survey of three San Xavier missions in January 1752, Rábago urged their removal from the San Gabriel River near modern Rockdale, Texas, to a more favorable site on the San Marcos River, but the missionaries adamantly rejected his request. This disagreement, which forced Rábago to build the presidio where he did not wish it to be, as well as his salacious relationship with the wife of Juan José Ceballos, a tailor from San Antonio, prompted heated quarrels with the Franciscans. Those differences and other disputes between presidials and clerics led to the temporary excommunication of Rábago and the entire San Xavier garrison in late February 1752. On May 11, 1752, Ceballos and Father Juan José de Ganzabal were murdered at Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria Mission, and Rábago was suspiciously linked to their deaths. He was removed from command and sent to Presidio Santa Rosa del Sacramento in Monclova, where he languished for eight years while charges against him were investigated. Following the destruction of Santa Cruz de San Sabá Mission in 1758 and the subsequent removal of Diego Ortiz Parrilla as commander of San Luis de las Amarillas Presidio, Rábago, on June 7, 1760, was exonerated in the double murder case and selected as Parrilla's replacement. He reached the San Saba River on September 30, and took charge of the presidio on the following day. Among his most important accomplishments there was the replacement of the wooden presidio with an impressive rectangular fortress of mortar and stone, which he completed in late 1761. During his long confinement at Monclova, Rábago appears to have experienced a remarkable transformation that has puzzled his most harsh critics. He demonstrated "a great change of heart" by committing himself to the conversion and missionizing of the Lipan Apaches. To this end he recruited Father Diego Jiménez , president of missions on the Rio Grande, to assist him in founding two new missions on the upper Nueces River in present-day Uvalde and Real Counties. Known collectively as the El Cañón missions, these religious outposts enjoyed modest success in the 1760s. At the same time, the presidio at San Sabá came under relentless attacks from Comanches, mortal enemies of the Lipan Apaches. To defend the garrison and the two missions, Rábago expended more than 12,000 pesos of his own money. In the spring of 1768, under almost constant threats by the Comanches, soldiers and their families dared not plant fresh vegetables and other crops beyond the presidio's protective walls. Limited in diet, the residents and Rábago himself suffered horribly from scurvy. In desperation, Rábago abandoned his post and relocated the garrison near one of the missions. When the viceroy learned of the unauthorized move, he ordered Rábago back to San Sabá, but Rábago refused to comply. Leaving the upper Nueces, he traveled to Coahuila seeking supplies for his troops and the mission residents. There in April 1769 he learned of his replacement at San Sabá by Manuel Antonio de Oca y Alemán . From Coahuila, Rábago set out for Mexico City, where he hoped to obtain recompense for expenditures of his ow

Tsha Handbook →

Christian, Benjamin Theodore [Ben]

1930

Fiddler and band leader Benjamin Theodore Christian was born on a farm near Rockdale, Texas, on June 1, 1885, the fifth of nine children of Charles S. and Anne E. (Murray) Christian. Affectionately known as "Uncle Ben" to a later generation of country music fans, Christian probably learned to play the fiddle from an older brother. Although most of his siblings played instruments, only his younger brother Elwood (Elmer) also established a musical career. Before entering the music field, Christian engaged in a number of business activities, including bookkeeping and sales. While performing with a traveling medicine show , he met and married Rose Lee Franklin in Port Neches in 1928. They remained married until his death in 1956. This and a previous marriage produced three sons. Christian entered the Houston music scene in the early 1930s, when Fort Worth-based western swing was attracting growing audiences over the radio waves. For a time he teamed with guitarists Dave Melton and Lynn Henderson at house parties. Ben and Henderson organized the Bar X Cowboys, named by radio announcer Harry Greer, with Ben as business manager and lead fiddler and Elwood on fiddle and bass. Although offering no pay for the band, the live programs, variously on KTRH, KPRC, and KXYZ, provided free advertising for dances within the approximately 200-mile range of the radio stations. Performing cowboy and country songs in addition to western swing, the Bar X Cowboys became one of the most popular aggregations in the vibrant coastal region, competing with such major talents as Pappy Selph , Cliff Bruner , Moon Mullican , and Shelly Lee Alley . Ted Daffan , a pioneer in the electrification of instruments and charter member of the Nashville Song Writers Association Hall of Fame for compositions "Born To Lose," "Truck Driver's Blues," and a host of other hits, played steel guitar for the band before organizing his Texans in 1940. Although primarily a dance band, the Bar X Cowboys made a number of records with Decca, including Christian's "Rockdale Rag," in Dallas studios. Some of the selections have been reproduced recently in country music albums. In 1940 Christian turned over the Bar X Cowboys to Elwood to form the Texas Cowboys, which he managed until his retirement. The new band continued the success of its predecessor, with Richard "Jerry" Jericho, a later performer on Shreveport's Louisiana Hayride , as principal vocalist. Christian broadcast on KNUZ and KLEE until disk jockeys replaced the local live bands in the late forties. During that decade the Texas Cowboys performed at leading Houston venues, such as Cook's Hoedown, Eagles' Hall, and Polish Hall (later known as Fitzgerald's), in addition to rural communities. Hank Thompson , Hank Locklin, Floyd Tillman , Hank Snow, and Elton Britt made guest appearances with the band. The Texas Cowboys shared the bandstand in "battle dances" with Bob Wills , Adolf Hofner , and Jesse James. Christian and the band provided instrumentation for Hank Williams on one of his last area tours and permitted a young Elvis Presley to gain experience with them before an audience at Magnolia Gardens. Declining health and lessening opportunities for local bands persuaded Christian to transfer the Texas Cowboys to Jericho in 1954. Ben Christian's death, at his Houston residence on March 27, 1956, closed a musical career that had spanned the golden age of string dance bands on the Texas Gulf Coast. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Houston.

Tsha Handbook →

The Kay Theater

1947

In 1947, E. L. Bryan and the Foy Arrington family bought a surplus Quonset Hut, one of thousands of the all-purpose metal buildings made during World War II. The hut was moved to Rockdale to become the core of the second movie theater in town. Local carpenter Jack Kyle, Sr. Directed several Rockdale high school students to build the sloping concrete floor and façade for the streamline moderne-style Kay Theater, named for the Arringtons’ daughter, Katherine. A half-cylinder of corrugated steel sheets forms the walls and roof. The entry includes a stepped plaster wall outlined in neon, an entry drum of plaster and glass blocks, paired double doors, a central sign and large letters spelling K-A-Y on each side of the rotunda. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Foy Arrington, said the Quonset Hut architecture “lends itself naturally to excellent acoustics and a pleasing interior appearance.” Construction of the Kay Theater was completed in time for a Thanksgiving 1947 opening. At a dedication ceremony the next night, postmaster Clyde Franklin was master of ceremonies and mayor J. B. Newton introduced “rolling home,” starring Russell Hayden, Jean Parker and Raymond Hatton. Large box fans made the theater one of few air conditioned locations in town. Mr. Arrington manned the ticket booth and was the projectionist, and his wife managed the concessions. As with similar facilities at the time, African American patrons walked upstairs to separate balcony seating. The kay theater closed in 1962 and was vacant for many years before restoration began in 2004 through the Kay Theater foundation. Today, the last remaining theater in Milam County recalls a time when going to the movies was a cultural event and central to the social life of many young people. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2013

Historical Marker →

Site of Mundine Hotel

1880

The Mundine Hotel stood on this site from its construction in 1880 until its destruction by fire in 1888. Completed six years after Rockdale incorporated along the International & Great Northern rail line, the hotel was built near the depot to accommodate rail travelers. John Mundine of Lexington, Texas, built the inn, and it opened in 1881 under the management of Dr. and Mrs. W. A. Brooks. The fire that destroyed the three-story structure also killed 11 of its 13 occupants. Never rebuilt, the Mundine Hotel remains a part of Rockdale's history and its significant association with the railroad. (2001)

Historical Marker →

George Sessions Perry

1910

The son of Andrew and Laura Perry, George Sessions Perry was born May 5, 1910, in Rockdale. In 1933, he married Claire Hodges of Beaumont. Four years later, he published the first in a long line of fiction and non-fiction stories and novels, many of which were based on people and events from his growing-up years in Rockdale. As a World War II correspondent, he brought first-hand accounts of the war to readers of "The New Yorker" and "The Saturday Evening Post." Perry won several major awards, including the 1941 National Book Award, before his death in 1956-57.

Historical Marker →

Things to Do in Rockdale

food 16.4 mi away
Snow's BBQ

Texas Monthly's #1 BBQ. Only open Saturday mornings in tiny Lexington.
quirky 23.0 mi away
Texas Chain Saw Massacre Gas Station

The original 1974 filming location is now a BBQ restaurant. Life imitates art.
food 24.7 mi away
Louie Mueller Barbecue

Taylor's legendary BBQ since 1949. The soot-blackened walls tell the story.

Sports in Rockdale

🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 3A · Football · 2017

Rockdale — 2017 UIL 3A Division 1 Football State Champions

Most recent: 45-29 over Brock · 2017 3A Division 1 final

The Rockdale Tigers, representing Rockdale High School in Class 3A football, have established a notable presence in Texas high school sports. Their program is a source of pride for the community, reflecting the dedication and spirit found in this part of Central Texas. The Tigers compete with intensity and have shown their ability to perform at the highest levels of UIL competition.

Rockdale High School's football team has achieved the ultimate goal in Texas high school football, bringing home a state championship. This accomplishment highlights the consistent effort and teamwork fostered within the program. The Tigers continue to be a focal point for local sports enthusiasts.

State titles
2017
Most recent
2017, 45-29
Class
3A
The moment

The Rockdale Tigers secured the 2017 3A Division 1 state championship by defeating Brock with a score of 45-29.

Sources: UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Rockdale

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

  • Rockdale, TX

    Rockdale's a place where the past feels close, a living thing. Drive around, and you’ll see the post oak savanna stretching out, much like it did when the Tonkawa called this land home. But the real story, for me…

  • Ganzabal, Juan José de · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Juan José de Ganzabal, a missionary priest in Spanish Texas , was assigned to the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro , a Franciscan institution in Mexico. He and Father Mariano Francisco de los Dolores y Viana were…

  • Rabago y Teran, Felipe de · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Felipe de Rábago y Terán, Spanish soldier, was likely born in New Spain during the third decade of the eighteenth century. A contemporary, Texas Governor Jacinto de Barrios y Jáuregui in remarking about Rábago's early…

  • Christian, Benjamin Theodore [Ben] · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Fiddler and band leader Benjamin Theodore Christian was born on a farm near Rockdale, Texas, on June 1, 1885, the fifth of nine children of Charles S. and Anne E. (Murray) Christian. Affectionately known as "Uncle Ben"…

  • Crayton, Connie Curtis [Pee Wee] · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving past Rockdale, Texas, the birthplace of Connie Curtis "Pee Wee" Crayton. Born in 1914, this blues guitarist was a true shaper of the West Coast blues sound. He started young, building his own guitar from…

  • Rockdale, TX · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Rockdale, Texas, a town born from a railroad and named for a rock. In 1873, the International-Great Northern Railroad was laying track, and a local rancher's wife, Mrs. B. F. Ackerman, named this…

  • Boykins, Euwart Gladstone · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here is Rockdale, the birthplace of Euwart Gladstone Boykins. Born in 1898, Boykins became a prominent undertaker and philanthropist in Waco. He started in the funeral…

  • Rockdale, Sandow and Southern Railroad · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here is the story of a railroad that began as a six-mile industrial line, hauling lignite coal. Chartered in 1923, the Rockdale, Sandow, and Southern Railroad connected a…

  • City of Rockdale · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Rockdale, a town that sprung up in 1874 when the International & Great Northern railroad laid its tracks here. It boomed as a shipping point, quickly adding churches, schools, and businesses. The…

  • Deadose Indians · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Milam County, near Rockdale. Back in the mid-1700s, this area was home to the Deadose Indians. They were part of the Atakapan language family, and for a short time, between 1749 and…

  • Owens, Claire Myers · 0.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Rockdale, Texas, the birthplace of Claire Myers Owens. Born in 1896, Owens was a writer and lecturer who broke from her traditional Southern upbringing to explore avant-garde ideas like free love…

  • First Christian Church of Rockdale · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're passing the First Christian Church of Rockdale, organized way back in 1887. Its first minister was Reverend A. J. Bush, Senior, a Civil War veteran who helped start Christian churches all over Texas. The original…

Show all 200 nearby places
  • From Aluminum to Bitcoin · 0.3 mi

    As you pass Rockdale, you're near the site of one of the most fascinating industrial pivots in America. For fifty years, this area was home to Alcoa's giant aluminum smelter, which consumed enormous amounts of…

  • The Town That Aluminum Built · 0.3 mi

    In 1952, Rockdale transformed almost overnight. The Aluminum Company of America, or Alcoa, began construction on a massive aluminum smelter just southwest of town. It was an engineering feat—the first smelter in the…

  • The Engineering of Lignite Power · 0.3 mi

    Rockdale’s biggest story is a marvel of energy engineering. How do you power one of the world's largest aluminum smelters? Alcoa’s solution was to use the low-grade lignite coal right under their feet. The process was…

  • The Rock That Named Rockdale · 0.3 mi

    Rockdale owes its name to a rock. In 1873 landowners George Green, B. F. Ackerman, and Frank Smith sold 400 acres to the International-Great Northern Railroad, then laying track from Hearne toward Austin. A sale of town…

  • An Author's Autumn · 0.3 mi

    Rockdale's landscape of tenant farms and river-bottom thickets found its voice in George Sessions Perry, born here in 1910. The town and the country around it furnished the setting for nearly all of his fiction, and in…

  • The Kay Theater · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    In 1947, E. L. Bryan and the Foy Arrington family bought a surplus Quonset Hut, one of thousands of the all-purpose metal buildings made during World War II. The hut was moved to Rockdale to become the core of the…

  • Site of Mundine Hotel · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    The Mundine Hotel stood on this site from its construction in 1880 until its destruction by fire in 1888. Completed six years after Rockdale incorporated along the International & Great Northern rail line, the hotel was…

  • George Sessions Perry · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    The son of Andrew and Laura Perry, George Sessions Perry was born May 5, 1910, in Rockdale. In 1933, he married Claire Hodges of Beaumont. Four years later, he published the first in a long line of fiction and…

  • The Flood on the San Gabriel · 0.3 mi

    The railroad that gave Rockdale life could also bite. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass — everybody around here just called it the Sap — ran its north-south line through town from 1891, and on a Thursday evening in late…

  • Railroads in Rockdale · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Rockdale, a town built by the railroad. Back in 1873, the International & Great Northern line laid out this town, giving local farmers a direct route to market. Then, in 1891, another railroad…

  • International & Great Northern Railroad Passenger Depot · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former International & Great Northern Railroad Passenger Depot here in Rockdale. Opened in 1906, this building served passengers for over sixty years, with the last train departing in 1970. After…

  • First Baptist Church of Rockdale · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Rockdale, a town that owes its start to the railroad back in 1873. Just a year later, in 1874, Reverend B. B. Baxter arrived and started the First Baptist Church with 18 members. Imagine services…

  • Matinee Musical Club · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Rockdale, and right here is where the Matinee Musical Club got its start back in January 1909. Organized on a front porch, this club met to study and perform music, focusing on everything from…

  • Jewish Cemetery · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Jewish Cemetery in Rockdale, a testament to the town's diverse early settlers. When Arthur Lowenstein died in 1877, his family needed a place to bury him. This led to the Hebrew Benevolent…

  • 2017 UIL 3A Division 1 Football State Champions · 0.6 mi

    Rockdale High School (Rockdale, TX): Most recent: 45-29 over Brock · 2017 3A Division 1 final.

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Rockdale (Rockdale) · 0.6 mi

    Rockdale (Rockdale, TX) placed on the 3A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Brody Willard (0.462 avg, 1 HR).

  • Springfield Missionary Baptist Church · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Springfield Missionary Baptist Church, founded back in 1872 by Reverend Riley Williams. Though the buildings have changed over the years, this congregation still gathers on the same land…

  • Coffield House · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Coffield House, a unique Rockdale rental property built in the 1930s. It's clad entirely in petrified wood, a construction material that became popular in Texas during that era, earning homes…

  • Rainbow Tourist Camp and Courts · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Rainbow Tourist Camp and Courts, a pioneer in Texas roadside lodging. Opened in 1918 by N.M. Bullock, it started as a campsite with amenities, evolving into cottage-style courts by…

  • La Recluta and La Escuelita · 2.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Rockdale, where a story of coal, community, and survival unfolds. In 1833, Jose Leal got land here, but it wasn't until 1867 that coal was discovered. By 1874, the railroad arrived, and by 1890,…

  • Bushdale Community · 2.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Milam County, passing the site of what was once a bustling German immigrant community called Bushdale. Founded in the 1870s, it quickly grew into a thriving farming area. Imagine this: a…

  • Murray Cemetery · 4.7 mi · Historical Marker

    As you drive through Rockdale, you're passing Murray Cemetery, the final resting place for generations of Milam County settlers. Its earliest marked grave dates back to 1856, belonging to Nancy Phillips. The cemetery…

  • Mount Zion Baptist Church · 5.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Mount Zion Baptist Church, a testament to faith and community that's been serving Rockdale for over a century. It all started in 1872 with Pleasant Grove Baptist, and then Fellowship Baptist formed a…

  • Site of the Mission San Ildefonso · 5.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Gabriel, Milam County, where Spanish Franciscans planted a mission in 1749. Mission San Ildefonso was meant to bring Christianity to local tribes like the Coco and Karankawa. But things went…

  • From Aluminum to Bitcoin on the Same Power Lines · 6.1 mi

    When Alcoa's smelter closed in 2008, Rockdale kept something valuable: the massive electrical infrastructure built to feed an aluminum plant. A decade later, that grid connection drew a new industry that also runs on…

  • The 950-Degree Chemistry Behind the Smelter · 6.1 mi

    Rockdale's smelter ran on a chemistry trick from 1886. Aluminum bonds so tightly to oxygen that you cannot melt the metal out of its ore; you have to tear the two apart with electricity. The Hall-Heroult process,…

  • How Cheap Coal Made a Company Town · 6.1 mi

    Before aluminum, Rockdale ran on coal. Miners were shipping 7,000 railcars of lignite a week by 1914, and mining at Sandow, southwest of town, began in 1924. That cheap local fuel is why the Aluminum Company of America…

  • Cameron's Master Sergeant · 6.6 mi

    From the northern city limits of Rockdale to southeast of Cameron, U S Highway Seventy Seven is the Army Master Sergeant Charles L Price the Third Memorial Highway. Charles Price was born in Cameron on April fourth,…

  • Daniel and Precilla Gilleland · 6.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Milam County, and right around here, Daniel and Precilla Gilleland settled down. They were part of Stephen F. Austin's legendary Old Three Hundred, arriving way back in December of 1821. Imagine…

  • The River That Stopped After the Murders · 6.9 mi

    After the murders at Mission Candelaria in May of seventeen fifty-two, things on this river got strange. A church historian later wrote that inscrutable things happened here. On June thirtieth, seventeen fifty-two, the…

  • Site of Mission San Francisco Xavier de Los Dolores · 6.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Mission San Francisco Xavier de Los Dolores, established back in 1749. Franciscan missionaries hoped to civilize and Christianize local Indian tribes, including the Coco and Karankawa.…

  • Ancient Swamps Powered the Smelter · 7.2 mi

    Just east of Thorndale, the ground holds a fossil fuel that started as a swamp. The lignite mined at Sandow comes from the Wilcox Group's Calvert Bluff Formation, peat laid down in freshwater swamps roughly 50 to 60…

  • A Mining Town Named for a Strongman · 7.2 mi

    The lignite town of Sandow, just east of Thorndale, is named for a bodybuilder. The site was first called Freezeout by mule drivers, then renamed Millerton in 1873. When the McAlester Fuel Company took over the mine in…

  • Supper at Mission Candelaria · 7.2 mi

    On the night of May eleventh, seventeen fifty-two, two Franciscan friars sat down to supper at Mission Candelaria, on the river a few miles east of here. With them was Juan José Ceballos, a tailor from San Antonio who…

  • Site of the Mission Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria · 7.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Milam County, near the San Gabriel River. Look around – you're passing the site of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria. Franciscan missionaries founded this place way back in 1749, hoping to…

  • Moss Ragsdale Cemetery · 7.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Moss Ragsdale Cemetery, a final resting place for some of Milam County's earliest settlers. The land was first used for burials in the 1850s, but wasn't officially deeded as a burying ground…

  • Apache Pass River Crossing · 8.2 mi

    You're driving past Apache Pass, a spot used as a river crossing for thousands of years. Here's what's easy to forget: a river only lets you cross where it lets you. A safe ford, shallow and firm-bottomed, was rare and…

  • Mt. Homer Baptist Church Cemetery · 8.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mt. Homer Baptist Church Cemetery, a place with a deep history. Originally the Watson Cemetery, it transferred to the Mt. Homer Baptist Church in 1866. The earliest marked grave here belongs to…

  • Salty Community · 8.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the historic Salty community, settled back in the 1860s and named for the mineral licks along Salty Creek. By 1871, a Methodist Church was established here, and the earliest burial in the cemetery…

  • Johnny Horton's Last Ride · 9.0 mi

    In the early morning hours of the fifth of November, nineteen sixty, country star Johnny Horton, the voice of The Battle of New Orleans, was driving east through Milano, headed home to Shreveport after a show at the…

  • Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria Mission · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, not far from Rockdale, where back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1749</say-as>, a Spanish mission called Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria was founded. It was meant to serve…

  • Washington, Lewis Miles Hobbs · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, maybe near Nashville, where Lewis Washington's family once lived. But Washington himself was a man of action and words, fighting in the Texas Revolution at the Siege of Bexar. He was…

  • Boales, Calvin · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the wild frontier of Texas, near the Brazos River, not far from the Nashville settlement. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1835</say-as>, Calvin Boales and his…

  • Cayce, Henry Petty · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here near Davilla is where Henry Petty Cayce, a man who fought in FIVE wars over THIRTY years, met his end. Born in Tennessee, he came to Texas as a boy and was fighting…

  • Fifth Texas Infantry · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, but the story of the Fifth Texas Infantry actually begins hundreds of miles away in Richmond, Virginia, back in October of 1861. These soldiers, recruited from towns across Texas like…

  • San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo Presidio · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, near Rockdale, where a Spanish military outpost once stood. San Francisco Xavier de Gigedo Presidio was founded in 1751, not just to protect missions, but to deal with a host of…

  • San Francisco Xavier de Horcasitas Mission · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, not far from Rockdale. Right here, in the mid-1700s, was the site of San Francisco Xavier de Horcasitas Mission. It was one of three Spanish missions established in the area, founded…

  • San Gabriel River · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, and right here is the San Gabriel River. It’s a place with a history stretching back centuries. Spanish explorers first charted it in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • San Ildefonso Mission · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Rockdale, deep in Milam County, where one of the first Spanish missions in this part of Texas was established. This was San Ildefonso Mission, founded back in 1748. It was part of a chain of three…

  • San Xavier Missions · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, near Rockdale, where back in the mid-1700s, three Spanish missions tried to serve the Native Americans of Central Texas. These missions – San Francisco Xavier de Horcasitas, San…

  • Thomson, William Dowsing · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, maybe near Old Nashville, and right here is where William Dowsing Thomson helped pioneer this land. He first came to Texas with his father in the early 1830s, surveying for Sterling…

  • Port Sullivan, TX · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Port Sullivan was on a low bluff just downstream from a shoal of giant limestone boulders in the Brazos River, one mile northeast of Farm Road 485 in eastern Milam County. A stone marker erected at the site in 1936,…

  • Sandow, TX · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Sandow is a mining community on Farm Road 1786 eight miles southwest of Rockdale in southern Milam County. At one time the site was a stop for mule drivers hauling freight from Matagorda. Freezeout, as the drivers named…

  • Home Demonstration · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, and right here in Milam County, back in 1912, a new kind of education began for rural girls. It was called Home Demonstration work, and it started with Edna Westbrook Trigg teaching tomato…

  • McKay, Daniel · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here, in what is now this area, Daniel McKay was fighting for Texas independence. Born in Maine in 1814, he came to Texas in 1834. Just two years later, in March of 1836,…

  • Pamaya Indians · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Milam County, Texas, but way back in 1716, this was home to about 2,000 Pamaya Indians. They were part of a larger group displaced from their homelands, living in a rancheria and…

  • Walker, William Henry · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, where William Henry Walker settled in the early 1830s. Life on the Texas frontier was tough, and for Walker, it meant facing down an Indian attack in 1836. He and three other…

  • San Gabriel, TX · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    San Gabriel is on Farm Road 486 seventeen miles southwest of Cameron in western Milam County. In the 1730s and 1740s several Spanish missions were established near the site in an effort to Christianize the Indian tribes…

  • Lesuer, Charles Marion · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, not far from where Charles Marion Lesuer raised a company of Confederate cavalry. He called them the 'San Andres Light Horse Company,' named after the town where he lived. Lesuer, a…

  • Mesquite Indians · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Milam County, Texas, an area that was once home to the Mesquite Indians. The Spanish gave this name to several different groups across Texas, but the ones in this region were part of…

  • Pastia Indians · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through South Texas, maybe near the Nueces River, and you might be passing through the ancient territory of the Pastia Indians. These weren't a famous tribe, and their name even caused confusion for early…

  • Rancheria Grande · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the heart of Texas, perhaps near Milam County, and you're passing through a place that once held a name that meant 'great settlement' to Spanish explorers. Ranchería Grande wasn't one specific…

  • Sijame Indians · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, perhaps near the future Milam County. Right here, in 1716, the Sijame people were encamped with both Tonkawan and Coahuiltecan bands at a place called Ranchería Grande. Their name…

  • Davilla, TX · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Davilla is on Farm Road 487 eighteen miles west of Cameron in western Milam County. It was settled in the 1860s and named for Miguel Davila, who had received the original grant for the land in 1833. A surveyor named…

  • Maysfield, TX · 9.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Maysfield is on Farm Road 485 eight miles northeast of Cameron in northeastern Milam County. It was originally called Old Graball, but its name was later changed to Maysfield in honor of Thomas Newton Mayes, who moved…

  • Milano, TX · 9.7 mi

    On November 5, 1960, country music singer Johnny Horton was killed by a drunk driver on Highway 79 near Milano on his way home from a performance at the Skyline Club in Austin.

  • The Town Sold to Seven Thousand People · 9.7 mi

    Somewhere along Highway Seventy-Nine east of Milano is a town that thousands of people owned, and almost nobody ever saw. In eighteen seventy seven, a Cincinnati outfit called the Texas Land and Colonization Company…

  • The Milano Diamond: An Engineering Crossroads · 9.7 mi

    The heart of Milano isn't a town square; it's a piece of railway engineering called a 'diamond.' If you could see the tracks from above, you'd watch the Union Pacific's east-west line — the old International-Great…

  • The Deputy Who Met Bill Longley · 9.7 mi

    On a Sunday morning in November eighteen seventy six, a Milam County deputy riding home to Milano offered to keep three strangers company. His name was Matt Shelton, and he was about sixty-two years old. He was coming…

  • The Day the Storm Found the Junction · 9.7 mi

    On an April afternoon in eighteen eighty three, the same storm system that had struck Belton dropped back down south of Cameron and headed for Milano Junction. It was about a quarter past four on April twenty-seventh.…

  • Texas Had a Treasurer Named Jesse James · 9.7 mi

    For almost thirty-six years, the man in charge of the Texas treasury was named Jesse James. He was born in nineteen oh four in the Sand Grove community, just south of Milano, and grew up in Thorndale. The name was not…

  • The Rock House That Isn't Haunted · 9.7 mi

    Two miles south of Milano, an old red sandstone house has collected more ghost stories than almost anything in Milam County, and nearly all of them are false. People have said it was a hotel and a stagecoach stop. That…

  • The Battle of Apache Pass · 9.7 mi

    Before the railroads came and created towns like Milano, this land was already a highway. A few miles from here the San Gabriel River runs over a gravel bar northwest of Rockdale that Spanish explorers named Apache…

  • Two Last Shows at the Skyline · 9.7 mi

    Johnny Horton's death on the highway through Milano closed a strange circle that started at one Austin honky tonk. The Skyline Club sat on the old Dallas Highway, the road Austin now calls North Lamar Boulevard. On…

  • The Gig He Tried to Skip · 9.7 mi

    Johnny Horton did not want to play the show that put him on the road through Milano. It was November fourth, nineteen sixty, at the Skyline Club in Austin, and he tried to get out of it and could not. By one account,…

  • The Tomato Girls of Milano · 9.7 mi

    In August nineteen twelve, a group of farm girls set out jars of canned tomatoes at Milano, and made Texas history doing it. The woman behind them was Edna Westbrook Trigg, born in eighteen sixty eight between Milano…

  • The Town Almost Called Temple · 9.7 mi

    Milano sits where two railroads cross, and for a little while, one of them called this place Temple. The International and Great Northern came through first, in eighteen seventy three, and the town was christened Milam…

  • The Wall That Stood · 9.7 mi

    Milano may be named for Milan, Italy. Nobody is sure, but it gives us an excuse for this one. In Milan, at the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, there is an old dining hall, and on one wall of it, Leonardo da Vinci…

  • The Two Men Who Lived · 9.7 mi

    Two other men were in Johnny Horton's Cadillac when it was hit in Milano in November nineteen sixty, and both of them lived. Up front was Tillman Franks, Horton's manager and bass player. Franks had played bass on the…

  • Five Days Before North to Alaska · 9.7 mi

    When Johnny Horton died near Milano in November nineteen sixty, a John Wayne movie was about to open with his voice. Horton had sung the title song for North to Alaska. He had done movie songs before, but this was the…

  • A Doctor's Note for Whiskey · 9.7 mi

    On a bright moonlit night in August nineteen twenty two, two officers hid beside a culvert a quarter mile outside Milano, and waited. This was Prohibition. A car came along the Milano to Hanover road with its lights…

  • Why a Hat Maker Is a Milliner · 9.7 mi

    Milano may be named for Milan, Italy, and Milan gave English a job title. A milliner, a maker of women's hats, was most likely first a Milaner, someone from Milan, or a dealer in the goods Milan was famous for: straw…

  • The Bread a Doctor Prescribed · 9.7 mi

    Milano shares its name with a cookie, though the town is definitely not named for it. The Milano cookie comes from Pepperidge Farm, and Pepperidge Farm started with a sick little boy. In nineteen thirty seven, Margaret…

  • Newton, James Oscar · 9.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, near Milano, where James Oscar Newton was born in 1875. He grew up to become the Texas Adjutant General, a brigadier general, in 1907. He organized rifle teams and established rifle…

  • Sharp Cemetery · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Sharp Cemetery, established around the grave of Susan Dilworth, who died in 1880. The land was deeded to Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church in 1882, and though the church later moved and fell into…

  • Persky, William · 10.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Milam County, passing the final home of William Persky. Born in Germany in 1844, he came to America as a boy and later served the Confederacy in the Civil War, even surviving time as a prisoner of…

  • Black Jack Baptist Church · 10.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Black Jack Baptist Church near Caldwell. Organized in May of 1885 with just 17 members, this congregation was sponsored by its neighbor, Liberty Baptist Church. For nine years, they met…

  • The Blackland's Gift and Curse · 10.6 mi

    The ground beneath Thorndale is a marvel of soil science. You're on the edge of the Blackland Prairie, named for its dark, clay-rich soil called vertisol. Those clay particles hold water beautifully, which is why this…

  • Thorndale, TX · 10.6 mi

    In 1911, a tragic event in Thorndale led to the lynching of a Mexican-American teenager, Antonio Gómez, after he fatally stabbed a German-American garage owner, Charles Zieschang. This act of prejudice and violence…

  • John Garner · 10.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a vital action in the Texas War for Independence. John Garner was here, helping to destroy Vince's Bridge on April 21st, 1836. This act cut off Santa Anna's retreat and was crucial to the…

  • The Ghosts of Apache Pass · 10.6 mi

    Long before Thorndale existed, the land you're on was a crossroads. A few miles from town the San Gabriel River cuts through the prairie, and there's a spot on it called Apache Pass — a natural gravel-bottomed ford on a…

  • Westbrook-Walker Cemetery · 10.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Westbrook-Walker Cemetery. (One-fourth miles southeast) Georgia native Ervin Westbrook and his wife Rachel McCorra Walker left their Mississippi farm for Texas in 1858. They were joined by Rachel's…

  • Sharp General Store · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the old Sharp General Store in San Gabriel. Built in two stages in 1895 and 1896 by Civil War veteran Daniel G. Davis, Sr., this was the area's largest mercantile facility for nearly a century. For…

  • He Escaped Goliad, Then Died on the San Gabriel · 11.2 mi

    Just south of San Gabriel, the first recorded grave in Locklin Cemetery belongs to a man who survived two of the most famous days in Texas history. Peter Mercer came to Texas in eighteen thirty-five to volunteer for the…

  • Locklin Cemetery · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Locklin Cemetery, a place that's been serving this community since the earliest days of Texas. It all started back in 1835 when Abigale McLennan Fokes grabbed a Mexican land grant right here. Then,…

  • Sharp · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Sharp, a community born right after the Civil War. Settlers were drawn here by the rich black soil, perfect for farming and ranching. The first business, a store, opened its doors in 1892,…

  • Urban Cemetery · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here is the Urban Cemetery. It's named for Julius Paul Urban, a Wendish immigrant who deeded this land for burials back in the late 1890s. The oldest grave here is Madalena…

  • Sharp Presbyterian Church · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Sharp Presbyterian Church, built in 1902. Its history traces back to 1872 with the Mt. Herman Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which later split into two congregations. The Leachville church was…

  • The City That Burns Every Memorial Day · 11.6 mi

    Every Memorial Day weekend, a city rises out of a pasture east of San Gabriel, and five days later it's gone. It's called Burning Flipside, and it was the very first regional offshoot of Burning Man. It began in…

  • The Horn You Can Fill but Never Paint · 11.6 mi

    San Gabriel shares its name with the archangel Gabriel, and so does one of the strangest shapes in mathematics. Picture a horn that keeps narrowing and stretches out forever. It's called Gabriel's horn, after the old…

  • San Gabriel Christian Church · 11.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Gabriel, Texas, a place with a history as rich as its soil. Look around, and imagine a community gathering for worship, not in a grand building, but in private homes, starting in the 1840s.…

  • The Town Named for Its Thorns · 12.2 mi

    Thorndale did not get a pretty name. A railroad employee reportedly christened it for the thorny brush that covered this stretch of Milam County: mesquite thorn, prickly pear, and sagebrush. The International and Great…

  • Antonio Gómez Lynching · 12.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, near Thorndale. It was the evening of June 19, 1911. A fourteen-year-old boy, Antonio Gómez, was lynched by a mob, less than three hours after he stabbed and killed a local man named…

  • Thorndale, TX · 12.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Thorndale, a town that owes its name to the very landscape you see around you. Back in 1878, when the railroad first came through, a railroad worker looked at the thorny mesquite and prickly pear,…

  • St. John Lutheran Church Cemetery · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the St. John Lutheran Church Cemetery, a quiet reminder of a community called Detmold. German immigrants settled this area around the turn of the last century. Back in 1900, three men deeded this…

  • The First Germans on Third Street · 12.5 mi

    When August Polnick moved his family from Lee County to Thorndale in 1881, they became the first recorded Germans and the first Lutherans in the area. They were part of a wave of German and Wendish immigrants who…

  • St. Paul Luthern Church, School and Cemetery · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Thorndale's first German settlers and the founding of St. Paul's Lutheran Church. August Polnick and his family arrived here in 1881, the very first Lutherans in the area. For five years,…

  • St. John Lutheran Church · 12.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of St. John Lutheran Church, which formally organized in 1903. The congregation built a sanctuary in Detmold in 1915, later enlarging it and building a parsonage. They moved to this site and…

  • Steamboat Washington · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the spot where the Steamboat Washington made history on the Little River. It was the winter of 1850-1851 when Captain Basil M. Hatfield steered this vessel right here, bringing a shipment of goods…

  • Wilson-Ledbetter Park · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Wilson-Ledbetter Park, a gift to Cameron from Lizzie Batey Ledbetter Wilson in 1914. She wanted to provide a playground for Milam County, fueled by love and affection. Her generosity, coupled with…

  • George Green · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Cameron, and right here is the marker for George Green. He fought in the Battle of San Jacinto, the fight that won Texas its independence! But Green wasn't done with Texas. He served as a Ranger,…

  • Dr. Nathan and Lula Cass House · 13.3 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Ever seen a house shaped like a stop sign? Well, get ready to feast your eyes on one of Texas's rarest architectural gems! This unique octagon-shaped house stands as a testament to a prominent local doctor's vision. Dr.…

  • Massillon Farley · 13.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Massillon Farley, a soldier who served in the Texas army during the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>. But his service didn't end…

  • Wied Hardware Store · 13.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a Cameron institution that served this community for nearly a century! Albert Matocha, who came to Texas from Austria-Hungary as a boy, opened his hardware store right here in 1898. It…

  • Lilac · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Milam County, passing the site of a community once known as Oak Point. That changed in 1883, when Dr. John H. Graves, who'd settled here with his family back in 1858, helped establish a post…

  • Lilac Cemetery · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lilac Cemetery, a resting place that's chronicled Milam County history for over a century. The earliest marked grave here belongs to Calvin McCormick, who died in 1870. The cemetery also honors…

  • Milam, Ben · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where 'Old Ben' Milam met his end. Born in Kentucky in 1788, Milam was a veteran of the War of 1812. He traded with the Comanche, led an expedition into Texas in 1820, and became an…

  • Girl's Tomato Club · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past where Texas history was canned and cultivated! Back in 1912, right here in Milam County, the very first Girl's Tomato Clubs in the state got their start. Local principal Edna Westbrook Trigg…

  • Mrs. Edna Westbrook Trigg · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Milam County, passing the birthplace of a true pioneer in Texas women's history. Edna Westbrook Trigg, born right here, became a leader in rural club work. In 1911, she was tapped by the U.S.…

  • Milam County Jail of 1895 · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Milam County Jail, built in 1895 by the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company. This Romanesque Revival structure featured a unique 'hanging tower' that was never used for executions, as…

  • St. Monica's Catholic Church · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cameron, and right here is the site of St. Monica's Catholic Church. This congregation started way back in 1883. But lightning struck – literally – and a fire wiped out their first church. So,…

  • Milam County Courthouse · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Milam County Courthouse in Cameron. This is the fourth courthouse for the county, with its cornerstone laid by the local Masons way back on July 4th, 1891. <break time="400ms"/> Designed by…

  • First National Bank of Cameron · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cameron, the heart of Milam County. Look around – you're passing the site of the First National Bank, which opened its doors way back in 1889. It started with $50,000 capital, weathering economic…

  • First Baptist Church of Cameron · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cameron, and right here is the site of the First Baptist Church, organized way back in 1853. It started with just itinerant ministers, but by 1867, Reverend T. M. Anderson became its first…

  • All Saints Episcopal Church · 13.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cameron, and right here is All Saints Episcopal Church. Services started way back in 1860, but the church officially organized as a mission in 1901. The Diocese of Texas bought this land in 1906,…

  • First United Methodist Church of Cameron · 13.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Cameron, and right here is the First United Methodist Church, a landmark that's been serving this community for over a century and a half. It all started way back in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • Making Aluminum from Brown Coal · 13.8 mi

    For fifty years, the road you're on, US-77, was a commuter route for thousands of people from Cameron heading to one of the biggest industrial sites in Texas: the Alcoa aluminum smelter and its dedicated power plant at…

  • The Case of the Burning Courthouse · 13.8 mi

    You're looking at the fourth Milam County courthouse to serve from Cameron, and the county's records still carry the scar of the one that didn't make it. On April 9th, 1874, the courthouse here burned to the ground, and…

  • First Home in Cameron · 13.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the boyhood home of L. S. "Sul" Ross, a Texas Governor, Confederate general, and president of Texas A&M. His father, Shapley Ross, a Ranger and Indian agent, built this house around 1841, choosing…

  • Green-Batte House · 13.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Green-Batte House in Cameron. Imagine this place starting as a simple log and brick cabin built way back in 1847 by George Green. Green was a surveyor and even fought in the Battle of San…

  • Cameron, TX · 13.8 mi

    Cameron's story is woven into the land itself, you see it in the expansive cotton fields stretching out from town. It all started back in the 1800s, when settlers realized the rich, sandy loam soil and the long growing…

  • The B. J. and Sue Dollar Baskin Home · 13.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the B.J. and Sue Dollar Baskin Home in Cameron. Benajah Baskin arrived here way back in 1883 from Alabama, starting a mercantile business and venturing into farming and ranching. After his first wife…

  • Dr. Nathan Cass House · 13.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Dr. Nathan Cass House, built in 1895. This place was home to Dr. Cass, a prominent Cameron physician and community leader, who lived from 1849 to 1906. Take a look at the architecture – it's a…

  • R. F. and Minta Pool House · 13.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the R.F. and Minta Pool House in Cameron. This Queen Anne beauty was built in 1902 by developer Jefferson Hefley, but the Pools bought it the same year. R.F. Pool arrived in Cameron in 1881 and…

  • O.J. Thomas High School · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of O.J. Thomas High School here in Cameron. Before this school, African American students in the area learned at 'Little Rocky' Church. That all changed in 1923 when Oscar John Thomas…

  • Trigg, Edna Westbrook · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, right where Edna Westbrook Trigg began her groundbreaking work. Back in 1911, she was asked to help start home demonstration work for girls, focusing on tomato clubs. Imagine this:…

  • Green, George · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here near Cameron is where George Green lived out his days. He arrived in Texas in 1835, just in time to join the fight for independence. Green fought at the Battle of San…

  • Johnson, Virgil Lewis · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here in Cameron, Virgil Lewis Johnson was born in 1935. He'd go on to front the doo-wop group, The Velvets. Inspired by local singers and groups he heard growing up,…

  • Macune, Charles William · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here is where Charles William Macune, a doctor and a farmer, became a major player in a national movement. In 1886, Macune helped form the Texas Farmers' Alliance. By 1887,…

  • Cameron, TX (Milam County) · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cameron, the county seat of Milam County. This town owes its existence to a legislative act back in 1846, when Texas lawmakers decided it was time for a permanent home for county records. A…

  • Burney, George E. · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once the Milam and Williamson district, near Cameron, Texas, where George E. Burney settled in 1847. Burney wasn't just any settler; he was a key player in shaping early Texas. In 1849,…

  • Campbell, Lee Lewis · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, the birthplace of Lee Lewis Campbell. Born in the mid-1860s, Campbell rose from these rural roots to become a towering figure in the Black Baptist community. After studying at Bishop…

  • Herring, Marcus de Lafayette · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through East Texas, maybe near Shelby County, and you might be passing the very spot where a promising lawyer had a life-altering accident. Marcus de Lafayette Herring, a man who had already practiced law…

  • Milam County · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, a place that was once the heart of a massive Spanish land grant and later a huge chunk of early Texas. Imagine this: back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1716</say-as>,…

  • Oxsheer, William Wilson · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, not far from Cameron. This area is home to William Wilson Oxsheer, a man who wore many hats. He came to Texas in 1839, eventually settling here in 1842. Oxsheer became a prominent…

  • Rogers, Jefferson Carroll · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, Texas, where Jefferson Carroll Rogers led men into the thick of the Civil War. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1863</say-as>, Rogers commanded the Fifth Texas…

  • Bickett, John Hamilton, Jr. · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, maybe near Cameron, where John Hamilton Bickett, Jr. was born in 1892. He was a man of many hats: lawyer, World War I sergeant major, chief justice of the Fourth Court of Civil…

  • Henderson, Thomas Stalworth · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here in Cameron, you're passing the town where Thomas Stalworth Henderson practiced law for an incredible fifty-eight years. He started his legal career here in 1879, but…

  • McLane, Sam Brooks · 14.3 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Milam County, and right here in Cameron, Sam Brooks McLane was born in 1891. He didn't just stay put, though. Starting in 1914, he dedicated his life to the Texas Mexican Industrial Institute,…

  • The Surveyor Behind the Name on the Road Sign · 14.5 mi

    Drive a few miles out of Caldwell and you'll cross paths with the name Chriesman, stamped on a road, a cemetery, and a tiny crossroads community. It traces to Horatio Chriesman, a Virginia-born surveyor who came to…

  • Alexander Thomson, Jr. · 14.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Burleson County, passing the spot where Alexander Thomson, Jr. once surveyed this land. Born in South Carolina in 1785, Thomson came to Texas in 1830, partnering with Sterling C. Robertson to…

  • Town of Chriesman · 14.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the former town of Chriesman, though its story really begins as Yellow Prairie. Settled by Alexander Thomson, Jr., a patriot and partner of Sterling C. Robertson, this community thrived…

  • Lewis Family Cemetery · 14.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Lewis Family Cemetery, a final resting place with deep roots in early Texas. This burial ground traces its origins back to Sterling C. Robertson's colonies in the 1830s. Thomas Curry, a South…

  • Chriesman, Horatio · 15.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a true Texas pioneer! Horatio Chriesman arrived in 1822, long before Texas was even a republic. He served as a surveyor for Austin's Colony, fought in Indian conflicts, and even marched…

  • Friendship Methodist Church · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Davilla, and right here is Friendship Methodist Church. Methodist pioneers in this area gathered for services as early as the 1870s, meeting in a simple schoolhouse just a quarter mile west. In…

  • Friendship United Methodist Church Cemetery · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Friendship United Methodist Church Cemetery near Davilla. William T. Walker, an early settler, established a Methodist church here in 1872 and was the first to be buried in this cemetery. Today,…

  • Milam County · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Milam County, a place that's been on the map since 1834, when it was part of Robertson's Colony. Two years later, it was named for Benjamin Rush Milam, the hero who fell at San Antonio. The county…

  • Lexington Memorial Cemetery · 16.1 mi · Historical Marker

    Driving through Lexington, you're passing the final resting place for many of this area's early German immigrants. The German Methodist Church, organized here in 1882, purchased this land for a cemetery in 1898. The…

  • John Hobson · 16.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of John Hobson, a man who arrived in Texas in 1835 and immediately jumped into the fight for independence. He fought with Captain Jesse Billingsley at the Battle of San Jacinto, the…

  • Buckholts SPJST Lodge Hall · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Buckholts SPJST Lodge Hall, a place that's been the heart of Czech-Texan community life for over a century! Lodge No. 15, called Svornost Jihu or 'Southern Unity,' was founded right here in 1907.…

  • Shiloh Baptist Church · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Shiloh Baptist Church, a congregation founded way back on November 2nd, 1854. Imagine, 18 charter members gathered under brush arbors for services and revivals. They moved between two…

  • Snow's BBQ · 16.4 mi · Things to Do

    Texas Monthly's #1 BBQ. Only open Saturday mornings in tiny Lexington.

  • Early Chapel Cemetery · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Early Chapel Cemetery near Lexington, a resting place for some real Texas history. This land was bought by the Methodist Episcopal Church South back in 1850, but burials were happening here even…

  • The Queen of Texas Barbecue · 16.5 mi

    Right here in Lexington is a small, unassuming building that becomes the center of the barbecue universe every Saturday morning. This is Snow's BBQ. And its story is the story of its pitmaster, Tootsie Tomanetz. For…

  • String Prairie empties into Lexington · 16.5 mi

    There is a lost town in this story, and it isn't Lexington. James Shaw, an Ohio surveyor and teacher who fought at San Jacinto, took his land grant here in 1837, and in 1850 the residents renamed the settlement…

  • A Rock Layer Named for the Creeks Beside Town · 16.5 mi

    The two creeks that frame this town, East Yegua and Middle Yegua, gave their name to something geologists worldwide still use. In 1918, geologist Edwin Dumble named the Yegua Formation, a layer of rock from the middle…

  • Engineering a Town's Destiny · 16.5 mi

    The layout of Lexington is the work of two men fifty years apart. James Shaw came here in 1837 chasing a land grant, and in 1848 he opened a post office and called it String Prairie — that was this town's first name,…

  • Hawkins, William W. · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where William W. Hawkins lived, a soldier who fought in the pivotal Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. That was the decisive battle that won Texas its independence. After the revolution, Hawkins…

  • Shaw, James · 16.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of James Shaw, a true veteran of Texas history. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1808</say-as>, Shaw fought for Texas independence and stood on the battlefield at San…

  • Mundine, Titus Howard · 16.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Burleson County, and right here in Lexington, Titus Howard Mundine was a man who made history in more ways than one. In 1868, this legislator, a staunch Unionist, proposed something truly radical…

  • Moab Community · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what was once Moab, a predominantly African-American community that sprang up after the Civil War. Farmers here worked the land, but often traveled for 'cotton picks' to supplement their income.…

  • Ladies' Battalions and Legions · 16.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    During the Texas Revolution , several groups of volunteers for the army, particularly volunteers from Kentucky, wore the designation of "Ladies'" battalions or legions. On February 12, 1836, the Committee of Vigilance…

  • Cotton, Wagons, and the Railroad · 16.6 mi

    Cotton built early Lexington. Farmers on the prairie east of town raised it, and the settlement grew as new hands arrived to work the land. In 1869, twenty-one families rolled in by wagon train from Mississippi, most…

  • Lexington · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lexington, Texas, a town with roots stretching back to 1837. Originally part of Burleson County, this area was first home to the Tonkawa Indians. The first white settler, James Shaw, arrived that…

  • Lexington Schools · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lexington, Texas, where education took root way back in 1849. The very first classes were held in the log home of Captain James Shaw, the town's founder. Later, a local Masonic lodge, Andrew Neill…

  • Rogan, Charles · 16.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Lee County, near Lexington, where Charles Rogan settled with his family back in 1862. Rogan went on to be one of the first graduates of Texas A&M. But his biggest impact came later, as…

  • Lexington, TX · 16.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Lexington, Texas, a town with roots stretching back to 1837. That's when James Shaw rode into this area, looking for land granted for his service in the Republic of Texas army. A few years later,…

  • Union Bluff, TX · 16.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Hillsboro, and right here is the site of old Lexington, later known as Union Bluff. This settlement began in the winter of 1851-52 when the Wornell family arrived, looking to set up shop. Young D.C.…

  • Mundine, Francis Marion · 16.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, and right here in Lexington, Texas, is where Francis Marion Mundine made his home. Mundine was a merchant, farmer, and postmaster who also served in the Texas Legislature. In 1897,…

  • The First Baptist Church of Lexington · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Lexington. It all started back in January of 1855, when nine charter members, inspired by a reverend from Prospect Church, decided to form their own…

  • Lexington Masonic Lodge No. 138 · 16.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lexington, site of the Masonic Lodge No. 138. Chartered in 1854, it was first named for Texas War for Independence veteran Andrew Neill. Members helped build a lodge and school in 1854, which…

  • Best BBQ in Texas, Open One Day a Week · 16.7 mi

    On Main Street here sits a barbecue joint that Texas Monthly twice crowned the best in the entire state, once in 2008 and again in 2017. Snow's BBQ opened on March 1, 2003, founded by Kerry Bexley, whose childhood…

  • From String Prairie to Lexington · 16.7 mi

    This town started out with a humbler name. James Shaw, an Ohio-born surveyor, teacher, and Republic of Texas veteran, rode into the area in 1837 to claim land granted for his military service. In 1848 a post office…

  • Hope Lutheran Church · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Hope Lutheran Church, the oldest church still standing in Buckholts. It all started back in 1890 with just twelve members and a German missionary named Julius Schroeder. For a decade,…

  • United Methodist Church of Lexington · 16.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Lexington, and right here is the United Methodist Church. Its roots go way back to 1850, starting as the Lexington Methodist Episcopal Church, South. This church has a unique history of absorbing…

  • The Town That Lost Its Police Department · 16.8 mi

    Buckholts has about four hundred people, and in twenty twenty-six it lost its police department. Not over a crime, but over state standards it couldn't prove it met. On February fourth, twenty twenty-six, an inspector…

  • The Judge Who Gave the Railroad a Town · 16.8 mi

    The name on this town belongs to a Mississippi lawyer who'd already moved away when the town was born. John Abel Buckholts enlisted in eighteen forty-six to fight in the Mexican War, in a rifle regiment led by Jefferson…

  • Buckholts, TX · 16.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Buckholts, Texas, a community that owes its existence to the railroad. <break time="400ms"/> Established in 1881 when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway pushed through, it was named for John…

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