Skip to content

San Saba, Texas

Everything San Saba is known for

6 songs mention this city

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

Sign up for the free newsletter Get the iPhone app

Music in San Saba

Songs About San Saba

San Saba
Lewis Thomasson
80%
"San Saba (title)"
San Saba
Pinebox Serenade
80%
"San Saba (title)"
San Saba Sunrise
Jon Parmentier
80%
"San Saba Sunrise (title)"
San Saba, Texas
Abigail Ingram
80%
"San Saba, Texas (title)"
San Saba
The Division Men
80%
"San Saba (title)"
Tumbleweed Stew
Slaid Cleaves
49%
"I work as a hand in San Saba"

Artists From San Saba

No artists from San Saba in the database yet.

Know one? Add it →

Rivers & Roads in Song near San Saba

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near San Saba.

San Saba River 2 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs Texas State Highway 71 2 songs

History of San Saba

The Father of the Pecan Industry RoadyGoat

San Saba's claim as the 'Pecan Capital' isn't just from nature; it's from science. The story belongs to Edmond E. Risien, an English cabinetmaker who stopped here in 1874 on his way to California and never left. Risien wasn't a botanist by training, but he was a meticulous observer. He noticed the wild pecans along the river varied greatly—some had thick shells and little meat, while others were superior. So he held a contest, offering a prize for the finest wild nuts anyone could bring him, then tracked the winning pecans back to their source: one battered tree with a single limb left. He bought the land it stood on and called it the Mother Tree. Then he perfected a technique called grafting. He would take a small branch, or 'scion,' from a tree with desirable nuts and surgically attach it to the rootstock of a hardy, common pecan tree. That essentially cloned the superior tree. He started the West Texas Pecan Nursery in 1888 and released his San Saba variety around 1893. His decades of experimentation seeded famous varieties, including the Western Schley, and turned a wild nut into a global commodity.

RoadyGoat →

San Saba, TX RoadyGoat

San Saba, Texas, is synonymous with pecans. You can’t drive far without seeing orchards stretching across the landscape, those majestic live oaks interspersed among pecan trees heavy with nuts in the fall. The pecan industry here isn’t some recent development; it's woven into the very fabric of the town. The fertile soil along the San Saba River, combined with a climate that offers just the right balance of sun and rain, has proven ideal for pecan cultivation for generations. It started small, of course, with early settlers recognizing the potential of native pecan trees. But through careful cultivation and grafting of improved varieties, pecan production quickly became a cornerstone of the local economy. Highway 16, running right through the heart of town, became a vital artery for transporting those pecans to markets far and wide. Even today, while the world changes around us, the rhythm of the seasons in San Saba still revolves around the pecan harvest, a tradition that continues to shape the community and define its character.

San Saba, TX RoadyGoat

San Saba. Even the name rolls off the tongue with a sense of history, doesn't it? It comes from the San Saba River, the lifeblood of this area. The Spanish, drawn by whispers of silver, were the first to give it that name. "San Sabá" honors Saint Sabbas, a 5th-century monk from Cappadocia, a figure known for his dedication and for establishing monasteries in the harsh Judean desert. It's a fitting namesake, really, when you consider the challenges faced here. The Spanish mission, Santa Cruz de San Sabá, stood further south, near present-day Menard, a testament to their ambition. They hoped to convert the local tribes and exploit the rumored silver, but the Comanche had other plans. The mission was eventually abandoned, but the name, "San Sabá," stuck to the river and later to this town. It speaks to the enduring allure of the land, a place of both promise and hardship. Even now, under the shade of the live oaks along the riverbank, you can almost hear the echoes of those early dreams—dreams of silver, of faith, and of a new life carved out of the Texas frontier.

Brown, James Madison

1876

James Madison Brown, lawman and horseman, son of John Humphrey and Jane Ann Brown, was born in Alabama in 1839. The Browns, with several other families, settled permanently in what is now San Saba County, Texas, where John Brown helped establish the town of San Saba. James, the eldest son, grew up to be an excellent judge of horses and in his later years became wealthy from winning on the turf. During the Civil War he served as a minuteman under the command of W. R. Wood and later under his father's command. In 1869 he was probably one of the trail hands that drove a large herd from the San Saba region to Roswell, New Mexico Territory. In 1870 he resided in Washington County, where he had already established a reputation as a gambler. In 1872–73 he served as a private in the state police force. He joined Washington County Volunteer Militia Company A, commanded by Capt. Leander H. McNelly , and served from April 30 to November 30, 1875. During this time he also was establishing a reputation as a horseman; he raced successfully in Gonzales County as well as Travis County. Lee County, separated from Washington County in 1874, was still a frontier area and needed strong law enforcement officials. James McKeown was the new county's first sheriff, and on February 15, 1876, Brown was elected to take his place. He served in that office during a very lawless era and established a reputation for being an energetic sheriff. But his years were not without controversy. He was involved in several personal feuds as well as several killings. His most notable act in office was the legal hanging of noted outlaw William P. Longley . After his career as sheriff, Brown developed his racing stables and raced on tracks in cities outside of Texas, including St. Louis, Nashville, and Chicago. On September 6, 1892, while at the Garfield Park in Chicago, police attempted to arrest him on an old murder charge from Texas. Brown resisted, and in the ensuing gunfight he was killed, along with two members of the Chicago police force. Chicago newspapers described him as a millionaire but also alleged that he may have murdered as many as fourteen men while he was sheriff. It was surmised that his position and the fear he engendered among his contemporaries protected him from prosecution. Brown was buried in Fort Worth. He was survived by his wife and five children.

Tsha Handbook →

Hubbert, Marion King

1956

M. King Hubbert, geophysicist, son of William Bee and Cora Virginia (Lee) Hubbert, was born in San Saba, Texas, on October 5, 1903. When he was four his mother organized a school for neighborhood children, an undertaking that impressed him deeply. A year later the family moved to the vicinity of Fort Stockton, where William Hubbert worked as a ranch foreman and farmer. Not long afterwards the family returned to San Saba County. King attended country schools in both Fort Stockton and San Saba, then enrolled in a private high school. His fascination with such mechanical devices as steam engines and telephones, then first appearing in Texas, revealed his precocity. Between 1921 and 1923 he attended Weatherford Junior College. He then enrolled at the University of Chicago, where he received his B.S. in 1926 and his M.S. in 1928. While working towards his doctorate he was hired, in 1930, to teach geophysics at Columbia University, where he remained until 1940. He finished the Ph.D. in 1937. During the summer months Hubbert worked on geophysical problems for the Amerada Petroleum Corporation in Oklahoma, the Illinois State Geological Survey, and the United States Geological Survey. In 1943, after serving as a senior analyst at the Board of Economic Warfare in Washington, D.C., he joined the Shell Oil Company in Houston, where for several years he directed the Shell research laboratory. After retiring from Shell in 1964, Hubbert joined the United States Geological Survey as a senior research geophysicist, a position he held until 1976. He made numerous important contributions to geophysics, ranging from fundamental scientific research to extensive studies of oil and natural gas reserves in the United States and worldwide. In 1937 he resolved a standing paradox regarding the apparent strength of materials that form the crust of the earth, for such rocks, despite their evident strength, often show signs of plastic flow. Hubbert demonstrated mathematically that even the hardest of rocks on the earth's surface, subject to the immense pressures occurring across large areas, will respond in a manner similar to soft muds or clays. In the early 1950s he introduced important revisions in theories about the flow of underground fluids. His own research, which demonstrated that fluids can become entrapped under circumstances previously not thought possible, led to a major reassessment of techniques employed to locate oil and natural gas deposits. By 1959, in collaboration with William W. Rubey, a geologist at the USGS, Hubbert explained the puzzling displacement of enormous blocks of material, known to geologists as overthrust faults, as a consequence of fluid pressure between such blocks and underlying materials. Hubbert is perhaps best known for his studies of petroleum and natural gas reserves, a subject he became attracted to in the 1920s while a student at Chicago. In 1949 he employed statistical and physical methods to calculate the worldwide volume of oil and natural gas supplies, then documented their sharply increasing consumption. In 1956 he predicted that the peak of crude-oil production in the United States would occur between 1966 and 1971. Although Hubbert's interpretation was later judged as essentially correct, his figures of future reserves were much lower than those accepted by many American petroleum companies and leaders of the USGS. In 1958, partly to illustrate the limits of available oil and natural gas supplies and the important questions of national policy they raised, Hubbert published a report on the mineral resources of Texas. As a consequence of his studies of natural resources, he was invited to participate on various government panels, including the Committee on Natural Resources Advisory to President John F. Kennedy, organized by the National Academy of Sciences. Hubbert was also influential in promoting in American universities the study of geophysics, an area of research that well into the 1950s was more at home

Tsha Handbook →

Ketchum Boys

1890

Thomas Edward (Black Jack) and Samuel W. Ketchum were members of a gang of outlaws that terrorized Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas in the 1890s. Sam was born on January 4, 1854, in Caldwell County, and Tom was born in San Saba County on October 31, 1863. They were the sons of Green Berry and Temperance Katherine (Wydic) Ketchum and grew up in San Saba, Texas. Their father had been coroner of Christian County, Illinois, before coming to Texas, where he may have been a doctor. His sons were ranch boys of little education. Sam married Louisa J. Greenlee in San Saba on February 4, 1874, according to family records; Tom never married. Tom left Texas about 1890, possibly because of a murder or a train robbery, and went to work for cow outfits in the Pecos Valley of New Mexico. By 1894 Sam had joined him, and the brothers began a career of crime, including killing a merchant near Carrizo, robbing post offices, and holding up stages, trains, and a railroad station. In 1897 they spent a good deal of time across the line in Mexico but stopped two trains in Arizona. On September 3, 1897, they held up the Colorado Southern passenger train near Folsom. In 1898 apparently there was some disagreement in the ranks, and Black Jack was not present when Sam and others again held up the Colorado Southern near Folsom on July 11, 1899. A posse caught up with them; Sam was wounded and captured and died two weeks later in the penitentiary at Santa Fe. Two peace officers and another of the robbers were killed in the battle. Not knowing of the outcome of Sam's last attempt, Black Jack determined to make one more raid and tried, singlehanded, to hold up the Colorado Southern, again near Folsom, on August 16, 1899. Wounded by the conductor, he was picked up beside the tracks next day. On October 5, 1900, he was sentenced to hang. The sentence was carried out at Clayton on April 26, 1901. The Ketchum gang was blamed for a good many crimes that they may not have committed. Apparently they had connections with a larger organization of outlaws. It is also possible that many of the crimes attributed to Black Jack Ketchum were committed by Will "Black Jack" Christian and his brother, and that Tom Ketchum inherited the name and reputation after Christian was killed; however, the facts of Tom Ketchum's career indicate that his notoriety outdistanced that of Christian.

Tsha Handbook →

Risien, Edmond E., Pecan Pioneer

1870

(1853-1940) Cited by 42nd Texas Legislature and the public as a world leader in pecan industry. Spent lifetime upbreeding native San Saba pecans. Born in Dover, England. Came here in 1870s. Installed first San Saba water works. Some pecan varieties he originated were Onliwon, San Saba Improved and Western Schley. Mrs. E. E. Risien, born in Plymouth, England, 1853, died in San Saba 1953. The Risiens had four children: Doris, Norma, Winnie and E. Guy (son who carried on work with pecans). Erected 1969

Historical Marker →

The Texas Rangers and the San Saba Mob

1850

Removed from major roads and railways, early San Saba County residents had limited access to law enforcement and government. Beginning in the mid-1850s, citizens in and around the county formed vigilante mobs to dispatch justice. Although initially formed to protect residents, these mobs often evolved into organized gangs, terrorizing the residents they had initially formed to protect. By the 1880s, a group unofficially called the San Saba Mob, or The Assembly, had killed numerous area settlers. Believed to have included religious leaders and elected officials, the Mob operated under strict ritual and secrecy, meeting clandestinely at places like Buzzards' Water Hole and Cottonwood Pond. Organized similarly to a fraternal lodge, the group used secret signs and gestures to identify membership. After meeting and deciding who to eliminate, the regulators would ride wearing black masks or hoods, and ambush their victims with a telling nine bullet holes. In 1896, in order to stop the violence, the state sent Texas Rangers led by Sgt. W. John L. Sullivan to investigate, and San Saba County News editor Uluth M. Sanderson began running editorials against the Mob. Sullivan was later replaced by Ranger Capt. William J. "Bill Jess" McDonald, who worked effectively with District Attorney W.C. Linden to expose as many Mob members as possible. To avoid interference from local officials believed to have ties to the group, they moved key trials to Austin and Llano. By 1900, the Rangers and Linden succeeded in breaking the Mob's control over county residents, although few members ever paid for their crimes. (2005)

Historical Marker →

Sion Record Bostick

1835

About 276 yards to the west is grave of Sion Record Bostick (December 7, 1819 - October 15, 1902) A member of the party of young Texans who captured the escaping Mexican General Santa Anna after Battle of San Jacinto, during the Texas War for Independence. Migrated from Alabama in 1828. Served in Texas army at Gonzales and Bexar (San Antonio), 1835; at San Jacinto, 1836; and 1840 stand against Comanches, at Plum Creek. An American soldier in Mexican War, 1846; a Confederate in Hood's Brigade in the Civil War, 1860s. Married Susan Townsend; after her death, Mary Indiana Rhodes. Had several children. Became a leader in veterans reunions. He is buried in San Saba Cemetery. Recorded 1973

Historical Marker →

Things to Do in San Saba

nature 16.5 mi away
Gorman Falls

Gorman Falls at Colorado Bend State Park is a seventy-foot active travertine waterfall -- the rock face the water spills over is literally growing as you…
day trip
Day Trip to San Saba 🏈 (FULL EPISODE) S8 E12

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

Everything Near San Saba

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

  • Brown, James Madison · Tsha Handbook

    James Madison Brown, lawman and horseman, son of John Humphrey and Jane Ann Brown, was born in Alabama in 1839. The Browns, with several other families, settled permanently in what is now San Saba County, Texas, where…

  • Hubbert, Marion King · Tsha Handbook

    M. King Hubbert, geophysicist, son of William Bee and Cora Virginia (Lee) Hubbert, was born in San Saba, Texas, on October 5, 1903. When he was four his mother organized a school for neighborhood children, an…

  • Ketchum Boys · Tsha Handbook

    Thomas Edward (Black Jack) and Samuel W. Ketchum were members of a gang of outlaws that terrorized Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas in the 1890s. Sam was born on January 4, 1854, in Caldwell County, and Tom was born…

  • American Legion Wiley B. Murray Post No. 27 · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and right here is the site of the American Legion Wiley B. Murray Post No. 27. Organized in 1919, it was one of the first American Legion posts in Texas. Named for a local WWI hero who…

  • San Saba County · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Saba County, a place that saw some serious frontier drama. Back in the 1850s, this area was just starting to see permanent settlers like the Harkey and Matsler families. But by the late 1800s,…

  • San Saba River · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the heart of Texas, and the San Saba River has been a landmark here for centuries. Back in 1732, Spanish Governor Juan Antonio Bustillo y Ceballos discovered this stream, possibly naming it after…

  • San Saba, TX · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Saba, a town that took root on the agricultural frontier back in the 1850s. Ranchers and cotton growers first settled these banks of the San Saba River in 1855, and the community quickly…

  • Thaxton, William · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, the heart of the frontier. Right here in what is now San Saba County, William Thaxton was a man of many hats. He was a surveyor, a legislator, and even a cattle driver. But during…

  • Triplett, Daniel · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through San Saba, Texas, a place that saw a bit of legal drama back in the day. Daniel Triplett, a state legislator and lawyer, moved here in 1875. Just a few years later, in 1878, he faced a serious…

  • Risien, Edmond E., Pecan Pioneer · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    (1853-1940) Cited by 42nd Texas Legislature and the public as a world leader in pecan industry. Spent lifetime upbreeding native San Saba pecans. Born in Dover, England. Came here in 1870s. Installed first San Saba…

  • The Texas Rangers and the San Saba Mob · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    Removed from major roads and railways, early San Saba County residents had limited access to law enforcement and government. Beginning in the mid-1850s, citizens in and around the county formed vigilante mobs to…

  • Camp McMillan, C.S.A. · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the vast Texas frontier, and right now, you're passing near where Camp McMillan once stood. This wasn't a place for glory, but for grit. During the Civil War, from <say-as interpret-as="date"…

Show all 118 nearby places
  • Estep-Burleson Building · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Estep-Burleson Building in San Saba, a tough limestone structure that tells a story of frontier life. Elijah Estep, a man who raised 11 children after his first wife died, built this place in the…

  • San Saba County Courthouse · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the San Saba County Courthouse, a building that's seen a lot of history. The county was organized way back in 1856, and this spot has hosted courthouses ever since. The first one was a frame…

  • San Saba Church of Christ · 0.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past San Saba Church of Christ. San Saba County was organized in 1856, and in 1860 the commissioners court issued a block of land to each religious body; the Christian church was one of these. The…

  • Welcome to the Graveyard · 0.3 mi

    The football field beside the Methodist church here is Rogan Field, and San Saba calls it the Graveyard. That is not a figure of speech. Dr. J. C. Rogan gave this land for the town's first cemetery in eighteen fifty…

  • First Methodist Church · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and right here is the First Methodist Church, founded way back in 1856. Now, this was a wild frontier back then. The church was so concerned about their missionary's safety, they…

  • United Confederate Veterans William P. Rogers Camp No. 322 · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and just ahead is the site of a gathering place for Confederate veterans. The William P. Rogers Camp, number 322, formed right here in San Saba County in 1893. These camps were popular…

  • Whitis-Moore House · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and just ahead is a beautiful example of Queen Anne architecture: the Whitis-Moore House. Built in 1905 for Austin banker John H. Whitis, this home was completed just in time for his…

  • San Saba County Jail · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the San Saba County Jail, the oldest public building still standing in the county. Erected in 1884 for a total of $13,300, this Italianate Texas-style limestone structure has seen some action. In…

  • First Baptist Church of San Saba · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of San Saba's first Baptist congregation. Formed in 1856, they met in homes east of here before moving into town in 1857. After meeting in a courthouse and schoolhouse, they finally built…

  • Sion Record Bostick · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    About 276 yards to the west is grave of Sion Record Bostick (December 7, 1819 - October 15, 1902) A member of the party of young Texans who captured the escaping Mexican General Santa Anna after Battle of San Jacinto,…

  • James Louis & Ellen Austin Baker · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Baker Valley, home to James and Ellen Baker. His family registered a cattle brand way back in 1836. By the 1870s, Jim and his brother George were driving thousands of cattle across Texas and even…

  • Mill Pond House · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mill Pond House in San Saba, a building that was the industrial heart of this community in its early days. Erected around 1875 by John 'Shorty' Brown, one of San Saba's founders, this structure…

  • Alma Ward Hamrick · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, home of Alma Ward Hamrick, a remarkable writer and local historian. Born in 1896, she taught for 15 years, but her real legacy is as an author. Her book, 'The Call of the San Saba,' is…

  • Cedar Log Cabin Museum · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, maybe thinking about the wild west. Well, over 100 years ago, right here on the Chas. Harris ranch, they built special stables. Why? To stop Comanche raiders from stealing their…

  • San Saba Cemetery · 0.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the San Saba Cemetery, formerly the Odd Fellows Cemetery. In 1883, the Odd Fellows purchased land here for a cemetery, which they maintained for 45 years. In 1929, the San Saba Cemetery Association…

  • San Saba Lodge No. 612, A.F. & A.M. · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, where the story of Lodge No. 612, A.F. & A.M. began. Chartered in 1885, this Masonic lodge rose from the ashes of a previous one disbanded due to financial troubles and ties to the…

  • San Saba Lodge No. 225, A.F. & A.M. · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, a town whose history is deeply intertwined with Freemasonry. Many of the county's founders were Masons, who even met in the first courthouse back in 1857. The official San Saba Lodge No.…

  • San Saba County · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, formed in 1856 from the vast Bexar County. This region, and the river flowing through it, were named for an early saint. That saint's name in Spanish is Saba, giving us the name…

  • Brown, John H. "Shorty", Cemetery · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, a town that owes a lot to John H. "Shorty" Brown. He arrived here with his family after living in Arkansas, and helped found this very town in 1854. While the county had a graveyard,…

  • Wedding Oak · 1.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the legendary Wedding Oak, a place steeped in Native American history and later, romance. For decades, couples chose this spot for their marriage ceremonies, making it a popular destination for love.…

  • The Father of the Pecan Industry · 2.5 mi

    San Saba's claim as the 'Pecan Capital' isn't just from nature; it's from science. The story belongs to Edmond E. Risien, an English cabinetmaker who stopped here in 1874 on his way to California and never left. Risien…

  • San Saba, TX · 2.5 mi

    San Saba, Texas, is synonymous with pecans. You can’t drive far without seeing orchards stretching across the landscape, those majestic live oaks interspersed among pecan trees heavy with nuts in the fall. The pecan…

  • The San Saba Mob · 2.5 mi

    In the 1880s, San Saba County was one of the most lawless places in Texas. Cattle rustling was so common that a secret vigilance committee formed - ranchers, and reportedly elected officials and even church men -…

  • The Wedding Oak · 2.5 mi

    legend. Just outside town on County Road 200 stands a live oak so old it makes the county look young. This is the Wedding Oak, nearly twenty feet around, and a group of experts from Texas A&M put its age at more than a…

  • Barnett-Hamrick Settlement · 2.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the San Saba area, passing the site of the Barnett-Hamrick Settlement. John W. Barnett and his sons-in-law, Burrell and Tom Hamrick, were the first to really farm and irrigate crops in this…

  • Terry Cemetery · 3.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Terry Cemetery, a resting place for pioneers who settled this area. Stephen Woodson Terry and his wife Volumnia arrived here in 1859 from Tennessee. The first burial was their ten-year-old…

  • Harkeyville · 4.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Harkeyville, a Texas town that was once famous for its horses and its racetrack. The Harkey family arrived here in 1855, led by Riley and Israel Harkey, who had served as Indian scouts.…

  • T. A. and Emma Sloan House · 4.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba, and look to your right to see the T.A. and Emma Sloan House, built in 1883. Thomas Sloan arrived here in 1856 and became a key figure in the region's cattle industry. This home…

  • Gibbs-Powell House · 4.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Gibbs-Powell House in Huntsville, built way back in 1862. It started life as a grand Greek Revival home for the Thomas Gibbs family. After a stint as rental and student housing in the late 1800s,…

  • Indian Signaling Grounds · 4.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, and right here, you're passing the site of ancient Indian signaling grounds. From pre-settlement days all the way up to the 1870s, the Comanches and other tribes used this very…

  • Bend, TX · 6.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Bend, on Ranch Road 580 at a horseshoe-shaped bend in the Colorado River fourteen miles southeast of San Saba in southeastern San Saba and western Lampasas counties, developed in the nineteenth century as a supply and…

  • West Texas Normal and Business College · 6.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Cherokee, in San Saba County, and right here is the site of a former college that started it all. It was Francis Marion Behrns who first organized a school near Tow in 1889. By 1894, he'd moved it…

  • Chappel, TX · 6.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Chappel, previously known as Harrell's Chappel, is at the intersection of Farm roads 1031 and 501, near Cherokee Creek and five miles southwest of Bend in southeastern San Saba County. On October 7, 1854, David and…

  • Cherokee, TX · 6.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Cherokee is on State Highway 16 some fifteen miles south of San Saba in southern San Saba County. The settlement of upper Cherokee Creek, from which the community took its name, dates to the early 1850s, when P. P.…

  • Hall, TX · 6.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Hall, also known as Hall Valley, is on Farm Road 2997 six miles west of Richland Springs in western San Saba County. It was founded in 1903, when settlers began purchasing land from the Hall and Sellman ranches. The…

  • Harkeyville, TX · 6.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Harkeyville is north of U.S. Highway 190 two miles west of San Saba in central San Saba County. It was founded by Levi, Billy, Israel, and Riley Harkey, who settled beside Wallace Creek in 1856 with their parents,…

  • Holt, TX (San Saba County) · 6.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Holt is south of Ranch Road 502 and four miles northwest of Skeeterville in northwestern San Saba County. The area was probably first settled in the late 1880s by the Leonard Asbury Hardman family. To acquire neighbors,…

  • Locker, TX · 6.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Locker is on Ranch Road 500 seventeen miles northwest of San Saba in northwestern San Saba County. Settlement began in the vicinity in the 1870s. The rural school community was known first as Knob and sometime later as…

  • Harris Cemetery · 7.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Harris Cemetery, a burial ground that was apparently already in use back in 1874. The earliest dated grave here belongs to N.M. Baker, who lived from 1819 to 1877. It's a physical reminder of early…

  • Harmony Ridge Cemetery · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Harmony Ridge Cemetery, established in 1878. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2011.

  • Huling Cottage · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Huling Cottage, a beautiful limestone home built between 1860 and 1872. Its New England colonial style stands out. But the real story here is Mrs. Elizabeth Bullock Smith Huling. As a young…

  • Lathum Cemetery · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lathum Cemetery. The burial site of four pioneer area settlers, this cemetery was first used for the interment of George Lathum (1859-63), the son of John (Jack) and Caroline (Couch) Lathum, who died…

  • Huling, W. N., Home, 1877 · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former home of Mrs. W. N. Huling here in Lampasas. Now, Mrs. Huling wasn't just any resident; she was the daughter of a Lampasas banker. But her real claim to fame? She was also the cousin of…

  • Harmony Ridge Community · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what was once Harmony Ridge, a community founded in the 1870s. The first settlers here, including the Oliver, Lewis, Faver, Senterfitt, and Howard families, worked together to build a unique…

  • Harmony Ridge Community, Site of · 8.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Harmony Ridge Community building. The original structure here burned down in 2005, but the community rebuilt on the same spot, completing the present building in 2007.

  • Chadwick's Mill · 9.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Chadwick's Mill, a pioneer hub built back in 1874 by Henry Chadwick and his son Milam. Imagine this: a sturdy oak dam across the river, powering a mill and cotton gin carved right out of…

  • The Coyote Football Dynasty · 9.4 mi

    In Texas, high school football is a religion. And in the world of six-man football, Richland Springs is the holy land. Since the early 2000s, the Richland Springs Coyotes have built the most dominant dynasty the sport…

  • The Science of the Perfect Pecan · 9.4 mi

    The pecan trees you see all around you represent a major leap in agricultural science that happened right here in San Saba County. For centuries, pecans were just a wild nut, harvested from native trees. The nuts were…

  • When the Railroad Came to Town · 9.4 mi

    As you drive along Highway 190, you are roughly following the path that changed Richland Springs. This place had grown up in the nineteenth century as a supply and processing point for local cotton growers and…

  • The Shadow of the San Saba Mob · 9.4 mi

    Life in the late 1800s around Richland Springs could be dangerous. This was the era of the infamous San Saba Mob. After the Civil War, lawlessness was rampant, with cattle rustling and violent crime on the rise.…

  • Richland Springs, TX · 9.4 mi

    Richland Springs, Texas, has a rich history that began in the 19th century. The town developed as a supply and processing center for local cotton growers and cattlemen. It was named after the nearby springs and the…

  • On This Site a Treaty of Peace · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, near where a pivotal moment in Texas frontier history unfolded. Look around, because right here, on March 1st and 2nd of 1847, a lasting peace was forged. Twenty Comanche chiefs…

  • Ratler, Texas and the Renfro Dam · 13.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Ratler, Texas, once powered by a unique dam. Built between 1876 and 1879 by J. W. Jones, the live oak and sandstone dam fed his grist mill and cotton gin. The community, originally Jones…

  • Chappel Cemetery · 13.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Chappel Cemetery, one of San Saba County's earliest settlements, established back in the 1850s. The land for this burial ground was donated by Joab B. Harrell, the county's first Chief…

  • McAnelly Settlement · 13.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the vast Texas landscape, and right here is where history took root. This spot marks the McAnelly Settlement, a key threshold for pioneers moving into Lampasas and San Saba counties. Robert D.…

  • Old Methodist Campmeeting · 13.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bend, and just off the road here is the site of the Old Methodist Campmeeting, established way back in August of 1858. Settlers came to this gathering armed, ready for possible Indian attacks. The…

  • Stockton Bend · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Hood County, near Granbury, where a community called Stockton Bend once thrived. In 1854, settlers led by Thomas Lambert and Amon Bond crossed the Brazos River to establish this settlement. It was…

  • W. H. (Uncle Billy) Gibbons · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, passing the legacy of W.H. Gibbons, known as 'Uncle Billy.' This Irish immigrant arrived in the 1870s with 1500 sheep and built an empire, becoming one of the county's largest…

  • Duncan's, John, Fort · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, heading towards Richland Springs. Look around you, and imagine this land back in 1858. It wasn't peaceful farmland then. This was the site of Duncan's Fort, a settler's stockade…

  • First State Bank in Richland Springs · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Richland Springs' first state bank. Founded in 1910 by John M. Burleson, it became the First State Bank in 1913. It survived a gunpoint robbery in 1928 and eventually became the People's…

  • First State Bank Building · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the First State Bank Building in Richland Springs, constructed in 1910 for local businessman John Burleson. This sandstone building, with its stained glass and granite columns, housed not just the…

  • Richland Springs, TX · 14.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Richland Springs, Texas, a community that owes its existence to the very water you might pass by. Back in December of 1854, the Jackson Brown family settled near these springs, then known as…

  • Wells, Zachariah Martin · 14.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, maybe near San Saba County, and right here is the territory where Zachariah Martin Wells spent years building churches. He arrived in Texas from Tennessee in 1857, but his wife and…

  • Shiloh Cemetery · 14.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Shiloh Cemetery, established in 1892. It was designated a Historic Texas Cemetery in 1998.

  • Behrns West Texas Normal and Business College · 15.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Behrns West Texas Normal and Business College, opened in 1895 by educator Francis Marion Behrns. This impressive 3-story blue marble building, along with a frame dormitory, was built…

  • Regency Suspension Bridge · 15.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Regency Suspension Bridge, a testament to engineering resilience. After floods wiped out earlier crossings, San Saba and Mills Counties joined forces to build this unique bridge in 1939. Its road…

  • Mohler Cemetery · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mohler Cemetery, a final resting place for early Mills County settlers. While Ambrose Bull was among the first to settle here in 1859, it's believed War of 1812 veteran George Washington Joy was…

  • Big Uncle Cemetery · 15.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through San Saba County, near Richland Springs. This is Big Uncle Cemetery, established way back in 1859. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in the year 2000.

  • Senterfitt Cemetery · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Senterfitt Cemetery, a final resting place for many of this area's earliest settlers. Reuben Senterfitt himself arrived in the 1860s, and a town grew up around him, boasting hotels, mills, and…

  • Senterfitt · 16.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of old Senterfitt, a bustling hub in central Texas back in the 1850s. It was named for Reuben S. Senterfitt, a major cattle baron known as the 'Cattle King' of this region. By 1877, a post…

  • Gorman Falls · 16.5 mi · Things to Do

    Gorman Falls at Colorado Bend State Park is a seventy-foot active travertine waterfall -- the rock face the water spills over is literally growing as you…

  • Regency Bridge · 16.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Hold on tight, because you're about to cross the legendary 'Swinging Bridge,' a true marvel of early 20th-century engineering! This isn't just any bridge; it's the last remaining suspension bridge in Texas open to…

  • San Saba Peak · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past San Saba Peak, a towering landmark over 1700 feet high. This ancient promontory was named way back in 1732 by the Spanish governor of Texas, Don Juan Antonio Bustillo y Cevallos. For centuries, tales…

  • Phantom Hill Road · 17.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lampasas County, on a road that was once the lifeline of the Texas frontier. Back in 1851, the U.S. Army was building a line of forts to protect settlers, and Fort Phantom Hill was a key part of…

  • Site of Lometa Reservoir · 18.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Lometa Reservoir, also known as Santa Fe Lake. This wasn't just any lake; it was built in the early 1910s by the Santa Fe Railway to supply water for their steam locomotives. Lometa…

  • Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery · 18.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery, a place with a dramatic story. It started in 1888 when local men bought this land for burials, with Houston Roberts being the first laid to rest here. Later, the Odd…

  • The Iron Compass: Engineering a Railroad Hub · 18.9 mi

    The existence of Lometa is a direct result of a 19th-century engineering and logistical calculation. In 1885 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway began building west out of Lampasas, aiming for San Angelo and the…

  • From Senterfitt to Lometa · 18.9 mi

    Imagine having to move your entire town. That is exactly what happened here. Before Lometa existed, a community called Senterfitt served travelers about two and a half miles from this spot. In 1885 the Gulf, Colorado…

  • The Wool and Mohair Capital · 18.9 mi

    In the middle of the twentieth century, the railroad tracks running through Lometa were the site of a serious operation. This small town was one of Texas's major inland shipping points for wool and mohair. The…

  • The Diamondback Jubilee · 18.9 mi

    Every town needs something to be known for, and since 1970, Lometa has been known for rattlesnakes. It started when local snake hunters got together after a run of rattlesnake bites to people and livestock around…

  • Lometa, TX · 18.9 mi

    Lometa's history began on May 17, 1886, when it was platted as a 200-acre site as a railroad stop. Originally called Montvale, the name was changed in 1886 when an application for a post office was made. By 1890, the…

  • Salt Works, C.S.A. · 18.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lampasas County, and right here, you're passing the site of a vital Civil War operation. West of town, brine springs that once served as an Indian health resort were turned into a Confederate salt…

  • The Last Swinging Bridge in Texas · 19.2 mi

    Just a short drive from Goldthwaite is a true Texas treasure and a marvel of rural engineering: the Regency Suspension Bridge. Known locally as the 'Swinging Bridge,' it spans the Colorado River, connecting Mills and…

  • The Science of the Angora Goat · 19.2 mi

    Why did Angora goats take over the country around Goldthwaite? The answer is ecology and animal science. The landscape here is rocky, with thin soil that is not much good for farming, covered in the kind of brush,…

  • Goldthwaite, TX · 19.2 mi

    Goldthwaite is the county seat of Mills County, Texas. This town began as a small village, experiencing significant population growth after the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway arrived in 1885 and began selling lots.…

  • The Mohair Capital of the World · 19.2 mi

    For much of the twentieth century, Goldthwaite and Mills County built a living on one very specific product: mohair. That silky, durable fiber comes off Angora goats, and this part of Texas suited them exactly. The…

  • Stokes, Richard S. · 19.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lometa, and just ahead is the site of a remarkable rescue. Richard S. Stokes, a veteran of the Confederate Army, came to Texas in 1868 and settled down as a rancher and farmer. But on July 19th,…

  • Lone Cove Baptist Church · 19.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Long Cove Baptist Church. It organized in 1876 as Sims Creek Baptist Church with eight members. The congregation met in the Long Cove schoolhouse until it burned in 1925, after which…

  • Dam and Well · 19.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Goldthwaite's original water supply for the railroad! When the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad arrived here in 1885, they needed water for their steam engines. They built a 25-foot…

  • Lometa, TX · 19.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Lometa, Texas, a town with a unique origin story. Back in 1885, the railroad arrived, and a new depot called Montvale was established. But the real story? The entire town of Senterfitt, buildings…

  • Lometa · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Lometa, a town born from the railroad. In 1885, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway pushed west, and this spot was chosen for its first station. Frank Longfield granted the right-of-way, and…

  • First Methodist Church of Goldthwaite · 19.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Goldthwaite's First Methodist Church. Methodists have been gathering here since the mid-1850s, initially meeting in homes or a schoolhouse. A circuit rider known as the 'bear-hunting…

  • Mills County · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Mills County, a place that saw a wilder kind of frontier justice. After the Civil War, this area was plagued not just by Native American raids, but by outlaws, rustlers, and deserters. Vigilante…

  • Scholten Railroad · 19.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lometa, and right here, about a hundred yards to your west, was the headquarters for a unique piece of Texas industry: the Scholten Railroad. Operated by brothers Edward and Alfred Scholten, who came…

  • Mills County Courthouse · 19.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mills County Courthouse in Goldthwaite. The first courthouse here, built in 1890, served the community until it was tragically destroyed by fire in 1912. But from the ashes rose this grand…

  • Mills County State Bank · 19.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Mills County State Bank. MILLS COUNTY EXPERIENCED MUCH GROWTH FROM 1887 TO 1917 AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GULF, COLORADO, AND SANTA FE RAILWAY IN THE REGION. AS GOLDTHWAITE BECAME THE COUNTY…

  • Goldthwaite, TX · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Goldthwaite, a town born from a railroad deal. Back in 1885, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway pushed into this area, and a railroad official named Joe G. Goldthwaite lent his name to the…

  • Ford, Hamilton Faith · 19.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, near Goldthwaite, the birthplace of Hamilton Faith Ford. <break time="400ms"/> Born in 1908, Ford went on to become a pioneering psychiatrist and professor at the University of…

  • Operation Long Horn · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Central Texas, and right here, Lometa was once a town of 900 that swelled to 22,000! In 1952, it hosted Operation Long Horn, one of the largest military simulations ever staged on American soil.…

  • Goldthwaite Eagle · 19.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Goldthwaite, and right here is the story of the Goldthwaite Eagle newspaper. It all started back in 1885 when William H. Thompson launched 'The Mountaineer.' After a brief closure, he revived it…

  • Gorman Falls · 19.7 mi · Natural Landmark

    At the end of a rugged trail through Colorado Bend State Park, a seventy-foot waterfall appears out of nowhere, cascading over a cliff draped in emerald moss, maidenhair ferns, and wild columbine. Gorman Falls looks…

  • Texas HS Baseball Leaders 2026: Goldthwaite (Goldthwaite) · 19.7 mi

    Goldthwaite (Goldthwaite, TX) placed on the 2A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Owen Campbell (2 HR).

  • Mills County Jail · 19.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mills County Jail, built in 1888. This wasn't just any jail; it was the very first structure built by this newly organized county. Imagine the scene: a brand new county, no official county seat…

  • Old Town Well, Goldthwaite, The · 19.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Goldthwaite, and right here is the site of the Old Town Well. In August of 1887, digging this well turned deadly. Peyton died from poison fumes that filled the shaft, and Ben Cox was overcome too.…

  • Confederate Veterans Memorial of Mills County · 19.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Goldthwaite, and right here is a memorial to the Confederate veterans of Mills County. It lists a number of soldiers, including James Thomas Guthrie, a private in the 13th Texas Cavalry, and David…

  • Regency Suspension Bridge, The · 19.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the first Colorado River bridge in this area, built back in 1903 near the now-vanished town of Regency. It was a vital link for ranchers and farmers, but tragedy struck in 1924 when the…

Explore San Saba on the Map
All music from Texas → Find another town Vote on city songs

Sign up for the free newsletter

Longer stories, research notes, photos, videos, and where the road goes next. Free, and no iPhone needed.

Subscribe free