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Smithville, Texas

Everything Smithville is known for

3 songs mention this city 2 artists from here

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

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Music in Smithville

Songs About Smithville

Still Bangin’ Screw
Kyle Lee
50%
"I'm on 71 on the way to Smithville"
Vice
Miranda Lambert
40%
I’ve Been Everywhere...In Texas
Brian Burns
3%
"Smithville"

Artists From Smithville

D
DJ Screw
hip-hop
H
Hannibal Lokumbe
jazz

Rivers & Roads in Song near Smithville

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

Texas Colorado River 6 songs Texas State Highway 71 2 songs Interstate 10 36 songs US Route 90 9 songs Interstate 35 45 songs Guadalupe River 18 songs

History of Smithville

When the Katy Chose Smithville RoadyGoat

Everything about modern Smithville traces back to one corporate decision. When the Bastrop and Taylor Railway laid track two miles west of the old river town around 1887, the seventeen families of Smithville simply picked up and moved to meet it. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas line, the Katy, absorbed the railroad in 1891, and in 1894 it made the move that changed everything: it located its central shops here. The population doubled almost overnight, the town incorporated in March 1895, and for nearly fifty years Smithville was the largest town in Bastrop County. By 1909 it was headquarters for three divisions of the Katy, with a population around 3,500, a roundhouse, and even a fine YMCA building for the rail crews. The saying went that if you met somebody from Smithville, it was a safe bet they worked for the railroad. Cotton rolled out by the boxcar, and a sleepy ferry crossing became a working rail city. (Source: Handbook of Texas; Union Pacific Train Town.)

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Smitty, the World's Biggest Gingerbread Man RoadyGoat

On December 2, 2006, at the 16th annual Festival of Lights, Smithville baked something genuinely record-breaking: the world's largest gingerbread man. The cookie, later named Smitty in a public contest, stretched 20 feet from head to toe and tipped the scales at 1,308 pounds. It took roughly 750 pounds of flour, 49 gallons of molasses, and 72 dozen eggs, all separated by hand. There was no oven big enough, so the crew baked it over a dump-truck load of charcoal and then hoisted it with a crane to a 65-degree angle to satisfy Guinness World Records, which officially certified the feat in 2008. IKEA in Norway baked a bigger one in 2009, so Smithville lost the world title, but it still claims the largest in the United States. The town retired the giant cookie sheet, painted it to look like the frosted original, and turned it into a roadside monument dedicated in December 2008, standing today near the chamber visitor center and Railroad Park. (Source: Smithville Area Chamber of Commerce; Texas Highways.)

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The Slowed-Down Sound Started Here RoadyGoat

One of the most influential figures in Southern hip-hop was born right here in Smithville. Robert Earl Davis Jr., known to the world as DJ Screw, came into the world on July 20, 1971, before his family moved to Houston while he was still young. In Houston he invented the chopped and screwed technique, slowing records down to a syrupy, half-speed crawl and chopping in stutters and rewinds, a sound that became the sonic signature of an entire generation of Texas rap. He recorded hundreds of mixtapes, pulled the city's south-side rappers into his Screwed Up Click, and turned a bedroom hobby into a regional movement that eventually shaped the national sound of hip-hop. Davis died in Houston in 2000 at just 29, but his style outlived him and still echoes through modern music, from chart-topping rap to the slowed-and-reverb edits all over the internet. The slow, heavy sound that defined Houston rap had its very first heartbeat in this small Bastrop County town. (Source: Handbook of Texas; Wikipedia.)

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Adams, Margaret Cage Whitley

1940

Margaret Cage Whitley Adams, western swing pioneer and bandleader, was born on January 27, 1917, in Smithville, Texas. She was the daughter of Stephen B. and Maude (Hector) Cage. After the death of her father, she moved with her mother, sister, and three brothers to Pearsall. A talented musician and vocalist, Margaret planned to study voice at Juilliard in New York but instead married local western bandleader Olan Smiley Whitley. They had two daughters. Together they played Texas swing in the San Antonio area. Smiley Whitley’s Texans were so popular, in fact, that in the late 1940s Margaret formed her own band, an all-girl group called the Texas Tomboys, to play at extra bookings. Margaret performed as the drummer. Her Texas Tomboys, along with her husband’s Texans, helped popularize western swing throughout the Southwest in the 1940s and 1950s. Her group performed at area clubs, such as the Cabaret in Bandera, and played a regular syndicated program broadcast over the Mutual Radio Network on Saturday afternoons. They also appeared on Louisiana Hayride and played the first annual San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo and subsequent rodeos. One of the most memorable shows for the Tomboys and the Texans was the glamorous opening of the Shamrock Hilton Hotel in Houston on March 17, 1949. The event attracted more than 2,000 attendees, including many Hollywood celebrities. The Whitleys’ eldest daughter, about ten years old at the time, performed as a featured singer. The Whitleys made their life in music for twenty-six years. Margaret Cage Whitley Adams, a lifelong Methodist, died on January 10, 2008, in San Antonio. She was buried in Leakey-Floral Cemetery in Leakey, Texas.

Tsha Handbook →

Smithville, TX

1827

Smithville, just off State Highway 71 and ten miles southeast of Bastrop in southeastern Bastrop County, was established by Thomas Gazeley, who in 1827 settled near the present site. Gazeley operated a store there until his death in 1853, and the community that sprang up around the store was named Smithville, after William Smith, another early settler. J. P. Jones and Frank Smith opened a store in the community in 1867, and four years later the Smithville Presbyterian Church was organized. A post office was established in 1876, and Smithville was described in May 1879 as a thriving village. With the coming of the Bastrop and Taylor Railway eight years later, the community of seventeen families moved two miles west to meet it. By 1890 Smithville had 616 residents, and its businesses included two hotels, three millineries, and a medical practice. In the 1890s the community boomed. Extension of the railroad line to Lockhart in 1892 brought more business, as did extension of the line to Houston the next year. The line was renamed the Taylor, Bastrop and Houston in October 1886, and it was merged with the Missouri, Kansas and Texas system in 1891. The biggest boost came in 1894, when the Missouri, Kansas and Texas established its central shops in Smithville. The population quickly doubled, and the town was incorporated in March 1895. In 1896 it had an estimated 2,500 residents, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic churches, two hotels, and numerous other businesses, including four physicians' offices. In 1900 Smithville had a population of 2,577, which was 10 percent of the Bastrop County population. A 1909 newspaper account described Smithville, headquarters for three divisions of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line, as having a population of 3,500 and railroad shops, a roundhouse, and "a fine Y.M.C.A. building." At that time it had a bank (established in 1907), and the Smithville Times had already been publishing for fifteen years. The population level through the early 1900s hovered between 3,000 and 4,000. It peaked in the mid-1940s at an estimated 4,200. Though railroad jobs were beginning to disappear, in 1949 the railroad still employed several hundred workers in Smithville. The town at this time had a dentist, two lawyers, three doctors, and six ministers and priests. By 1962 the population had dropped below 3,000, but it soon rose again. In the mid-1970s the town had a new library, a city hall, and a storm drainage system and received a statewide award for the best United States Bicentennial program. By 1984 the Smithville Times was still being published, and the town was a manufacturing and trading center with more than seventy rated businesses and an estimated population of 3,470. Local products included cedar cabins, fencing, furniture, and ship doors and components. Smithville also remained a center for farming and livestock raising. It was the site of an annual three-day festival, the Smithville Jamboree. In 1990 its population was 3,196. By 2000 the population had reached 3,901.

Tsha Handbook →

Smithville

1691

In 1691 missionaries on the expedition of Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios sighted a lagoon which the Indians called Nenocadda. The lagoon, known today as Shipp's Lake, is on the southern edge of present Smithville. Frederick W. Grasmeyer operated a ferry here on the Colorado River in 1836. Steamboats plied the river from 1845 to about 1865. The village of "Old Smithville" was laid out on 640 acres of land granted to Thomas J. Gazley and Lewis Lomas. The town was located along the Colorado River in the northeast section of present Smithville. There were mercantile stores, dry good shops, and a Masonic lodge. In 1876 the first post office was established with John Pride Jones as postmaster. The Taylor, Bastrop & Houston Railroad, later a part of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas system, arrived in 1887, and the town relocated along the tracks. The legend is that a coin was tossed to decide if the name would be changed to Burlesonville for Murray Burleson, who gave land for the railroad depot. The coin toss resulted in "Smithville" being retained as the name, apparently in honor of pioneer settler William Smith. The town was incorporated in 1895 and T. C. Collins served as the first mayor. (1979) Incise in base: Marker Sponsor: Smithville Chamber of Commerce 1977-78

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Henry Mordorff

1836

A San Jacinto veteran. Born 1817. Died March 20, 1870. Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Historical Marker →

Leshikar House

1900

This historic house was built for B.T. Smith in 1900 by Virgil Sullivan Rabb Jr. (1870-1943), one of the premier builders in the area. The home was designed in the Folk Victorian architectural style which features decorative detailing on the structure's eaves, brackets and crowns. Born in Austin County to Czech immigrants, Joseph Charles "JC” Leshikar (1870-1938) married Frantiska "Fannie” Langer (1874-1962) in 1893. Leshikar purchased his first business, the Place Saloon, in Smithville in 1894 when he was 24 years old. He expanded his business here to include land, oil and gas, and became director of the First State Bank of Smithville. The Leshikars raised their family in this home from 1903 to 1976 and are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2018

Historical Marker →

Steel, Harry Van, Sr.

1919

Harry Van Steel, Sr., officer in the Thirty-sixth United States Infantry Division and businessman, was born on August 22, 1900, in Smithville, Texas, to Van Archibald Steel and Linnie (Estes) Steel. His mother died in 1901, and his father, a locomotive engineer, married Madie Braun in 1905. By 1910 the family lived in Temple, Texas, but Van Steel died from complications of nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys) in 1914. After his father passed, Harry Steel attended Temple High School and then worked as a clerk. In 1918 he was living at the YMCA in Waco and worked as a batteryman for Central Electric Company. Steel married Dorothy Jeannette Leonard about 1922. The couple had two sons-Harry Jr. and John Leonard. Census records going back to 1930 list his residential home as San Antonio. Harry V. Steel enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after World War I and served from April 18, 1919, through July 13, 1920. He then immediately enrolled as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy and graduated on November 4, 1921. Steel was commissioned in the Officers' Reserve Corps of the Quartermasters' Corps as a second lieutenant on December 1, 1922, to July 23, 1928, and progressed through the ranks of the Special Troops of the Thirty-sixth Division-as second lieutenant of infantry on December 6, 1927; then to first lieutenant on November 26, 1929; captain on June 25, 1932; and major on January 27, 1936, when he commanded Headquarters Company of the Seventy-first Infantry Brigade, stationed at San Antonio. After graduating from the Command and General Staff School's National Guard Officer's Course in 1938, Steel was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the National Guard of the United States on November 25, 1940, and tasked with the charge of training and military intelligence of the Thirty-sixth Division on the staff of Maj. Gen. Claude V. Birkhead . Steel was soon placed on special duty with division headquarters as acting G-4 at Camp Bowie near Brownwood. He was later promoted to colonel and served with the Thirty-sixth Division until 1943. As Colonel Steel prepared for the entry of the United States into World War II , his family accompanied him to Brownwood, Texas; Louisiana; Florida; and Massachusetts. Steel was director of G-4 (supply) on the staff of Maj. Gen. Fred Walker . The Thirty-sixth Division took part in the Allied campaign in Italy, but after the invasion, Steel came down with an illness and was evacuated from Italy. He was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Order of the Crown of Italy for outstanding service in organizing and directing supply of the Thirty-sixth Division during and after the landing at Salerno, Italy. The former award was presented by Brig. Gen. James A. Bethea at the U.S. Army Hospital, McCloskey General Hospital, at Temple, Texas, where Steel was a patient. In 1947 Steel was made a coordinator in the veterans' training program, which placed 1,353 veterans in trade training and also placed them for part-time work. His official retirement date from all military service was January 9, 1960. In Steel's civilian life, he maintained a longtime construction business that he started in the 1920s in San Antonio. The enterprise later became the family business of H. V. Steel and Sons, working in real estate and construction as general contractors. In San Antonio, Steel was an active member of St. George Episcopal Church and served as Worshipful Master at Victory Masonic Lodge No. 1160 in 1935. He was a member of San Antonio Chapter No. 3 of the Order of the Eastern Star, San Antonio Commandery No. 7 in the Knights Templar, and the Associated General Contractors of America. Harry V. Steel, Sr., died on his ranch outside of Boerne, Texas, on February 3, 1965, and was buried with full military honors in the Boerne City Cemetery.

Tsha Handbook →

Things to Do in Smithville

historical 8.6 mi away
The Fire That Nearly Took the Lost Pines

On September 4 2011 strong winds from a nearby tropical storm snapped trees onto power lines east of Bastrop. Three separate fires merged into the most…
quirky 10.8 mi away
The Forest That Shouldn't Exist

The Lost Pines of Bastrop are a thirteen-mile stretch of loblolly pines growing over a hundred miles west of the East Texas forests they genetically match.…
historical 12.3 mi away
The Man Who Survived His Own Scalping

In 1833 Josiah Wilbarger was scouting near Bastrop when Comanches attacked his party with arrows and bullets. They left him for dead after taking his scalp.…
quirky 12.4 mi away
The Con Man Who Named a Town

Bastrop's namesake Baron de Bastrop was no baron at all. He was a Dutch commoner named Philip Hendrik Nering Bogel wanted for embezzlement in the Netherlands.…
historical 12.3 mi away
The Town the Mexican Army Erased

In 1836 the Mexican army swept through Bastrop and razed the entire settlement to the ground. Every building every fence every sign of Anglo colonization was…
historical 12.3 mi away
The First Shot of the Revolution

The first man to fire a shot in the Texas Revolution came from Bastrop. So did the first soldier killed in the fight for independence. Three signers of the…
quirky 12.4 mi away
The Endangered Toad Nobody Expected

The Houston toad doesn't live in Houston anymore. Its last major stronghold is the Lost Pines forest around Bastrop where it burrows into sandy soil and sings…
quirky 17.8 mi away
The Chicken Ranch

A brothel outside La Grange operated continuously from the 1840s until Houston television reporter Marvin Zindler exposed it in 1973 -- one of the…
day trip
Day Trip to Smithville 🚂 (FULL EPISODE) S3 E3

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

Everything Near Smithville

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

  • Leshikar House · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    This historic house was built for B.T. Smith in 1900 by Virgil Sullivan Rabb Jr. (1870-1943), one of the premier builders in the area. The home was designed in the Folk Victorian architectural style which features…

  • When the Katy Chose Smithville · 0.4 mi

    Everything about modern Smithville traces back to one corporate decision. When the Bastrop and Taylor Railway laid track two miles west of the old river town around 1887, the seventeen families of Smithville simply…

  • Smitty, the World's Biggest Gingerbread Man · 0.4 mi

    On December 2, 2006, at the 16th annual Festival of Lights, Smithville baked something genuinely record-breaking: the world's largest gingerbread man. The cookie, later named Smitty in a public contest, stretched 20…

  • The Slowed-Down Sound Started Here · 0.4 mi

    One of the most influential figures in Southern hip-hop was born right here in Smithville. Robert Earl Davis Jr., known to the world as DJ Screw, came into the world on July 20, 1971, before his family moved to Houston…

  • Where Hope Floats Came Ashore · 0.4 mi

    At the end of Olive Street stands a stately 1908 Neoclassical home with its back porch looking out over the Colorado River, and it is the reason a lot of travelers know Smithville at all. The McCollum-Chapman-Trousdale…

  • The Roundhouse, the Turntable, and the Engine That Killed Them · 0.4 mi

    Smithville once ran the largest Katy yard between Houston and Waco, and the engineering reason was a building shaped like a fan. Steam locomotives can't easily back up over long distances, so a division-point shop…

  • The Store, the Ferry, and the Other Man's Name · 0.4 mi

    The town you're rolling into got its start as a one-store crossing on the Colorado River. Thomas Gazley settled near this spot around 1827 and ran a store here until his death in 1853, but the community that grew up…

  • They Trucked In a 65,000-Pound Tree · 0.4 mi

    A decade after Hope Floats, Hollywood came back to Smithville for an even stranger production. Director Terrence Malick chose the town's leafy 1950s neighborhoods just west of downtown to stand in for 1950s Waco in his…

  • The First Pick the Expos Ever Made · 0.4 mi

    When the Montreal Expos joined Major League Baseball as an expansion team, the very first amateur player they ever drafted was a hard-throwing left-hander born in Smithville. Balor Lilbon Moore, born here on January 25,…

  • The Park Built Where the Trains Turned Around · 0.4 mi

    At 100 NW 1st Street, on the ground that was the beating heart of railroad Smithville, sits the James H. Long Railroad Park and Museum. The park runs along the old rail corridor and includes a gazebo at the foot of Main…

  • Adams, Margaret Cage Whitley · 0.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Margaret Cage Whitley Adams, western swing pioneer and bandleader, was born on January 27, 1917, in Smithville, Texas. She was the daughter of Stephen B. and Maude (Hector) Cage. After the death of her father, she moved…

  • Smithville, TX · 0.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Smithville, just off State Highway 71 and ten miles southeast of Bastrop in southeastern Bastrop County, was established by Thomas Gazeley, who in 1827 settled near the present site. Gazeley operated a store there until…

Show all 200 nearby places
  • Steel, Harry Van, Sr. · 0.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Harry Van Steel, Sr., officer in the Thirty-sixth United States Infantry Division and businessman, was born on August 22, 1900, in Smithville, Texas, to Van Archibald Steel and Linnie (Estes) Steel. His mother died in…

  • Staples, Sidney Lee · 0.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, and right here in Smithville, Sidney Lee Staples decided to stay. He'd come from Kentucky in 1885, just to visit his sister in Hico, but Texas had other plans. He studied law,…

  • First Christian Church of Smithville · 0.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Smithville, and right here is the First Christian Church. This congregation got its start way back in 1896, meeting first at Maney's Opera House and even sharing space with the Presbyterians. But…

  • First Methodist Church of Smithville · 0.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Smithville's first Methodist Church, founded way back in 1888 by Reverend H. M. Haynie and just eight members. They started out meeting in the local schoolhouse, but by 1893, they had…

  • Smithville, TX · 0.7 mi

    Smithville's history is deeply rooted in the pioneering spirit of Thomas Jefferson Gazley, who arrived in 1827 and set the foundation for the city's development by building the first house and establishing the first…

  • Smithville · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    In 1691 missionaries on the expedition of Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios sighted a lagoon which the Indians called Nenocadda. The lagoon, known today as Shipp's Lake, is on the southern edge of present Smithville.…

  • Three Decades on Main Street · 0.7 mi

    If you want a meal that's been a downtown Smithville fixture since well before the town's recent Hollywood-and-weekenders glow-up, Pockets Grille at 301 Main Street is the one. The place opened on September 16, 1996,…

  • Rabb House · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Rabb House in Smithville, a beautiful example of Queen Anne architecture. Virgil Rabb came to town in 1891, taking over the family lumber business. By 1912, he and his wife Lillian were ready to…

  • Yerger-Hill Family Home · 0.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Yerger-Hill Family Home in Smithville. This Colonial-style house was built in 1887 by John C. Yerger, who settled here in 1840, and his son-in-law John W. Hill. Hill, a native of Bastrop County,…

  • Chancellor House · 0.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the former Chancellor House in Smithville, built around 1909 by J. H. Chancellor, a big-time land developer and merchant. This place was right in the heart of downtown, near the train depot and…

  • Smithville, TX · 0.9 mi

    On December 2, 2006, Smithville broke the Guinness World Record for the world's largest gingerbread man at the city's 16th Annual Festival of Lights. The record-breaking gingerbread man measured over 20 feet long and…

  • The Science of a Railroad Town · 0.9 mi

    Smithville's boom wasn't an accident; it was an engineering calculation. In the age of steam, locomotives were thirsty, high-maintenance machines. They could travel only a hundred miles or so before needing water, coal,…

  • When the River Claimed the Bridge · 0.9 mi

    The Colorado River gives Smithville its beauty, but in December 1913, it showed its terrifying power. After days of relentless, heavy rains across Central Texas, the river swelled into a monstrous torrent. It crested at…

  • The Sound of a Smithville Son · 0.9 mi

    One of the most powerful voices in modern American music has its roots right here in Smithville. Marvin Peterson was born here in 1948. He grew up, went to the segregated schools, and absorbed the sounds and stories of…

  • Henry Mordorff · 0.9 mi · Historical Marker

    A San Jacinto veteran. Born 1817. Died March 20, 1870. Erected by the State of Texas 1936

  • Smitty, the Record-Breaking Cookie · 0.9 mi

    Every town needs a claim to fame, and for a while, Smithville’s was a cookie. A very, very big cookie. It all started as a fun project for the annual Festival of Lights celebration. Local bakers created a giant…

  • Hunt, John Campbell, Captain · 3.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of Captain John Campbell Hunt, a veteran of the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. Born way back in Alabama on December 18, 1811, Hunt went on to serve as a captain in the Army of the…

  • Redfield, William · 4.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of one of the brave souls who fought for Texas independence. William Redfield was a soldier in the Texas War for Independence, serving in the years 1835 and 1836. His service helped shape…

  • Alum Creek Cemetery · 5.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bastrop County, passing by the Alum Creek Cemetery. Back in the 1820s, families like the Cottles and Highsmiths answered Stephen F. Austin's call to settle this land, then part of Mexico. Sarah…

  • Claiborne Cemetery · 6.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Claiborne Cemetery, a resting place for families who settled this area. The first burial here was Sherly Gage in 1850. Later, John and Gabriella Black gave land to their daughter Martha Jane…

  • Wood's Fort, Site of · 6.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Wood's Fort, a vital protection for early settlers in this area. From 1828 to 1842, this fortified home belonged to Zadock Woods, a veteran of the War of 1812 and one of Stephen F.…

  • Robinson, Joseph C. · 6.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where Joseph C. Robinson met his fate. He was captured during the infamous Dawson Massacre on September 18th, 1842. This brutal skirmish saw Texan defenders overwhelmed by Mexican forces.…

  • Woods Prairie Cemetery · 7.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Woods Prairie Cemetery, a final resting place for some of Fayette County's earliest settlers. Zadock Woods, a veteran of the War of 1812 and one of Stephen F. Austin's original colonists, arrived…

  • Scallorn, Stephen · 7.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the area where Stephen Scallorn, a Maryland native, settled his family in Texas back in the late 1830s. He was a doctor and a Primitive Baptist preacher who followed his son John Wesley here, who’d…

  • Young School House and Cemetery · 7.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Young School House and Cemetery, a place that's been a cornerstone of this community for over a century. Back in 1872, John P. Young donated land for both a school and a resting place…

  • The Jail That Ran Out of Room · 8.1 mi

    Winchester had its own jail once, a little lockup behind the courthouse that everybody here called the calaboose. It went up in the early nineteen hundreds. Court came through once a month for the misdemeanors, and most…

  • Old Plum Grove Cemetery · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Old Plum Grove Cemetery, a burial ground with roots stretching back to the earliest days of Texas settlement. It started as a family plot for John Y. Criswell, a pioneer who arrived with Stephen F.…

  • Winchester Cemetery · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving by Winchester Cemetery, a burial ground in use since the site was gifted in 1971 by Colonel Nathan Thomas, a former Texas congressman and civic leader. The cemetery association itself was organized way…

  • Shiloh Cemetery · 8.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Shiloh Cemetery, originally the Winchester Colored Cemetery, bought by the black community in 1890. For decades, graves here were marked with rocks, trees, or homemade cement. It was renamed Shiloh…

  • The Fire That Nearly Took the Lost Pines · 8.6 mi · Things to Do

    On September 4 2011 strong winds from a nearby tropical storm snapped trees onto power lines east of Bastrop. Three separate fires merged into the most…

  • Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church · 8.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Winchester, where freed slaves established communities after the Civil War. In 1867, ex-slaves gathered for prayer meetings in a brush arbor, forming Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. This church…

  • Washington Cemetery · 9.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Giddings, and just off the road is Washington Cemetery. This ground, along with Bethany Colored Church, was donated after the Civil War by Henry Wenke Sr. to a former slave named Charlie…

  • Lawhon Springs Cemetery · 9.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lawhon Springs Cemetery, a place that started with a simple spring and a pioneer family. Back in 1848, John Lewis Smith, who came all the way from England, and his son Samuel settled this land. They…

  • McLennan's Bluff · 9.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past McLennan's Bluff, a landmark for early Texas settlers. In 1835, Scottish immigrant Neil McLennan built his home right here, on land granted by Sterling Robertson's Colony. His brother Laughlin…

  • Stephen Williams · 9.9 mi · Historical Marker

    Hey road trippers! You're cruising past where Stephen Williams once farmed. This guy fought in the War of 1812, then headed west, landing in Texas in 1832. By 1843, he'd earned a land grant in Washington County. But…

  • Saint Peter Lutheran Church and Prairie Valley Cemetery · 10.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Saint Peter Lutheran Church and Prairie Valley Cemetery, a testament to German immigrants who settled here. In 1896, sixteen families, led by Reverend R. Osthoff, organized this congregation. For a…

  • Boehnke Cemetery · 10.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Boehnke Cemetery. It began in 1873 when the Boehnke's infant son Ernest was buried here on their farm. The last burial was their granddaughter Mellie in 1967. Seventeen people are interred here,…

  • Rosanky, TX · 10.4 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, heading toward Rosanky. This place started out as Snake Prairie, but it got its current name thanks to Ed Rosanky. He was part of a Prussian family that settled here way back in…

  • Bastrop State Park · 10.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Hike through the 'Lost Pines' of Bastrop State Park, a unique ecosystem that tragically suffered a devastating wildfire in 2011. In September of 2011, the Bastrop County Complex Fire, one of the most destructive…

  • The Most Destructive Wildfire in Texas History · 10.6 mi

    On September 4, 2011, after a brutal drought, strong winds tied to Tropical Storm Lee pushed dried-out trees into power lines around Bastrop, and the sparks did the rest. The Bastrop County Complex Fire that followed…

  • Serbin - Wendish Settlement · 10.6 mi · Historical Marker

    The Wends are one of the most obscure ethnic groups in European history, and their most enduring settlement is in the middle of rural Texas. The Sorbs, as they call themselves, are a Slavic people who lived in Lusatia,…

  • The Forest That Shouldn't Exist · 10.8 mi · Things to Do

    The Lost Pines of Bastrop are a thirteen-mile stretch of loblolly pines growing over a hundred miles west of the East Texas forests they genetically match.…

  • Baron de Bastrop, Felipe Enrique Neri · 10.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bastrop County, and right here is where we remember Baron de Bastrop, born Felipe Enrique Neri. He was a key figure in early Texas settlement, serving as the land commissioner for Stephen F.…

  • CCC at Bastrop State Park · 10.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bastrop State Park, a testament to the Civilian Conservation Corps. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1933</say-as>, President Roosevelt's New Deal created the CCC to put unemployed…

  • Grassyville Cemetery · 10.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Grassyville Cemetery, a final resting place for some of Bastrop County's earliest German settlers. They arrived in the 1850s, bringing their language and traditions with them. Look closely at the…

  • Why a Pine Forest Survives Where It Shouldn't · 11.1 mi

    The Lost Pines of Bastrop are a genuine puzzle: a pocket of tall loblolly pines growing about a hundred miles west of where pines are supposed to stop, cut off from the main East Texas forest by a hundred miles of post…

  • Plum, TX · 11.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Fayette County, and right here is the community of Plum, which boasts a significant Texas 'first.' Back in the 1830s, settlers arrived, and the Hopewell Baptist Church was established. This church…

  • Routh, Eugene Coke · 11.2 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once Plum, Texas, the birthplace of Eugene Coke Routh. Born in 1874, Routh became a prominent Baptist editor and pastor. He took the helm of the Baptist Standard in 1914, a period of…

  • Bastrop, Early History of the City of · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bastrop, a town with deep roots stretching back centuries. Long before settlers arrived, this was Tonkawa and Comanche land. Spanish explorers passed through here way back in 1691, blazing parts…

  • Gotier Trace · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the historic Gotier Trace, a vital route that began in the 1820s. This trace connected San Felipe, the capital of Stephen F. Austin's colony, all the way to Bastrop. Imagine following this marked…

  • Lost Pines of Texas · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through the legendary Lost Pines of Texas! These loblolly pines stand isolated, 80 miles from the main pine forests. They're a living relic, likely survivors of prehistoric pine forests that retreated…

  • Saints Peter and Paul Old Catholic Cemetery · 11.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Saints Peter and Paul Old Catholic Cemetery in Plum. Established in 1899 when trustees purchased an acre of land, this cemetery is the final resting place for many Czech immigrant families who…

  • Bastrop County · 11.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bastrop County, Texas, a place with roots stretching back to the earliest days of Anglo settlement. In <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1821</say-as>, this land was part of Stephen F.…

  • Billingsley, Jesse · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what used to be Mina, Texas, a place that played a small but vital role in the Texas Revolution. Right here, Jesse Billingsley, a soldier, ranger, and legislator, commanded a company of Mina…

  • Coleman, Robert M. · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Bastrop County, an area that was home to Robert M. Coleman, a key figure in early Texas history. He arrived in 1831 and quickly became involved in the fight for Texas independence.…

  • Camp Swift · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Bastrop County, and right here is Camp Swift. Built in a lightning-fast four months back in 1942, this massive base covered over 55,000 acres and could house 44,000 troops! It was the largest army…

  • Elgin-Butler Brick Company · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, not far from Elgin, where a brick empire began by accident. Back in 1871, the railroad arrived, and an Irish immigrant named Michael Butler stumbled upon rich clay deposits while…

  • Fitzhugh, John T. P. · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, maybe near Bastrop County, and you might be passing the legacy of John T. P. Fitzhugh. He came to Texas in 1835, just in time for the fight for independence. Fitzhugh wasn't just a doctor;…

  • Hardeman, Thomas Jones · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, the heart of Texas history. Right here, Thomas Jones Hardeman, a veteran of the War of 1812, fought under Andrew Jackson himself. He was captured by the British and wounded in the…

  • Lost Pines Forest · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, right alongside what's known as the Lost Pines Forest. This isn't just any patch of trees; it's a unique pocket of loblolly pines, clinging to existence here at the very western…

  • Perryville, TX (Bastrop County) · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, near modern-day Elgin, and you might be passing right over the site of Perryville, also known as Hogeye. This community started as Young's Settlement in 1849, but its wilder name,…

  • Simmons, William Capers · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, heading towards San Jacinto, and you might just pass the land where William Capers Simmons once stood. Born in 1789, Simmons arrived in Texas in 1835, just in time to enlist in the…

  • Van Dyke, Wilson · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Bastrop County, and right here is where Wilson Van Dyke came to Texas in 1837. He was a stock raiser, but he sure found himself in some fights. In 1842, he helped push back a Mexican…

  • Sanders, Mary Lavinia Griffith · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, the heart of Central Texas's Lost Pines region. Right here, you're passing near the Griffith League Ranch. This incredible piece of land has been in the same family since 1832,…

  • Barrett, Don Carlos · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Don Carlos Barrett, lawyer and legislator, was born on June 22, 1788, at Norwich, Vermont, the eldest son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Murdock) Barrett. In 1810 at Natchez, Mississippi, he married Lucy Walton, also of…

  • Morgan, John Day · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    John Day Morgan, farmer and soldier, was born in London on May 15, 1819, the son of Thomas Frances and Sophia Elizabeth (Day) Morgan. He accompanied his family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the age of eight, and…

  • Rockne, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Rockne, twelve miles southwest of Bastrop in southwestern Bastrop County, has its origins in German settlers such as the Lehman family who arrived around 1846. The original parish included the Meuth community but was…

  • St. Mary's Colony, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    St. Mary's Colony, a black farming community, is located in the far western corner of Bastrop County, seventeen miles west of Bastrop on State Highway 21. The Doyle and Patton families founded the community shortly…

  • Ferrell, Stephen C · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once Bastrop County, a place that sent some tough men to fight in the Civil War. Right here, Stephen C. Ferrell was farming before he answered the call. He became the first captain of the…

  • Morgan, Charles Leroy · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Right here in what is now Bastrop County, Texas, a young man named Charles Leroy Morgan was born in August of 1840. When the Civil War broke out, he joined Terry's Texas Rangers, serving in Tennessee. But Morgan wasn't…

  • Oak Hill, TX (Bastrop County) · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what used to be Oak Hill, Texas, a farming community that sprang up around 1849 on the Martin Walker land grant. It was a place where cotton and corn grew, and several churches shared a single…

  • Osborn, John Lyle · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Bastrop County, and right here is where John Lyle Osborn built his home back in 1832. He was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, and his log house on Wilbarger Creek became a vital…

  • Stewart, Samuel · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, not far from the Colorado River. Back in 1823, Samuel Stewart and his family arrived here as part of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred settlers. Sadly, both Samuel and his wife…

  • Alum Creek, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Alum Creek is located where Highway 71 crosses Alum Creek about four miles southeast of Bastrop in central Bastrop County. It is one of the oldest communities in Bastrop County, having been settled about 1829 by seven…

  • Burleson, David Crockett · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    David Crockett Burleson, a member of the Texas Rangers and Civil War officer, the son of Sarah (Owen) and Edward Burleson, Sr. , was born on September 6, 1837, probably in Bastrop County, Texas. In 1848 the family…

  • Calvin, TX (Bastrop County) · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Calvin is between State Highway 95 and Big Sandy Creek five miles north of Bastrop in north central Bastrop County. The town, named after Calvin Silliman, son of Calvin Coal Company founder W. C. Silliman, was…

  • Dunstan, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Dunstan, formerly known as Glenbelto and as Glenham, is just west of State Highway 95 near Big Sandy Creek and what was formerly the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad five miles north of Bastrop in north central…

  • Sayersville, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Sayersville (originally Sayers) is near the east bank of Big Sandy Creek a mile west of State Highway 95 and seven miles north of Bastrop in north central Bastrop County. In 1886 land developer William Elliott founded…

  • Miller, William G. · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, a place that was home to William G. Miller. Miller was a farmer, surveyor, and even served in the Alabama legislature before moving his family here in 1853. By 1860, he was a…

  • Moncure, John James · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once Bastrop County, Texas, a place that saw a unique moment in state history back in 1866. John James Moncure, a farmer and Confederate officer who'd survived battles like Mansfield and…

  • Campbell, Michael · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Michael Campbell, participant in the battle of San Jacinto , arrived in Texas in January 1836, according to a headright certificate, and joined Capt. Jacob Snively 's company on a two-year enlistment. He later received…

  • Grassyville, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Grassyville, fourteen miles east of Bastrop in far eastern Bastrop County, was settled by German immigrants around 1856. They quickly formed a community and established a private school for their children. Early…

  • Hills Prairie, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Hills Prairie, four miles south of Bastrop in central Bastrop County, had its origins when Elisha Barton and Edward Jenkins settled in the area about 1830. In spring 1833 John Gilmer McGehee explored the prairie, and in…

  • Upton, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Upton, seven miles south of Bastrop in central Bastrop County, traces its origins to settler J. P. Young's arrival in the area in 1847. Young was soon joined by John and Tom Hancock and John Bright. The first community…

  • Watterson, TX · 11.7 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Watterson, located in southern Bastrop County about nine miles south of Bastrop on an old road between Bastrop and Red Rock, is named for pioneer Charles Coffin Watterson, who with his wife, Martha, settled in the area…

  • Sued over merchandise in 2022 · 11.9 mi

    In the film, the gas station is where the group is warned off and turned back; its proprietor, the Cook, later returns as one of the family. The site now operates as The Gas Station, with the 'We Slaughter Barbecue'…

  • The Last Chance Gas Station · 11.9 mi

    The building used as the film's gas station opened in 1960 as a country store on State Highway 304 south of Bastrop, later known as Ryan's Hills Prairie Grocery and then Bilbo's Texas Landmark. Tobe Hooper's crew…

  • Original cast attended the reopening · 11.9 mi

    The location sits at 1073 State Highway 304 in rural Bastrop County. After decades of decline the property was bought in 2014 by Roy and Lisa Rose, who restored it and reopened it on October 8, 2016 as The Gas Station —…

  • Circle D-KC Estates, TX · 12.0 mi

    The ethnic heritage of Circle D-KC Estates is a tapestry of diversity. According to the 2010 census, the community was 89.1% White, 1.6% African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.1% Asian, with 5.4% from other races,…

  • Jenkins, John Holland · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the resting place of John Holland Jenkins, a young soldier who fought in the Texas War for Independence. He was part of the San Jacinto campaign, the decisive battle that secured Texas's freedom.…

  • Reding, Robert Love · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the birthplace of Robert Love Reding, a key player in the Texas Revolution. Born in Tennessee in 1810, Reding came to Texas and fought bravely. He was there for the capture of Goliad on October 9th,…

  • Taylor, Campbell · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a Texas hero, Campbell Taylor. He was a volunteer who fought for Texas Independence at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. That was the decisive battle that secured Texas's freedom.…

  • Jesse Halderman · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Bastrop County, and right here is the marker for Jesse Halderman. He was a fighter for Texas independence! Halderman served in the Volunteer Army of Texas way back in 1835. The very next year, he…

  • Dunbar, William · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of William Dunbar's final resting place. Born in Tennessee in 1819, Dunbar was a participant in the Mier Expedition, a disastrous raid into Mexico in 1842. The expedition ended with capture…

  • Sayers, J. D., Governor · 12.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising past the birthplace of Joseph Draper Sayers, a man who saw a remarkable arc in Texas history. Born in 1841, Sayers rose through the ranks during the Civil War, earning a reputation for battlefield valor…

  • Bastrop - Where the Camino Crossed the Colorado · 12.2 mi · National Historic Trail

    Every river along the Camino Real had one good place to cross, one stretch where the bank was low enough for wagons and the bottom was firm enough for cattle, and Bastrop is the place where the Camino Real crossed the…

  • Bell, H. N. (Man) · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the heart of Bastrop County, where H.N. Bell spent over two decades keeping the peace. Born in Arkansas, Bell began his law enforcement career in 1882, right in the middle of the infamous "wire…

  • Nicholas W. Eastland · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where Nicholas W. Eastland lived out his days. He arrived in Texas in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1834</say-as>, just two years before the Texas Revolution. Eastland volunteered…

  • Serbin · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Serbin, a town with a unique story. In 1854, nearly 600 Wends, led by the Reverend John Kilian, founded this community. Kilian, an Evangelical Lutheran minister, named it Serbin because his people…

  • Fairview Cemetery · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Fairview Cemetery, a place that's been part of Bastrop history since the very beginning. The city itself was laid out right around 1830, and this twelve-acre burial ground overlooking the Colorado…

  • Primera Baptist Church · 12.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Primera Baptist Church in Bastrop. Organized in 1903, this congregation was a true beacon for the Hispanic community. Led by Rev. Paul C. Bell, they didn't just build a church; they built…

  • The Man Who Survived His Own Scalping · 12.3 mi · Things to Do

    In 1833 Josiah Wilbarger was scouting near Bastrop when Comanches attacked his party with arrows and bullets. They left him for dead after taking his scalp.…

  • Bastrop - The Lost Pines · 12.3 mi · Historical Marker

    Bastrop sits in the middle of a biological mystery. The Lost Pines are an isolated forest of loblolly pines growing a hundred miles west of where they should be. The main pine belt of East Texas ends around Lufkin. But…

  • The First Shot of the Revolution · 12.3 mi · Things to Do

    The first man to fire a shot in the Texas Revolution came from Bastrop. So did the first soldier killed in the fight for independence. Three signers of the…

  • The Town the Mexican Army Erased · 12.3 mi · Things to Do

    In 1836 the Mexican army swept through Bastrop and razed the entire settlement to the ground. Every building every fence every sign of Anglo colonization was…

  • Thomas H. Mays · 12.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Bastrop, where Thomas H. Mays arrived in 1830. He helped plat the town's streets in 1834, then fought and was wounded in the leg at the Battle of San Jacinto two years later. Mays went on to serve…

  • Two Thousand Years Before the Baron · 12.3 mi · Things to Do

    Long before a Dutch con man gave Bastrop its name the Tonkawa people lived among the Lost Pines for thousands of years. When the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines…

  • The Con Man Who Named a Town · 12.4 mi · Things to Do

    Bastrop's namesake Baron de Bastrop was no baron at all. He was a Dutch commoner named Philip Hendrik Nering Bogel wanted for embezzlement in the Netherlands.…

  • Bastrop Had to Begin Again After 1836 · 12.4 mi

    Bastrop is one of those rare towns that effectively had to start over. A couple of years after it was founded, the settlement was renamed Mina, in honor of Francisco Xavier Mina, a Spanish-born soldier who had fought…

  • The Endangered Toad Nobody Expected · 12.4 mi · Things to Do

    The Houston toad doesn't live in Houston anymore. Its last major stronghold is the Lost Pines forest around Bastrop where it burrows into sandy soil and sings…

  • Burleson, Captain James · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the marker for Captain James Burleson, a man who served in two major American wars. He was chosen as commissary by General Andrew Jackson himself for the War of 1812, fighting in the famous Battle of…

  • Home Town of Texas Confederate Major Joseph D. Sayers · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the hometown of Joseph D. Sayers, a man who went from private to governor. He enlisted right here in Bastrop as a private in 1861. By age 20, he was a captain, earning his rank for gallantry in the…

  • Abram Wiley Hill · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where Abram Wiley Hill lived, a true Texas hero. He fought in the decisive Battle of San Jacinto in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>, helping to win Texas independence.…

  • Mina - Bastrop Pioneers Home · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mina - Bastrop Pioneers Home, built between 1836 and 1837 on land originally granted in 1835. This structure later became the home of two veterans who fought in the pivotal Battle of San Jacinto:…

  • Serbin · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Serbin, the first Wendish settlement in Texas. In 1854, about 600 Wends, led by Pastor John Kilian, arrived here seeking religious freedom. This community was established to give them that liberty.

  • Confederate Arms Factory, Site of · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising past the site of a Confederate arms factory, right here in Bastrop. Back in 1862, N. B. Tanner set this place up to churn out guns and bayonets for the Confederacy. It kept humming along, making weapons,…

  • Cornelson-Fehr House, Old · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Old Cornelson-Fehr House, a building that started life as a simple frame cabin back in 1850. John Cornelson was the first owner. Then, after 1854, Joe Fehr took over and expanded the home, using…

  • Martin Walker · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site where Martin Walker once stood. He was a volunteer who fought bravely for Texas independence. Walker was part of the Star and Wreath, a group of Mina volunteers who answered the call to…

  • Wallace - Holme House · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Wallace-Holme House, built around 1840. It took on its basic look by 1887, with that cool wraparound porch added around 1900. Notable residents included a Texas Ranger and a brick mason who…

  • Kleinert - Hoppe House · 12.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Kleinert-Hoppe House, a beautiful example of Victorian architecture right here in Bastrop. Built between 1887 and 1890 for German immigrants Charles and Maria Kleinert, it was bought by fellow…

  • The Gas Station · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, Texas, and you might just pass the site of one of horror's most iconic locations: The Gas Station. Originally a real gas station opened in 1960, this spot on Highway 304 became infamous…

  • Bastrop Is Named for a Fake Baron · 12.5 mi

    Bastrop is named for a European nobleman who was neither a nobleman nor originally named Bastrop. The man who called himself the Baron de Bastrop was really Philip Hendrik Nering Bogel, a Dutch tax collector born far…

  • The Army Camp That Became a City of 90,000 · 12.5 mi

    Just north of Bastrop, World War II built and then erased an entire city. After Pearl Harbor, the Army threw up Camp Swift on nearly fifty-six thousand acres, opening in 1942 with around two thousand seven hundred and…

  • Texas's First Licensed Woman Engineer Was From Here · 12.5 mi

    Right here in Bastrop is the hometown of a quiet pioneer named Leah Moncure. In 1938 she became the first woman in Texas to hold a professional engineering license, a credential that for years carried her name almost…

  • Bastrop, Baron de, Monument · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Bastrop, a town named for a man who helped make Texas possible! Felipe Enrique Neri, the Baron de Bastrop, was a friend to early settlers in a foreign land. Back in 1821, he helped Moses Austin…

  • Bunton, John Wheeler · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the heart of Texas, a place shaped by patriots like John Wheeler Bunton. He arrived in 1833, settling near what is now Bastrop. By 1835, he was a key figure in the local committee of safety, a…

  • Davis, Robert Earl, Jr. [DJ Screw] · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, Texas, the birthplace of a musical legend. Robert Earl Davis Jr., better known as DJ Screw, was born right here on July 20, 1971. He became a pioneer of Houston's rap scene, creating a…

  • Gazley, Thomas Jefferson · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Bastrop County, and you're passing through the footsteps of a Texas signer. Thomas Jefferson Gazley, a doctor by trade, arrived in Texas in 1828. He quickly got involved in the brewing…

  • Perry, Cicero Rufus · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, a land shaped by tough characters and tough times. Right here, you might be near the path of Cicero Rufus Perry, better known as 'Old Rufe.' Born in Alabama in 1823, Perry came to…

  • Sims, Bartlett Samuel · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, an area that Bartlett Sims helped shape. Born in Tennessee around 1792, Sims arrived in Texas as part of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. He wasn't just a settler;…

  • Thompson, Calvin [Cal] · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, Texas, where in 1890, a respected Black landowner named Calvin Thompson was murdered. Thompson had amassed 500 acres and was considered a leader in the Cedar Creek community. But…

  • Wilbarger, Josiah Pugh · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, not far from Bastrop. Back in 1833, Josiah Wilbarger was part of a surveying crew attacked by Comanche warriors near Pecan Springs. He was scalped, but incredibly, he survived the…

  • Williams, Roosevelt Thomas [Grey Ghost] · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, Texas, the birthplace of Roosevelt Thomas Williams, better known as the "Grey Ghost." Born in 1903, this barrelhouse piano player and songwriter absorbed the diverse musical melting pot…

  • Bastrop, Texas · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, a town with a name that sounds like it belongs in Europe. But this place has deep Texas roots, tied to Stephen F. Austin himself. In 1827, Austin wanted to establish a 'Little Colony' and…

  • Bell, Paul Carlyle · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, Texas, and right here is where Reverend Paul Carlyle Bell founded the Mexican Baptist Institute in 1926. Starting with just one student, this industrial school aimed to provide…

  • Burleson, James, Sr. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Bastrop County, Texas, and right here is where a true pioneer soldier drew his last breath. James Burleson, a leader in Austin's Little Colony, had a life filled with conflict, serving…

  • Cunningham, Leander Calvin · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, a town that was once called Mina. Right here, in 1833, Leander Calvin Cunningham arrived, becoming the very first lawyer in this frontier community. He quickly got involved in the growing…

  • Curtis, James, Sr. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Burleson County, Texas, but back in the <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1820s</say-as>, this was the frontier. James Curtis, Sr., one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred,…

  • Day, William H. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once wild country, and right here in Coleman County, William H. Day learned the harsh realities of the cattle business. In 1860, on his very first cattle drive, his father drowned. Day…

  • Gilleland, James · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what's now Bastrop County, and right here, in 1835, James Gilleland defied Mexican law. He organized the very first Methodist congregation in Austin's Little Colony. Imagine him, a lay preacher,…

  • Gray, Daniel · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, Texas, a land that saw its share of frontier drama. Daniel Gray, a farmer and soldier from Tennessee, arrived here in 1831 with his wife and seven children, drawn by Robertson's…

  • Jenkins, John Holland · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, and right here, you're passing through the stomping grounds of John Holland Jenkins. Born in Alabama in 1822, his family moved to Texas when he was just six years old. By thirteen, he was…

  • Jones, George Washington · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, a town that played a key role in the tumultuous post-Civil War era. Right here, George Washington Jones, a local politician and lawyer, was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1866. He was a…

  • Litton, John · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through a landscape that John Litton knew well. He arrived in Texas around 1827, drawn to Stephen F. Austin's colony. During the Texas Revolution, Litton fought against Santa Anna and his wife, Sarah,…

  • Magill, William Harrison · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through the heart of Texas history, and right here, in what was once Mexican Texas, you're passing through the area where William Harrison Magill first tried to set up shop. He arrived in 1834, intending…

  • McGehee, Thomas Gilmer · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Bastrop, a place that owes its start to a daring voyage. In 1833, Thomas Gilmer McGehee and his brother sailed a schooner loaded with lumber all the way from Florida to the mouth of the Brazos River.…

  • Salinas, Porfirio, Jr. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Central Texas, maybe you've seen them already - those vibrant fields of bluebonnets. Right here, in Bastrop, Texas, Porfirio Salinas Jr. was born in 1910, and he dedicated his life to capturing…

  • Sayers, Joseph Draper · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, Texas, the hometown of Joseph Draper Sayers. He came here as a boy and attended the Bastrop Military Institute. When the Civil War broke out, Sayers enlisted and rose to the rank of Major…

  • Stone, Samuel Theophilus · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, and right here is where Samuel Stone, a veteran of the War of 1812, settled after moving to Texas in 1839. He built what's said to be the first ferry boat on the Colorado River. But his…

  • Wolfenberger, Samuel · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, not far from where Samuel Wolfenberger built his life. He arrived here in 1831, a skilled wheelwright from Missouri, and quickly became a key figure in early Texas. Wolfenberger…

  • Hall, Constant Kirkland · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, a town that was once a hub for one of the largest stagecoach empires in Texas. Constant Kirtland Hall, a merchant who settled here around 1850, was a key partner in the firm Sawyer,…

  • Old Iron Bridge · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, and right here is the Old Iron Bridge. It was built in 1923, a Parker steel-truss style bridge that was among the largest in Texas at the time. But this spot has been a crossing for…

  • The Paper That Never Stopped Printing · 12.5 mi · Things to Do

    The Bastrop Advertiser published its first edition on March 1 1853 and has not missed a week since. That makes it the oldest continuously published weekly…

  • Tannehill, Jesse Cornelius · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Jesse Cornelius Tannehill, early settler, was born in Kentucky on December 30, 1797. He was married to Jane Richardson in 1823 near Nashville, Tennessee. They came to Texas with their two children in 1828 and settled…

  • Bastrop County Jail · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Bastrop County Jail, a building that stood guard over this town for over eighty years. Designed by Houston architect Eugene T. Heiner, this sturdy structure was built between 1891 and 1892.…

  • Elzner, P. O., House · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Elzner House, a Victorian gem right here in Bastrop. This home was built by P. O. Elzner, a German immigrant who arrived in Texas back in 1858. He bought this property in 1878, and look at this…

  • The Bastrop Advertiser · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Bastrop, where a local newspaper has been a constant voice for over a century. Back in 1852, the Colorado Reveille newspaper folded. But don't worry, Bastrop wouldn't be silent for long. A young…

  • Bastrop County · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, a place with roots stretching back centuries. Right here, in 1804, Spanish governor Manuel Antonio Cordero y Bustamante established a fort at a key crossing of the Colorado River.…

  • Davis, Nicholas A. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, Texas, where Presbyterian minister Nicholas A. Davis settled with his family in 1857. But when the Civil War broke out, Davis headed east, not as a soldier, but as a chaplain for John B.…

  • Garwood, Calvin Baxter · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving past Bastrop, the birthplace of Calvin Baxter Garwood. Born in 1894, Garwood wasn't just a lawyer; he was a decorated military man. He served in the Texas National Guard for thirty years, seeing action in…

  • Higgins, Jacob C. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, a town with roots stretching back to the Republic of Texas. Right here, in the Lost Pines Forest, Jacob C. Higgins, a businessman who arrived in Texas in 1840, partnered with Abner Cook…

  • Highsmith, Malcijah Benjamin · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what is now Brazoria County, but back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1827</say-as>, this was frontier territory. Malcijah Benjamin Highsmith was born right here, the son of refugees…

  • Kerr, Robert A. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, Texas, a town that was home to Robert A. Kerr, a remarkable political and civic leader. Born likely in December 1842 in New Orleans, Kerr's early life was marked by resilience. He moved…

  • Mabry, Evans · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, and right here, Dr. Evans Mabry practiced medicine and ran the City Hotel. He first came to Texas in 1838, settling in Washington-on-the-Brazos before moving to Bastrop. Mabry…

  • Manlove, James Bartholomew · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, Texas, a place that was home to James Bartholomew Manlove. He arrived here in 1832 with a passport from Kentucky and quickly became a key figure. Manlove served as the mayor of…

  • McGinnis, Noble L. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, Texas, the place Noble L. McGinnis called home before he answered the call to war. When the Civil War broke out, McGinnis, a local farmer, raised and captained an infantry company.…

  • Baptized in the Colorado River · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, and right here on Church Street stands a building with a story reaching back to the mid-1800s. The Bastrop Christian Church, as we know it today, was built in 1895, but its roots go…

  • Bastrop Christian Church · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    The Bastrop Christian Church is a Protestant Christian congregation located at 1106 Church Street in Bastrop, Texas. The church building, constructed in 1895, features New England Victorian architectural design and is…

  • Allen, Robert Dickinson · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, and right here is where a father and son played key roles in the Civil War. General Robert Thomas Pritchett Allen recruited the Seventeenth Texas Infantry Regiment in Bastrop in…

  • Batts, Robert Lynn · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, the birthplace of Robert Lynn Batts. Batts was a lawyer, a judge, and a University of Texas regent. He graduated from UT's law school in 1886, and even edited the university's very first…

  • Bryson, James Gordon · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, Texas, where Dr. James Gordon Bryson practiced medicine for thirty-seven years. He wasn't just a doctor; after retiring, he returned to the University of Texas at seventy-two years old to…

  • Garwood, Hiram Morgan · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop, the birthplace of Hiram Morgan Garwood. Born here in 1864, Garwood became a prominent lawyer and judge. He served in the Texas House and Senate, and later as Bastrop County Judge. In…

  • Mina Municipality · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once a vast territory known as the Mina Municipality. Back in 1826, Stephen F. Austin established this district, possibly naming it after a Spanish military leader. By 1834, the…

  • Morgan, Hiram S. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was once Confederate territory, and right here is where Captain Hiram S. Morgan of the Eighteenth Texas Cavalry enlisted in Dallas back in 1862. He rose to Major by 1863 and fought in the…

  • Price, Robert James · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, Texas, where Robert James Price made his home. He wasn't just a farmer; Price served in the Texas Legislature from 1874 to 1876. He represented Bastrop and Fayette counties in the…

  • Wells, Martin, Jr. · 12.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Bastrop County, Texas, and right here is the area once known as Wells' Prairie. This land was settled in 1829 by Martin Wells, Jr., who moved his family from Alabama to join Stephen F. Austin's…

  • Jung - Pearcy House · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Jung-Pearcy House in Bastrop, built back in 1873 by Joe Jung. He was a Bohemian-Austrian-American, and you can still see the sun-dried brick in the original two rooms of this home. The Pearcy…

  • The Unexpected Forest of the Lost Pines · 12.6 mi

    If you're driving here from the east or west, you probably noticed something strange happen to the landscape. The open prairie and farmland suddenly gave way to a thick, towering pine forest. You've just entered the…

  • The Fire That Changed Everything · 12.6 mi

    In September 2011, Bastrop faced a catastrophe. After the driest year on record, and fanned by strong winds from Tropical Storm Lee, three separate fires ignited in the county. They merged into one massive inferno known…

  • An Ecological Island Made of Sand · 12.6 mi

    The famous Lost Pines forest you see around Bastrop is a perfect lesson in ecology and soil science. Why do pine trees thrive here, but not 20 miles to the east or west? The answer is buried in the ground. The forest…

  • Hollywood on the Colorado · 12.6 mi

    As you pass through Bastrop's historic downtown, you might get a feeling of deja vu. There's a good chance you've seen these streets before — in a movie. Bastrop County has been a go-to location for filmmakers looking…

  • The Case of Rodney Reed · 12.6 mi

    Bastrop is at the center of one of the most controversial capital punishment cases in modern American history. In 1998, a local man named Rodney Reed was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Stacey…

  • Bastrop Emptied Out for Plum Creek · 12.6 mi

    In the second week of August 1840, word came up the Colorado that four to five hundred Comanche warriors under Buffalo Hump had burned the Gulf port of Linnville and were walking home across the prairie with three…

  • Bastrop, TX · 12.6 mi

    Bastrop is known for its unique landscape, especially the Lost Pines. These aren't just any pine trees; they're loblolly pines, a species you'd normally find hundreds of miles east. How they ended up here is a bit of a…

  • An Ancient Royal Road · 12.6 mi

    The modern highways you're driving on today, like State Highway 21, follow a much older and more important path: the El Camino Real de los Tejas. This wasn't a single road but a network of trails used for centuries,…

  • Ford, Simon Peter · 12.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Muldoon area, and right here is the story of Simon Peter Ford. Born in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1816</say-as>, he arrived in Texas way back in <say-as interpret-as="date"…

  • The Opera House That Outlasted Everything · 12.6 mi · Things to Do

    The Bastrop Opera House opened in 1889 in a town that had already been burned by armies fires and time. While other frontier opera houses crumbled into memory…

  • Bastrop Opera House · 12.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Bastrop Opera House, a building that's been bringing culture to this town since 1889. Built by D.S. Green and P.O. Elzner, it quickly became the heart of local entertainment. Imagine traveling…

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