In 1885 German settlers in the community of Redwood founded a cemetery association. They purchased two acres of land located near Cottonwood Creek for a graveyard from A. H. and Sallie Fleming. A church and schools had been established nearby. The . . . — — Map (db m149940) HM
Opened Sept. 1, 1903. First administration building and classrooms of Southwest Texas State College. On site given by City of San Marcos. Here in 1930 Lyndon B. Johnson, a future United States president, earned his B.S. degree.
Recorded . . . — — Map (db m194822) HM
This house was constructed in 1908 by Mead & Eastwood lumber Co. for Augusta Hofheinz (1849-1903), who owned and operated a hotel he constructed in San Marcos in the late 1870s. Their son, Walter (1880-1943), supervised its construction. . . . — — Map (db m155407) HM
This district was created in 1974 by the city on initiative of the San Marcos Bicentennial Commission as a heritage goal during preparation for the nation's 200th birthday in 1976. — — Map (db m198739) HM
This street was named in 1876 for the Rev. R.H. Belvin, president of Coronal Institute, 1870-1875. San Marcos, founded in 1845, was acquiring better architecture by the 1870s. This district now (1976) retains historic structures: the Belvin Home, . . . — — Map (db m195613) HM
This street was named in 1876 for the Rev. R.H. Belvin president of Coronal Institute, 1870-1875. San Marcos, founded in 1845, was acquiring better architecture by the 1870s. This district now (1976) retains historic structures: the Belvin home, . . . — — Map (db m201913) HM
Designed by German architect Charles S. Sinz; built 1896 for the Beverly Hutchison family; later owned by L. Robertson, E.O. Bethke, R.E. Miller and M. Falls, this house in the late 1920's earned its place in history as residence of a student from . . . — — Map (db m198728) HM
This cemetery is located on a ten-acre tract of land sold by Judy and Shadrach Dixon to the San Marcos Cemetery Association in 1876. Built about 1890, this carpenter Gothic chapel has been the scene of many funerals and memorial services over the . . . — — Map (db m183759) HM
The McGehee family came to Texas from Alabama in 1847. In 1859, Charles Lewis McGehee, Jr. (1837-1929) acquired this property along the San Marcos River. He soon built this cabin (1/2 mi. E) for his wife, Sarah Jane (Humphreys), and their children. . . . — — Map (db m69115) HM
Close to the east bank of the Blanco River before its confluence with the San Marcos River, a solitary knoll protrudes from the Blackland Prairie. Its name, Indian Hill, is indicative of its historical significance going back thousands of years. The . . . — — Map (db m149169) HM
In 1813 royalist Lieutenant Colonel Ignacio Elizondo led 500 cavalrymen in pursuit of retreating Mexican and Anglo-American insurrectionists along this road.
A hacienda owner in Coahuila, Elizondo initially joined Father Miguel Hidalgo’s . . . — — Map (db m69109) HM
At the request of Antonio Cordero, interim governor of the Province of Texas, Spanish-born Felipe Roque de la Portilla (1768?-1841) established a colony here on El Camino Real. With his own family of eight, he brought 51 persons from the interior . . . — — Map (db m222761) HM
Private instruction for Black children in San Marcos may have begun as early as 1847, but the first public school was founded in 1877 with 50 pupils. The school was moved to this 7.3 acre site in 1918. Many graduates continued into higher education, . . . — — Map (db m198592) HM
The Texas influence on jazz history, especially through the careers of individual artists, is well documented. The efforts and influences of African American jazz musician Eddie Durham can be seen in many aspects of jazz music and musicians today. . . . — — Map (db m149883) HM
The gulley seen about fifty yards behind this marker originated from ruts in the El Camino Real (the Royal Road) from San Antonio to Nacogdoches. The road actually had two routes through what is now Hays County, and, creating confusion, both had . . . — — Map (db m20273) HM
Local farmers Henry Kellerman, J. H. Barbee, A. H. Fleming, I. B. Rylander, and J. H. Williams purchased this site in 1908. Through their efforts the Farmers Union Gin Company was established here under the leadership of Oscar Calvin Smith. The . . . — — Map (db m149916) HM
City's third oldest congregation. Pioneer in church-related education. Organized Oct. 25, 1857, by the Rev. Milton Caperton, a missionary. Charter members: J. J. Barbee, Mrs. Mary Barbee, Maj. and Mrs. William Barbee, Shadrack Dixon, Jonathon . . . — — Map (db m150956) HM
In 1866 Rev. Moses Johns met with Freedmen to organize the Colored Baptist Church Zion, San Marcos' First African American Congregation. In 1872 the church became a charter member of the Guadalupe Baptist Association. That same year, the Ku Klux . . . — — Map (db m198756) HM
Formed by the Rev. Henry Thomas in 1853 with only two members, this congregation had grown to fifty members by 1856. After the Civil War, it was reactivated by the Rev. W.H.D. Carrington of Austin. The present church building was constructed in . . . — — Map (db m208509) HM
Ed J. L. Green (1841-1924) came to San Marcos in 1859 from Arkansas. He saw the need for a bank, bought the lots on the south side of the Courthouse Square in 1878, and erected a large two-story rock building. "Green's Bank" opened May 6, 1879. He . . . — — Map (db m149840) HM
In 1848, Presbyterian settlers met in log courthouse to hear sermons by the Rev. Nathaniel P. Charlot, teacher of area's first Sunday School. In 1853, circuit rider Humphrey W. Rogers and Mr. Charlot organized this church. The Rev. J.H. Zivley . . . — — Map (db m198731) HM
First church in Hays County. Organized August 5, 1847, with 9 charter members, by circuit rider A.B.F. Kerr in home of John D. Pitts. Growing congregation moved by 1849 to a log house used for church, courthouse, and school; braved wild animals and . . . — — Map (db m198698) HM
On this site, in the log house of John D. Pitts (1797-1861), circuit rider A.B.F. Kerr (1823-81), on Aug. 5, 1847, organized the first church in Hays County. The congregation met here two years, later built a church on west side of the same block. — — Map (db m198695) HM
During the War for Texas Independence, Mexican General Antonio Gaona marched his division up this road. Gaona had received his training in the Royal Spanish Army in his native Cuba. During the Mexican Revolution against Spain, however, he . . . — — Map (db m69111) HM
Has Been Listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior 1993
2nd Plaque
Landmarks Award 1994
Leigh & Randy Chipman Glover Wood Buildings
The Heritage Association of San . . . — — Map (db m208307) HM
T.J. Goforth, who founded a town with his name in Hays County, built this house c. 1905. Eight years later, he sold the house to Thomas Green Harris, first president of Texas State University and later president of San Marcos Baptist Academy. Harris . . . — — Map (db m198758) HM
Hays County Courthouse District Has Been Listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior 19922nd Plaque (On Top)
Landmarks Award
1991
Key Committee • Hays County . . . — — Map (db m208416) HM
The Tonkawa Tribe inhabited Central Texas long before the settlers of present-day San Marcos arrived in the 1840's. The Tonkawas befriended these early "Texians", making the settlers' lives considerably safer and less harsh. Chief Placido (Hashukana . . . — — Map (db m198584) HM
This late Victorian style home was built in 1902 for the family of John Matthew Cape (1861-1933). Cape owned several cotton gins along the San Marcos River and was instrumental in the organization of San Marcos Utilities and the State Bank & Trust . . . — — Map (db m234885) HM
Local banker Lloyd G. Johnson and his wife Katherine built this house as a residence for their family in 1919-1920. The house, designed by noted architect Atlee B. Ayres, combines informal elements of the Mediterranean style with classical detailing . . . — — Map (db m198738) HM
After famed American explorer Zebulon Montgomery Pike (1779-1813) had encountered the Colorado mountain peak that bears his name, Spanish authorities decided that he had seen enough of their Southwest. Supposedly, Pike and his men had been sent by . . . — — Map (db m157439) HM
Lucious Brown "Luke" Jackson, legendary power forward/center, known for his aggressive rebounding and his penchant for shattering backboards, was born in San Marcos on October 31, 1941 and attended the Colored School on this site. Lucious also . . . — — Map (db m198593) HM
Not everyone in San Marcos was happy with the change of the name of Austin Street to Lyndon B. Johnson Drive in honor of the then President Johnson.
The late Alex D. Kercheville had a business address on Austin Street at the corner of Austin . . . — — Map (db m208418) HM
The Camino Real, also known as the Old San Antonio Road and the King's Highway, followed a route from Nacogdoches to the Rio Grande. Louis Juchereau de St. Denis (1676-1744) traveled the route to establish trade between the French in Louisiana and . . . — — Map (db m76901) HM
Situated here in 1846, at call of the United States for volunteers to help establish the Rio Grande as U.S.-Mexican boundary, after the annexation of Texas.
For centuries a campsite for Indians and other travelers of El Camino Real, San Marcos . . . — — Map (db m195615) HM
In 1983 three blocks of Belvin Street were placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior. The concentration of Victorian and early 20th century architecture was criterion for the listing, the . . . — — Map (db m198736) HM
Erected 1867 by Chas. S. Cock (1819-1897), farmer and city mayor (1881-1883). Home is built of limestone, elm, pine, and cedar. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968
2nd Plaque
Entered in
The National Register . . . — — Map (db m195672) HM
This structure, erected 1894-95, originally served as the office building for the San Marcos National Fish Hatchery, established in 1893 near the head of the San Marcos River. The facility closed in 1965 and the site was given to Southwest Texas . . . — — Map (db m198591) HM
Born in Tennessee, Peter C. Woods was reared by his maternal grandparents. He graduated from the Louisville, Kentucky, Medical Institute in 1842. Woods married Georgia V. Lawshe in 1846. They moved with their children, Pinckney and Sarah Cherokee, . . . — — Map (db m183757) HM
John Drayton Pitts was born at sea on August 26, 1798, during the voyage of his parents, John and Jane Pitts, from England to Charleston, South Carolina. They moved to Georgia during the War of 1812, and John D. married Eliza Permelia Daves in April . . . — — Map (db m150958) HM
The Republic of Texas Congress in Dec. 1838 called for military roads and forts from Red River to the Nueces. A road from Austin, joining El Camino Real near St. Mark's Springs, was designed for rapid communication between San Antonio and the . . . — — Map (db m70967) HM
In 1904, W.D. Malone and P.T. Bost built the original Rio Vista Dam, known then as Malone-Bost Dam. The dam redirected water from the San Marcos River through a mill race canal for irrigation and to power a grist mill.
Before purchasing land at . . . — — Map (db m210018) HM
Envisioning a large-scale, innovative truck-farming operation using irrigation from the San Marcos River and Sink Springs, William Green (1873-1927) established Riverhead Farm, headquartered at the former home of Major Edward Burleson Jr. in 1905. . . . — — Map (db m223210) HM
Welcome to the San Marcos Cemetery parklands. An original 10 acres purchased in 1876 has grown to over 40 acres. Near the center of the park is a 19th century open-air chapel built for funeral and memorial services and is one of few remaining . . . — — Map (db m183760) HM
This cemetery lies within the Mexican Land Grant acquired by Thomas J. Chambers in 1834. Chambers died in 1865 and in 1867 his widow, Abbey, sold 3,000 acres containing this site to H.N. Duble at an estate sale held in Galveston. A portion of the . . . — — Map (db m183752) HM
Located on land that was granted to Juan M. De Veramendi in 1831, this tract was purchased by Edward Burleson (1793-1851) in 1844. A native of North Carolina, Burleson moved to Texas in 1830. Settling first in Bastrop County. He commanded forces . . . — — Map (db m157431) HM
Pouring forth millions of gallons of clear, icy water daily, these springs feed the San Marcos River and the 1,380-square-mile area which it drains. The immense springs rise at the Balcones Escarpment, a geologic fault line which slices across the . . . — — Map (db m68778) HM
In 1893 five trustees of the newly formed San Marcos and Blanco Cemetery Association purchased 10.62 acres of land from W.O. and Leonora Hutchison. The trustees were Henry Richardson, Luckey McQueen, Wyatt Newman, James Langdon and Miles Bowes. The . . . — — Map (db m208301) HM
Originally constructed in 1945, the Simon Ford Building housed the local Ford Motor Company dealership for 39 years with the exception of 10 1/2 months it was the everyday work place of Delvin J. "Red" Simon. Red began work here as a "Parts Helper" . . . — — Map (db m208414) HM
An important element in the development of San Marcos, the Sink Springs are a part of a system of springs in the area which feed the San Marcos river. The flow of the springs is forced by artesian pressure through the San Marcos fault. Since the . . . — — Map (db m208296) HM
Established 1868 by educator O.N. Hollingsworth. A private school, it was coeducational and offered military training to boys. So-named because it was a Coronal (crown) atop this hill. In 1870 the Rev. R.H. Belvin bought school, but sold it to the . . . — — Map (db m76900) HM
Early San Marcos settlers erected log house here in 1847.
Of elm, cedar and cypress, and built for church and school, the cabin had a floor of dirt, later one of puncheons (split logs). It was used as courthouse after Hays County was created . . . — — Map (db m149829) HM
Known officially as Villa de San Marcos de Neve. Established in 1807 by Mexican settlers. The population on January 6, 1808 was 81. A flood in 1808 and subsequent Indian raids led to its abandonment in 1812 — — Map (db m76023) HM
During the first half of the 20th century, San Marcos, like most communities across the United States, segregated its school facilities. Mexican-American children were first taught in a school building previously used by the community’s . . . — — Map (db m149929) HM
It might not look like one at first glance, but behind the cypress trees and steakhouse is one of the oldest dams in Texas. In 1849, General Edward Burleson constructed a "crib and rock" dam at the headwaters of the San Marcos River to power a saw . . . — — Map (db m198582) HM
This is the traditional starting point of the 260-mile Texas Water Safari known throughout the world as the ultimate test of endurance, strength and will. Thousands of men and women have run this race since 1963, following the San Marcos and . . . — — Map (db m208302) HM
Constructed as the first Hays County Jail in 1873, this small brick structure was later an annex for black prisoners. Known locally as the Calaboose, it became a neighborhood recreation center after the city of San Marcos acquired it in 1885. In the . . . — — Map (db m76897) HM
Starting in 1866 the broad valley behind this marker was the scene of cattle drives from the south Texas brush country to Kansas railheads, where livestock was then shipped to eastern markets. These old routes where always imprecise because, as one . . . — — Map (db m69113) HM
The Home
Charles Stephen Cock purchased this property on the banks of the San Marcos River in 1867 and promptly built his modest home. The limestone Greek Revival style home has two foot thick walls and is the oldest remaining residential . . . — — Map (db m195666) HM
When Hays County originated in 1848, its one public building was a log church-schoolhouse that had to serve as the courthouse, along with its other uses.
Although the San Marcos townsite, platted in 1851, contained a court square donated to the . . . — — Map (db m111158) HM
The Cabin
Dr. Eli Merriman's one-pen, hand-hewn log cabin home was built in 1846 on Fort Street (now Hopkins) about a block from the courthouse square (where the Goodyear building is currently located). At the time, it was the second home in . . . — — Map (db m195614) HM
Landmarks Award 1995 C.M. Waldrip, Jr. & Martha W. Powell The Hofheinz Confectionary 1888 Presented by the Heritage Association of San Marcos> — — Map (db m208496) HM
About 1914 the Newton brothers Jess, Willis, Doc, and Joe were getting tired of facing mules' rumps as they plowed their daddy's Callahan County farm. So they drifted into train and bankrobbery in a four-year career that took them throughout the . . . — — Map (db m208330) HM
This site near the source of the San Marcos River was part of the Thomas J. Chambers grant of 1834. The tract was sold in 1848 to Gen. Edward Burleson (1798-1851), military and political leader in early Texas, who built a cabin nearby. A later . . . — — Map (db m149827) HM
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, San Marcos firemen were summoned to a blaze by the clanging sound of a huge triangle which hung from a tree limb at the right of this entrance to the Hays County Courthouse.
The great (55 pound) . . . — — Map (db m111155) HM
(See "The Telephone Story, Number One" directly across the Square on Guadalupe Street.)
San Marcos once had the remarkable experience of two telephone companies from about 1908 to 1914. The second company was Southwestern Telegraph and . . . — — Map (db m208417) HM
Dr. William Alexander Thompson (1803-1879) made an agreement with neighbors in 1850 to use the San Marcos River for irrigation and as a source of energy. He and his sons William A. and James used slave labor to build a gristmill, sawmill and cotton . . . — — Map (db m208295) HM
William A. Thompson brought his family and slaves to Texas from Louisiana in 1850. They established plantations in Caldwell and Hays counties. With slave labor, the family built a mill on the San Marcos River near this site. Construction and . . . — — Map (db m149931) HM
The son of former slaves Joe and Elizabeth Cephas, Ulysses Cephas was born in San Marcos. He was trained at an early age to carry on the blacksmithing trade of his father. Known as "Boots" to his friends and family, Cephas eventually owned his own . . . — — Map (db m149882) HM
Wesley Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church traces its history to 1875, and is believed to be the oldest African American congregation in San Marcos. The first church building was erected on this site in 1879, and later was replaced by a . . . — — Map (db m149884) HM
In Balcones Fault, created by prehistoric earth shift. Said to have been campsite of Indians and Spaniards, especially priests who planted anaqua trees in area. By legend, robber gangs in 1820s cached Camino Real booty here.
Discovered 1893 for . . . — — Map (db m53525) HM
Alexander Gates Thomas (1877-1944), an English professor and authority on Texas folklore, and Lillian Johnson (1885-1966), an art professor, met as educators at Southwest Texas Normal School. Married late in life, the two were inspired on their . . . — — Map (db m223205) HM
An architectural landmark in San Marcos, this church building exhibits classic elements of the Gothic Revival style in its pointed arch Gothic windows, with Queen Anne influences in the fishscale shingling and octagonal towers. Dating to at least . . . — — Map (db m234887) HM
In 1842, Eliza Pitts (1832-1923) and her parents came to Texas from Georgia. She was a charter member of First Methodist Church in San Marcos and served as an active church leader. She married James Lafayette Malone in 1850, and they had sixteen . . . — — Map (db m223195) HM
A farmer from Illinois, George H. Talmadge (1840-1911) served in the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1888 he moved to San Marcos with his wife Lydia (1851-1900) and their children, including an adopted daughter orphaned by the Chicago fire. . . . — — Map (db m223201) HM
Among the first settlers in the San Marcos area, George Thomas McGehee (1836-1926) moved here with his parents, Minerva (Hunt) and Thomas Gilmer McGehee, in 1846. He fought in the Civil War with Terry's Texas Rangers and served 3 terms in the State . . . — — Map (db m223189) HM
William Green built this house about 1889 and sold it to rancher Samuel McGehee Heard (d. 1909). At the time, the homesite included enough surrounding land to graze livestock. Members of the Heard family lived here until 1944, when Robert Lee Baker . . . — — Map (db m223185) HM
John Howard Barbee was born in Stringtown, a stretch of farms outside San Marcos, in 1854. Barbee was a businessman, rancher, builder, developer and was a founder in the Farmers Union Gin Co. His wife, Abbie, was an accomplished singer. In 1906, . . . — — Map (db m223209) HM
This house was built in 1891-92 for James L. and Eliza Malone. The Malones, parents of 16 children, were among the early pioneer families in the Stringtown area east of San Marcos. the house was sold out of the Malone family in 1906 following James' . . . — — Map (db m223197) HM
Built in 1889 by John Francis McGehee (1838-1922), a veteran of Hood's Brigade in Civil War. The house, constructed of pine hauled from Bastrop, cypress siding, and handmade brick, is of 19th century Eastlake architectural style. Since McGehee sold . . . — — Map (db m223192) HM
A native of Tennessee, Joseph W. Earnest (1844-1920) migrated to Hays County with his parents in 1854. He was a veteran of the Texas Rangers and Confederate Army. A merchant and cattleman, Earnest married Cevilia Cock (1850-1931) in 1870. He hired . . . — — Map (db m223054) HM
This Victorian residence with its unusual central chimney was erected in 1886 for the growing family of Sam R. Kone, Jr. (1855-1941), a successful merchant, active Mason, and member of the San Marcos City Council, 1914-15. His wife Laura (Smith) . . . — — Map (db m223187) HM
Built in 1878, this residence was purchased in 1882 by Georgia native O.T. Brown (1836-1916) and his wife Elizabeth (Belvin) (b. 1854), the daughter of a prominent local Methodist minister and educator, the Rev. R.H. Belvin. Brown, a Civil War . . . — — Map (db m223052) HM
Built in 1868 by Peter C. Ragsdale (1810-1882), veteran of the Army of the Republic of Texas. After his death, his wife, Elmira, operated a school for girls until the house sold in 1891 to William T. (Uncle Billy) Jackman (1851-1939), trail driver . . . — — Map (db m223198) HM
A portion of this structure was built about 1859 as one of the first schools in San Marcos. The Rev. Robert H. Belvin, president (1870-75) of Coronal Institute, a Methodist school, converted it into a home for his family in 1875. the Rev. J.W. Vest, . . . — — Map (db m223049) HM
Ignatius Bramwell Rylander, a distinguished
agriculturalist from Alabama, built this
imposing residence in 1912-13. Noted architect
Roy L. Thomas designed the home in the
colonial revival style with classical details
and a symmetrical frame . . . — — Map (db m223207) HM
Built on historic San Antonio Street (originally the stagecoach road to San Antonio) by S. H. and Annie Sanders about 1913, this house was subsequently purchased by Albert N. and Rosa Grosgebauer in 1919. Lyndon B. Johnson was frequently a dinner . . . — — Map (db m223199) HM
