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Historical Places - Historical Markers and Landmarks
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Georgetown High School Building -Historical Marker
507 E. University, Georgetown
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Historical Marker text
Built in 1923-24 on the original site of Southwestern University, this structure served as Georgetown High School
for over fifty years. Designed by Austin architect Charles H. Page and
exhibiting influences of the Spanish Colonial Revival style of
architecture, the building features a Baroque entryway with cast stone
detailing that includes motifs of shells, flowers, urns, and garlands. A
gymnasium was added to the back of the building in the 1940s. Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark - 1988
we are unable to
locate
marker
A. M. Brown Cabin
- Historical Marker
FM 2243, 6 miles west of
Georgetown
Historical Marker text
When Asa M. Brown cut cedar, elm, and oak
trees and built this cabin on his 317-acre State of Texas claim in 1853,
this land was on the frontier. His chimney and fireplace were of
hand-hewn native stone, the floor of dirt. William Wood, one of the many
later owners, enlarged the home. In 1909-66, L. M., T. L., Annie, and
Charles Hughes by turns owned and occupied the property. Mr. and Mrs.
Jack Garey restored the cabin after their purchase, 1966. Recorded Texas
Historic Landmark - 1974
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Original Site of
Southwestern University - Historical Marker
507 E. University, Georgetown
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Historical Marker text
The Methodist church established four
colleges in Texas prior to the Civil War: Rutersville College (1840),
Wesleyan College (1844), McKenzie Institute (1848), and Soule University
(1856). The Rev. Dr. Francis Asbury Mood (1830-1884) was named president
of Soule University in Washington County in 1868. Soon after he took
office, plans were begun to relocate the school and develop a
centralized Methodist university. About the same time, city leaders in
Georgetown began plans to establish a college. This site was donated for
that purpose by John J. Dimmitt and G. W. Glasscock, Jr., and a
community school, instead of a college, opened in 1870. Georgetown was
among the cities competing for the site of the planned Methodist
university. In 1873 this property was chosen as the site of the new
institution, which was granted a union charter (with the four earlier
colleges) in 1875 as Southwestern University. Dr. Mood served as
president until his death. Buildings added to the campus after 1873
included a young ladies school, a chapel, a boys dormitory (Giddings
Hall), and a gymnasium. Southwestern University moved to its present
site in 1900 but continued to operate a preparatory department here
until 1916. |
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Site of Marshall-Carver High School - Historical Marker
Blue Hole Park, near Rock St. and
2nd St. intersection
Historical Marker text
The first school for African American
students in Georgetown was established in the early 20th century. Called
"The Colored School," the institution served grades 1 through 8 and
provided the only local educational opportunities for African Americans.
The school's principal, Mr. S. C. Marshall, was an outspoken advocate of
higher education. A scholar himself, he persuaded the school board to
allow him to provide classes through the high school level. He named the
new program "The Georgetown Colored High School," and the first student
enrolled in 1913. A new high school building was erected in 1923 due to
increasing enrollment. When Marshall left the school in 1930, it was
renamed Marshall School in his honor. The name was changed to George
Washington Carver in the 1940s. In 1962, the parents of seventeen Carver
students who had been denied admission to Georgetown's white schools
filed a lawsuit in U. S. District Court to force integration. The court
ordered the Georgetown Independent School District to integrate one
grade level per year beginning with the first grad.e Partial integration
began in the fall of 1964. Convinced that gradual integration would not
benefit their children, African American parents appealed the decision
to the Fifth Circuit Court which upheld the lower court's verdict.
Proponents of full and immediate integration engaged in a letter-writing
campaign to the U. S. Attorney General, the U. S. Department of Health,
education and Welfare, and the Federal Assistance Program urging another
review of the case. In the fall of 1965, the Georgetown School Board
agreed to a plan to complete integration of the school system by
September 1967. The Carver School was permanently closed due to
integration. |
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North Fork of the San Gabriel River - Historical Marker
3.5 mi. W of Georgetown via FM
2338, south on CR 264 (look for brown Lake Georgetown sign), turn into
overlook past Corps of Engineers office, Georgetown vicinity
Historical Marker text
The North Fork of the San Gabriel River,
part of the Brazos River system, flows east across Williamson County to
join with the Middle and South forks at Georgetown. Abundant fish and
wildlife attracted numerous Indian tribes to the areas along the stream
in historic times. Named Rio de San Xavier by Spanish explorer and
priest Fray Isidro Felix Espinosa in 1716, it was known as the San
Gabriel River by the time Williamson County was created in 1848. Anglo
settlements along the river in the 1800s led to the establishment of
four major crossings which took the names of families living at the
sites: Booty, Russell (later Jenkins), Box, and Hunt. Located along the
stream near the crossings were homes, mills, schools, churches,
cemeteries, postal stations, and a gin. Booty, Russell, and Box
Crossings were inundated by the waters of Lake Georgetown, but Hunt
Crossing remains above the reservoir. Planned as part of a flood control
measure for the Brazos River system, a dam creating Lake Georgetown was
completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1979. The lake and
adjoining parks and recreational facilities were opened in 1981.
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San Gabriel Park
- Historical Marker
E. of Austin Ave., N of San
Gabriel River,
in San Gabriel Park
Historical Marker text
The land and springs around this site made
it a favored camping site for local Indian tribes for centuries before
the Spanish discovered it. Raids, drought and conflict led the Spanish
to abandon the area in 1756. The Mexican State of Coahuila and Texas
granted a colonization contract to Robert Leftwich in 1825. Conflicting
contracts were granted to Stephen F. Austin and Sterling C. Robertson.
George W. Glasscock, Sr. (1810-1868) purchased the land while
speculating for Thomas B. Huling and Company. In 1839 Glasscock received
two headrights including this land as part of his share of assets when
the company dissolved. The site had become a popular gathering place for
settlers when Sam Houston spoke here in 1859. It became known as "The
Fairgrounds." Large annual fairs, reunions and religious revivals drew
crowds from surrounding areas. The county's first public hanging took
place here in 1886. Williamson County Old Settlers' Association, formed
in 1904, used the area for annual gatherings, eventually leasing 33
acres and building reunion structures. Helen Glasscock, the widow of
George Glasscock, Jr., sold the site to I. M. Williams in 1912. A
devastating flood in 1921 swept away the fairgrounds. Georgetown
citizens requested that the city buy the site from the Williams family
and name it San Gabriel Park in 1933. Under the direction of R. E. Ward,
the city improved the park in the 1930s and 1940s. A river wall, low
water crossing, large building and rest rooms were erected with funding
and labor from the Federal Works Progress Administration. Rodeo pens,
sports fields and further land acquisitions continue to ensure that the
park provides recreation and shelter for area citizens.
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Railroad Produce Warehouse -
Historical Marker
401 W. Sixth Street
Historical Marker text
Built in 1904 by William Pearce to provide
storage space for a wholesale grocery company, this building was part of
a larger industrial complex. A number of buildings were constructed
along nearby railroad lines, including an ice plant and bottling works,
grist and planing mills, and a passenger and freight depot. Thick stone
walls and spring water channeled through the basement of the structure
helped to cool produce. This site is a reminder of the role industry and
the railroad played in the economic development of Georgetown. (1997)
Incise on base: Preserved for the future by Karalei Nunn and Tom Nichols
Southwestern University Main Building -
Historical Marker
1000 E. University Ave.
Historical Marker text
Oldest structure on permanent campus.
Planned 1895-97 as chapel, library, classrooms, offices, when the regent
(president) was Dr. J. H. McLean (1838-1925); built 1898-1900 under
regent R. S. Hyer (1860-1929). From throughout the state came building
fund gifts, which even included land from plantation of late Texas
president Sam Houston. Neo-Romanesque style. Builders, Flume & Waterston
(from British Isles), had worked on State Capitol. Recorded Texas
Historic Landmark - 1962 |
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we are unable to
locate
marker
Jesse Cooper House
- Historical Marker
Wilbarger Point, off SH 29, 1.5
mi. E of Georgetown
Tennessee native Jesse Eugene Cooper
(1855-1944) came to Texas in 1876. The following year he helped
establish a Georgetown newspaper, the "Williamson County Sun." In
addition to his role as editor, he also founded a local bank and
cottonseed oil mill. The C. S. Belford Lumber Co. built this home for
Cooper and his second wife, Sara (Wilbarger) (d. 1935), in 1911-12. The
American Foursquare design features rustic detailing of native
limestone. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988 |
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Mankins Crossing
- Historical Marker
SH 25, at San Gabriel River
bridge,
3 miles east of Georgetown
on Hwy 29 east - turn right SH 25
Historical Marker text
(100 yards west) This historic crossing on
the San Gabriel River was named for pioneer settler Samuel Mankins, who
purchased land along the river in 1849. The limestone bed in the river
provided a convenient crossing for area farmers. A nearby community
included a school, church, and cotton gin. A 1914 concrete and gravel
causeway was replaced by a State Highway Department concrete bridge in
1931. After the Highway Department built a new bridge on higher ground
at Highway 29 in 1958, the Mankins Crossing Bridge became a popular
recreational site for area residents.
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Double File Trail -
Historical Marker
SH 29, 3 miles east of
Georgetown
Historical Marker text
Laid out about 1828 by Delaware Indians,
"The Double File Trail" got its name because two horsemen could ride it
side by side. The Delawares carved this trace migrating ahead of
expanding white settlements. They moved from what they called "the
Redlands" in East Texas to Mexico near present Nuevo Laredo. Of the 200
to 250 families reported in East Texas in the 1820s, only about 150
remained after the move. Early sites in Williamson County were settled
where this trail crossed waterways. Texas Rangers and the Santa Fe
Expedition also traveled the track.
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marker is located in the Founders
park at
Myrtle and 9th st
FOUNDING OF GEORGETOWN HISTORICAL MARKER
Historical Marker text
ACCORDING TO LOCAL TRADITION WILLIAMSON
COUNTY'S FIRST SIX COMMISSIONERS MET HERE UNDER A STATELY OAK TREE IN
MAY 1848 TO CHOOSE A LOCATION FOR THE COUNTY SEAT. GEORGE WASHINGTON
GLASSCOCK, SR., LATER JOINED THEM AND OFFERED TO DONATE LAND HE OWNED
JOINTLY WITH THOMAS B. HULING AS A SITE FOR THE COUNTY SEAT. THE LAND
WAS BOUNDED BY THE OAK TREE AT ONE CORNER AND THE SAN GABRIEL RIVER TO
THE NORTH AND WEST. THE OFFER WAS ACCEPTED AND IN JULY 1848 THE
COMMISSIONERS NAMED THE TOWN GEORGETOWN IN GLASSCOCK'S HONOR. THE
LANDMARK OAK TREE WAS FELLED BY A STORM IN 1886.
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Texan Santa Fe
Expedition -
Historical Marker
3 miles east of Georgetown on SH
29
Historical Marker text
A dramatic chapter in administration
(1838-1841) of Republic of Texas president Mirabeau B. Lamar. Aware of
United States-Mexico commerce crossing Texas by the Santa Fe Trail near
the Canadian River, President Lamar sought similar trade advantages for
Texas. He initiated the Texan Santa Fe Expedition early in 1841, with
Dr. Richard F. Brenham, Col. Wm. G. Cooke and Jose Antonio Navarro as
commissioners. Cooke began recruiting in April, forming an artillery and
five infantry companies. Remainder of 321 members included merchants
(with $200,000 worth of goods), teamsters, guides and others. George W.
Kendall, of the New Orleans "Picayune", joined to write classic book on
the venture. Travel was by 21 slow ox-wagons. First day's march, June
19, 1841, ended on the San Gabriel, and expedition's campsite is near
here. Before reaching the Santa Fe Trail some 600 miles north, the men
were to have torturing experiences with drought and unknown terrain. Ill
from hardships, the group was betrayed into the hands of Mexican
authorities and sent as prisoners to Mexico City. However, this
penetration of upper Texas gave the Republic stronger claims to her
northern lands.
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San Gabriel Lodge
No. 89,
A. F. & A. M.
800 N. College St
Historical Marker text
Organized in 1851, three years
after the creation of Williamson County, San Gabriel Lodge No. 89 was
chartered in January 1852 with John T. Cox, a Methodist minister from
South Carolina, as worshipful master. The lodge grew rapidly with the
new county seat. An Eastern Star chapter was formed and met in the
Masonic Lodge. San Gabriel Lodge No. 89 assisted in laying the
cornerstone for the State Capitol building in Austin in 1885. The lodge
has long been involved in such Williamson County matters as public
education, its members serving on the board of education as well as in
the roles of superintendents, teachers and patrons. One hundred and
forty-eight years after its inception, San Gabriel Lodge No. 89
continues in the traditions of its founders. (1999) |
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