Texas Historical Marker #02947

King Memorial United Methodist Church. The organizational meeting for this church was held in 1875 in the Pecan Grove community just west of Whitney. The Rev. I. M. Reeve, a circuit rider, led the congregation in its formation. In 1880, one year after the town of Whitney was founded on the rail line, the fellowship built a sanctuary here and became known as the Whitney Methodist Church. The name King Memorial was chosen in 1901 to honor Capt. Newton J. King, an area pioneer and early church member. Over the years, the congregation has provided significant service and leadership to the town. #2947

?, Whitney, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02948

King Mountain. Probably named for Guy King, rancher who drilled first water well on top of mountain about 1900. Elevation is 3,000 feet. Part of an uplift in southern Permian Basin; associated with county oil fields. Many Indian relics have been found along the Rim Rock. #2948

US 385, W of McCamey, McCamey, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02949

King Ranch. Richard King (1824-1885), a Rio Grande steamboat captain, bought two Spanish land grants on Santa Gertrudis Creek and founded the legendary King Ranch in 1853. He brought longhorn cattle from Mexico and battled droughts and cattle thieves to build a profitable ranch. Operating first in partnership with G. K. ("Legs") Lewis and later with Mifflin Kenedy and James Walworth, King became sole owner in the late 1860s. During the Civil War (1861-1865), the King Ranch was a way-station for Confederate cotton going to Mexico. Herds carrying King's famous "Running W" brand followed the cattle trails to northern markets in the 1870s. After King died, his widow Henrietta (Chamberlain) (1832-1925) named as ranch manager Robert Justus Kleberg (1853-1932), who later married her daughter Alice Gertrudis King (1862-1944). The ranch became less isolated in the early 1900s, when the railroad arrived and the town of Kingsville was settled. Constant improvement of herds by King-Kleberg descendants produced a new breed of cattle, the Santa Gertrudis, and fine quarter horses and thoroughbreds. Petroleum was discovered on ranch property in the 1930s. Today the King ranch has grown to almost one million acres in south Texas, plus holdings in other states and nations. #2949

?, Kingsville, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02950

King Ranch, C.S.A.. A major South Texas way-station on cotton road, lifeline of southern states in the Civil War. Had water, food, mules, oxen and bunks for drivers of wagons hauling cotton to trade for war goods. Also bivouacked Confederate troops in war marches. Founded 1853 by Capt. Richard King, who by 1861 had-- in partnership with Mifflin Kennedy and James Walworth-- 20,000 cattle and 3,000 horses. Walworth was a delegate to Texas Secession Convention. In wartime, King managed ranch and salt works on coast, to benefit Texas and the Confederacy. Kenedy ran the partnership's 22 boats from Gulf to Rio Grande City; ferried cotton from Texas to Matamoros, Mex., where it was exchanged for guns, factory goods, ammunition, medicines and coffee, scarce in the Confederacy; and took cotton from Bagdad, Mex., out to ocean vessels riding high seas to dodge the Federal blockade. King and partners were supply agents for the Rio Grande military sub-district. With concentration of goods here, ranch tempted bandits and was target of Federals seeking to break up cotton road activity and get beef, cotton and horses for their planned Texas conquest. After Federal raids, was patrolled by the Confederate cavalry of Col. John S. (RIP) Ford. #2950

?, Kingsville, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02951

King's Men Monument. #2951

Mt. Calvary Cemetery on W Santiago St., Refugio, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02952

Dr. Claudius E. R. King House. Built by English-born physician C.E.R. King (1839-1919), who came to America in 1851; was a Confederate Army surgeon in Civil War (1861-65). He moved to San Antonio and in 1880 employed noted archtiect Alfred Giles (1853-1920), also an Englishman, to design house. In the native stone, Victorian structure, King had both home and office. Descendants resided here until 1929, when Junior League of San Antonio purchased it for use as a tea room and meeting place. #2952

819 Augusta St., San Antonio, TX, United States

Subjects

Texas Historical Marker #02953

King-Lorenz House. This home was constructed in 1898 for Robert and Rachel Emma (King) Smith. Rachel was the daughter of John R. King, an early Texas military and political leader. His descendants have owned the home since its construction, except for the years 1911-14. Wade Lorenz (1896-1930), a former Texas Ranger who later lived here, was a Stockdale businessman and rancher. The home is a variation of the I-house plan and features decorative woodwork on the porches. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1984 Incise on base: Dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Bernice King Lorenz Bird #2953

South 7th St., Stockdale, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02954

Kingsville Cotton Mill. Promotional efforts by William D. McNeill (1860-1925) of North Carolina resulted in construction of the Kingsville Cotton Mill on this site in 1921. Interested citizens supported the project with an investment of $150,000. Production began on Feb. 22, 1922, with McNeill's son-in-law, David H. Jones (1876-1964), as superintendent of the mill. Using locally grown cotton, the plant produced yarn which was shipped to the north and east for manufacturing carpets. Closed in 1924 because of low profits, the factory was leased and reopened the same year by San Antonio Cotton Mill. The new management made Ford Model-T transmission and brake band linings and later packaging twine. During peak production, the mill processed 264 pounds of cotton an hour and employed 250 workers, greatly contributing to the economy of the town. The San Antonio Cotton Mill ended its operation in 1935. Paul Danforth (1886-1949) leased the building during World War II (1941-45) to make cotton twine and khaki belts for military uniforms. At the end of the war, the factory was closed and the machinery sold. The King Ranch acquired the property, converted it into what is now the Alice G. K. Kleberg Elementary School in 1947, and presented it to the community as a gift. #2954

?, Kingsville, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02955

Kingsville Railroad Depot. Styled by standard plans of the builder, the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad Company; erected in 1904 of locally made adobe brick, this structure is one of oldest in Kingsville. It has seen interesting events involving traffic during border troubles and world wars I and II. The Missouri pacific system, in control of this road since 1925, phased out passenger traffic in 1966, but maintains a dispatcher's office in the building. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1974 #2955

?, Kingsville, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02958

Kiowa Raid of 1868 (SW Part of County). On Jan. 5-6, 1868, Chief Big Tree and 150 to 200 Kiowas raided Willa Walla Valley, Clear Creek and Blocker Creek. Burned homes; killed 13 people; scalped one woman alive. Captured 10 women and children; 3 escaped, 2 were ransomed. Raiders reached Elm Creek at Gainesville before blizzard forced withdrawal. More damage and deaths would have resulted if George Masoner had not become the "Paul Revere" of valleys and warned settlers of impending danger. Indian raids such as this one were in retaliation for loss of hunting grounds to settlers. (1968) #2958

?, Valley View, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02959

Kiowa Raid on Walnut Creek. In April 1867 a band of about sixty Kiowa Indians, led by Chiefs Satank and Satanta, raided the home of William Hamleton on Walnut Creek. Hamleton was away when the Kiowas killed his wife, Sally, and captured two children, Lavina and Mary. Lavina was released from captivity after six months, but Mary was given to an Indian family and grew to adulthood among the Kiowas. Called To-Goam-Gat-Ty, she became an accepted tribal member and married another captive, Calisay. The site of the 1867 Kiowa Raid is now under the waters of Eagle Mountain Reservior (1.4 mi. E) (1983) #2959

FM 730 & SH 199 intersection, Azle, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02960

Kirk. Settlement began in this area in the 1870s-1880s. A community here, originally called Elm Grove, became known as Kirk when a post office established in 1887 was named for local merchant Jepitha N. Kirk. The first postmaster was William Hume McKnight. In 1884 G. W. and M. J. Swafford donated land for a school and cemetery. William M. and Annie J. Jacobs sold adjoining land in 1887 for the graveyard, a school, and for churches in Kirk. At its peak, Kirk was a thriving community of several hundred people and included homes, businesses, churches, and a post office. It also contained cotton gins, fraternal organizations and a telephone exchange. A two-story school containing six classrooms was built in 1911 at this site. In 1927 the community, led by school board president W.C. Curry and school principals Vernon Evans and J. B. Brown, Jr., built a large gymnasium/community hall (known locally as the Community House) just north of the school. Kirk's decline began with the great depression of the 1930s. In 1942 the last class graduated from Kirk High School, and the Kirk School consolidated with schools in Mart in 1952. Only a few homes and the cemetery remain in the area. (1997) #2960

FM 339, 6 mi. S of Prairie Hill, Kirk, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02961

Kiwanis Club of Pharr. This Mission style building was the first meeting place in the Kiwanis International organization owned by a local club. It was built in 1928, 13 years after the formation of the first Kiwanis club in Detroit, Michigan, and one year after the Pharr club was chartered. Designed to serve as a community center, it has been used for a variety of civic functions and meetings and has housed offices of the city Chamber of Commerce. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981 #2961

302 W. Park, Pharr, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02962

Kleberg County. Formed from Nueces County, created February 27, 1913. Organized June 27, 1913. Named in honor of Robert Justus Kleberg, 1803-1888, a pioneer German settler in Texas, a veteran of San Jacinto. Kingsville, County Seat #2962

?, Kingsville, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02963

Knickerbocker. Attracted by irrigable land and the available water supply in Dove Creek, farmers, sheepmen, and cattlemen came to this area in the 1870s. First to arrive were the Baze brothers, who dug an irrigation ditch in 1875 to grow melons and hay for nearby Fort Concho. Others soon followed, including cattleman Joseph Schmidt, cotton farmer S. D. Arthur, and the Ryan, Martinez, Jaques, Villareal, Soto, Byler, Atkins, Beck, Duncan, Foster, and Etheridge families. In 1877 New Yorkers Morgan and Lawrence Grinnell, Joseph Tweedy, and J. B. Reynolds drove their sheep into the valley. They named their ranch headquarters after Washington Irving's character Diedrich Knickerbocker. The Knickerbocker Post Office was established in 1881. In 1889 the town was moved to a location just south of the original site in order to tap a new water supply. By 1890 the settlement had stores, hotels, saloons, blacksmith shops, two churches, and two schools. As was typical of many West Texas rural areas, Knickerbocker declined with the advent of the automobile and improved road systems. Farmers left to find work in San Angelo (18 mi. NE). The settlers of Knickerbocker, however, left a rich heritage. Many of their descendants still live in the area. (1983) #2963

FM 2335, Knickerbocker, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02964

Knickerbocker Schools. Education for children in southwestern Tom Green County was available at Knickerbocker Schools as early as 1877. The Baze Subscription School, built by A. P. Baze (1833-1880) on his farm two miles north of Knickerbocker, operated from 1877 to 1899.The one-room schoolhouse had adobe walls, a shingled roof, and a pine floor. Children came on horseback to attend a six-month school term. As the population grew, the county built a frame schoolhouse about 1889 to replace the Baze School. In 1926 a red brick school building with three classrooms, an auditorium, and a central hall replaced the 1889 frame structure. In 1895, at the insistence of Dr. Boyd Cornick (1856-1933), a county school was built primarily for children of Mexican descent. This school was substantially remodeled in the 1930s. The two schools operated separately until 1948 when they were combined. Following the consolidation of area rural schools in 1960, children from the Knickerbocker area traveled by bus to school in Christoval. The red brick Knickerbocker school building became a post office and community center in 1989. (1992) #2964

FM 2335 & 584, Knickerbocker, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02967

Knights of Pythias. Erected in 1881; rebuilt in 1901, following fire, by noted local architects Sanguinet and Staats. Style similar to North European city hall or medieval guild hall. This is first Pythian Castle Hall built in the United States. In third-floor niche is 7-foot suit of armor that stood above 1881 building. Fort Worth Pythian Lodge No. 101 (a fraternal group) occupies 2 floors. Became first local building named to National Register of Historic Places, 1970. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark--1962 #2967

110 East Third St., Fort Worth, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02968

Knights of Pythias Lodge Hall. Built about 1900 by C. W. Cotton, this structure was originally a one-story brick and stone building used for mercantile stores. A second story was added in 1913 to serve as a meeting place for The Hamilton Knights of Pythias Lodge. Following World War I, the building was used for numerous civic functions. Exhibiting simple Italianate detailing, the building features first floor shop windows, a central arched rear entry, and an awning across the front. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1987 #2968

110 West Main Street, Hamilton, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02969

Knippa Trap Rock Plant. Volcanic lava deposited here more than 60 million years ago cooled and hardened over time to form basalt, a dark igneous rock also known as trap rock. M. B. (Pete) Walcott purchased acreage here about 1904 and in 1907 formed the Genevieve Mining Co. to search for gold. Although little gold was found, substantial quantities of high quality trap rock were discovered. The Texas Trap Rock Company established a quarry about 1911 and shipments of rock began in 1912. A large highly-visible screening house was completed in 1914. By 1919 Knippa's trap rock plant, the largest in Texas at that time, was capable of producing about 100,000 tons of trap rock per year. The company transported the trap rock by spur line to the Southern Pacific Railroad in nearby Knippa. The company and its employees became an integral part of the community. Knippa High School named its football team the "Rockcrushers" in 1946. The trap rock operation, purchased by White's Mine Company in 1968, was acquired by Vulcan Materials Company in 1987. Trap rock has been applied to various uses such as railroad ballast, decorative stone, and as insulation material. Its historic and primary use, however, has been as a road paving material. 1994 #2969

US 90, Knippa, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #02970

Knox County. Formed from Young and Bexar Territories. Created February 1, 1858. Recreated August 21, 1876. Organized March 20, 1886. Named in honor of General Henry Knox, 1750-1806. Major General of the Continental Army, 1781, Secretary of War, 1785-1794. Benjamin, the county seat. #2970

?, Benjamin, TX, United States