Texas Historical Marker #08119
South Texas Baptist College. An ambitious institution chartered by Baptists who formed South Texas Educational Conference about 1895 and in 1898 secured campus site from a local landowner, C.C. Waller. Trustees serving when college opened in fall of 1898 were J.C. McGaughy, Hempsted; James F. Duncan, Houston; C.W. Matthews, Montgomery; W.J. Durham, Richmond; S.A. McCall, Willis; J.E. Boulet, E.J. Matthews, J.L. Miles, and J.T. Sanders of Waller. W.E. Clark, A.M. Georgetown College of Kentucky, was president; Matilda Shannon (Mrs. W.E.) Clark, the college matron; misses Annie Black and Bellie James, Teachers; Thomas Shannon, secretary. The first session opened with three students, closed with 33; Second opened with 15, closed with 102. Courses of study covered primary through college subjects; Tuition ranged form $10 to $20 a term. The third session opened on Monday, Sept. 3, 1900. On the night of Sept. 8-9, the great 1900 storm blew in from Galveston. It severely damaged the college building, wrecked several churches, and demolished the public school. Although no lives were lost in this town, damage throughout the section was so great that the college never reopened. Its campus has served since 1916 as a public school site. #8119
Waller and Smith Streets, Waller, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08120
Springer-Macedonia Cemetery. The pioneer Springer family donated the original two acres of this graveyard and gave their name to the community in this area and to a school, also known as McPherson School. Later the cemetery was called Macedonia, for the nearby church founded in the 1890s. Burials probably predate the earliest marked grave, that of Oliver McPherson (d. 1871). Enlarged by additional gifts of land, the community burial ground contains about 300 known graves. The Macedonia Cemetery Association, incorporated in 1976, maintains the site. #8120
10 miles north of Hockley on Springer Cemetery Road, Hockley, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08121
Camp Site Of the Texas Army. Five miles to the southeast to the camp site of the Texas Army March 31 to April 13, 1836 when it crossed the Brazos on the steamboat Yellow Stone and began its march toward Harrisburg. #8121
?, Hempstead, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08122
Texas' First Narrow Gauge Railway Depot. -- #8122
Avenue G and Second Street, Pattison, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08123
Union Army P.O.W. Cemetery. Several Confederate military facilities were positioned near Hempsted (2.5 mi. w), an important railroad junction, during the Civil War. Camp Groce (then about 6 mi. e) was a prisoner-of-war stockade established on the plantation of Leonard Waller Groce (1806-1873). Union Army prisoners who died at various camps were buried hear this site on the McDade Plantation, adjacent to the McDade family cemetery (about 25 yds. ne). The cemeteries were near a narrow gauge spur off the "Austin Branch" of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, built from Houston in 1858. A yellow fever epidemic in 1864 resulted in many deaths at Camp Groce and other camps, chronicled by Aaron T. Sutton (1841-1927). a Union prisoner in Company B, 83rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Sutton noted in his journal the presence of more than 100 fresh graves here soon after his arrival at Camp Groce in 1864. Sutton later escaped from the stockade and made his way to Beaumont (115 mi. e) on foot. Crude crosses made of cedar limbs marked the prisoners' graves through the early 1900s, according to local residents. But the stream-fed woodland was cleared in the 1940s for pasture land, and all surface evidence of the cemetery was lost. #8123
Austin Branch Road, Saint Paul, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08124
Waller. Extension of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad here about 1857 provided the means for a growing number of settlers in this area to market their farm and ranch products. The town was platted by K.H. Faulkner in 1884 and named Waller for the signer of Texas' Declaration of Independence and Waller County judge Edwin Waller. The village soon boasted a post office , general store, and school, Telephone service arrived in 1912, gas and electric utilities in 1928, and in 1947 the town was incorporated. Waller's steady growth has been sustained by its farm and ranch industry. #8124
1118 Farr Street, Waller, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08125
The Amanda Burks School. Amanda (Nite) Burks (1841-1931) and her husband William Franklin Burks (d. 1877) moved their ranching operation to present-day La Salle County in 1876. After her husband's death, Amanda continued to run the ranch for over fifty years. Like many early residents of the area, Amanda believed in the importance of education. A frame building served the educational needs of Cotulla soon after the town was founded in 1882. A two-story brick structure was built in 1909. It was renamed in honor of Amanda Burks shortly before her death in 1931. A new Amanda Burks School was built in 1953. #8125
Center and Tilden St., Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08126
Cotulla Cemetery. Land for this cemetery was first given by Joseph Cotulla, the town's founding father. The earliest marked grave is dated 1882. Numerous graves bear the date 1886, when smallpox struck La Salle County. Many community leaders, including Joseph Cotulla, and the Rev. V. E. Covey, early Texas educator, are buried here. The cemetery was originally divided into Mexican and Anglo-American sections. In 1941 six acres of land were added to the first site. Under the care of the Cotulla Cemetery Association since 1915, this is the chief burial ground in La Salle County. #8126
FM468, Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08127
Cotulla City Park. Polish immigrant Joseph Cotulla (1844-1923) migrated to present-day La Salle County in 1865. The town of Cotulla, founded in 1882, became the county seat in 1883, and Joseph donated land for the courthouse and city park. In its early years the park served as a campsite for travelers and ranchers. At the turn of the century a bandstand was built, and concerts and lectures were held at the park. A miniature golf course and playground equipment were added in the 1930s. The site of many cultural and social events, Cotulla City Park has been a center of community life. #8127
Square, south of Courthouse, Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08128
Capt. Jasper N. Daniel. (Oct. 16, 1830 - Aug. 4, 1901) A Georgia native who migrated to Austin County, Texas, in 1853, Jasper N. Daniel was elected to the State Legislature in 1859. During the Civil War (1862-65), he was a captain in the Confederate army. In 1884 Daniel moved with his family to Cotulla. He served as justice of the peace and, from 1892 to 1898, as La Salle County Judge, helping bring order during this area's lawless frontier days. He married Edith Elizabeth Manly (1845-1918) and had 16 children. #8128
?, Cotulla, TX, United States
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Texas Historical Marker #08129
Encinal Presbyterian Church. This church was organized in 1908 by the Rev. Dr. M. W. Doggett, an evangelist for the Presbytery of Western Texas. Two years later, during the supply pastorate of the Rev. Harry W. Hamilton, members constructed a church building at this site. A one-room frame sanctuary, it was built on property donated by local rancher T. A. Coleman. The Rev. Hamilton was later called as the regular minister and served the congregation until his death in 1940, a pastorate of 30 years. Until 1950 the church was the only Protestant fellowship in the community. #8129
?, Encinal, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08130
William Ferdinand Evans. (Jan. 14, 1831 - Jan. 13, 1917) Born in Louisiana, W. F. Evans moved to Polk County, Texas, in 1850, and to Gonzales County in 1856. During the Civil War (1861-65), he served on Galveston Island in Texas coastal defenses, with Co. I, 2D Texas Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, and in Cunningham's Co. C, Mann's Regiment. He married Nancy M. Weathers, and after her death Malissa Justice. He had four children. Cotulla was his home from 1903 to 1917. #8130
?, Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08131
First Baptist Church of Cotulla. In 1882 Joseph Cotulla, founder of the town, gave land for the Baptist Church building. About 1883 or 1884 a missionary, the Rev. W. D. Johnson, organized this fellowship. The congregation worshiped in the Methodist sanctuary until a frame building was erected at this site in 1889. The well-known Baptist minister and educator, the Rev. John Van Epps Covey (1821-1898), preached the first sermon in the new facility. He lived in Cotulla and served as pastor at times until his death. In 1948 a new church building was constructed under the Rev. Jesse Cooke. #8131
201 Frio, Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08132
First Presbyterian Church of Cotulla. On September 4, 1884, the Rev. W. W. Killough, a visiting pastor, established this Presbyterian congregation. Members worshiped in the Methodist and Baptist churches before erecting their own church building in 1891, ;during the ministry of the Rev. A. J. Hall. The Rev. Harry W. Hamilton served as pastor from 1909 until his death in 1940. In 1963 the small frame church was destroyed by fire; only a silver communion service was saved. The present structure was dedicated in 1965. #8132
S. Center at Stewart, Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08133
The First United Methodist Church of Cotulla. The first Protestant church in Cotulla, this congregation was organized in 1881 as the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The first services were held in the home of John Freeman by the Rev. W. H. Keck. In 1883 the members built a frame chapel at the site of the present parsonage. The only church facility in town, it was shared with Presbyterian and Baptist congregations. The current brick sanctuary was constructed in 1906 during the pastorate of the Rev. Temple G. Woolls. An educational building was added in 1928. #8133
302 N. Center, Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08134
La Salle County. The Presidio Rio Grande Road brought travelers to this area for centuries. In 1852 the U. S. Army built and garrisoned Fort Ewell, for protection. The first permanent settler, William A. Waugh, opened a rancho near the Cibolo Crossing on the Spanish Road in 1856. On Feb. 1, 1858, the county was created and named for Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle (1643-1687). The first French explorer of Texas. The county's first post office opened in 1871 at the Guajuco Crossing. County government was organized Nov. 2, 1880, at Crarey's Rancho. Various courthouses existed before 1883, when Cotulla became county seat. #8134
Courthouse Square, Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08135
Nueces River at Texas Boundary. Until 1836 this river formed the undisputed western boundary of Texas. By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed in February, 1848, the boundary line between Mexico and the United States was fixed at the Rio Grande. #8135
?, Cotulla, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08136
John M. Ramsey. (1845-1925) A native of Alabama, John M. Ramsey served in the Confederate army during the Civil War (1862-1865). In 1867 he married Rebecca Alexander (d. 1885), and in 1870 they settled in Lee County, Texas. In 1889, after his wife died, Ramsey moved with his eight children to La Salle County, where he acquired extensive farm and ranch land. A pioneer leader in the community of Artesia Wells, he participated in political affairs and served as a school trustee. #8136
?, Artesia Wells, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08137
William A. Waugh. (1832-1901) An Ohio native who found gold in California in 1849, William A. Waugh settled near the Cibolo Creek Crossing on the Laredo-San Antonio Road in 1856, before La Salle County was created. Waugh served briefly as a Texas Ranger during the border raids called the Cortina War. He was also a merchant, district court clerk, and justice of the peace. Father of three daughters and a son, Waugh contributed significantly to progress in this locality. #8137
?, Millett, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #08138
Welhausen School. Designed by Austin architect Charles H. Page, this brick schoolhouse was completed in 1926 and named for County Judge G. A. Welhausen (1862-1944). Twenty-year-old Lyndon B. Johnson came to Cotulla in 1928-29 and served as teacher and principal at the school, which served the city's Hispanic students for many years. Built in a classically inspired plan with a central block flanked by two low wings, the building features decorative tile panels. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990 #8138
?, Cotulla, TX, United States
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