Browse by county
Featured places available on the Whistlestop audio tour guide app
This is a sample of locations — there are many more audio stories on the app.
- Civic & Local·Taylor County
"Miss Clara" Bussell
(Sept. 6, 1902 - July 5, 1966) Joined staff, West Texas Chamber of Commerce Feb. 26, 1920; was office manager 40 years. Worked unselfishly through day of death. Her love for West Texas and dedication to W.T.C.C. ideals did much to develop regional progress. Devoted life to making West Texas a better place to live. Outstanding Women of Texas series, 1967.
- History·McLennan County
"The Waco Horror"
The history of McLennan County, like that of Texas and the nation, is marred by institutional racism sometimes manifested in violence. From 1860 through 1922, 43 lynchings were documented here. Following reconstruction, most victims were black. Jim Crow Laws and acts of violence were used to disenfranchise, segregate and impede the advancement of African Americans. The most notorious local act of racial violence occurred in 1916. On May 8th, in the farming community of Robinson, Mrs.
- Military·Taylor County
12th Armored Division at Camp Barkeley
Established as a U.S. Army training camp in 1940, Camp Barkeley (whose main entrance was about seven miles south of this site) became one of the nation's largest World War II military training bases. The 12th Armored Division, activated at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, in September 1942, was assigned to Camp Barkeley in November 1943.
- History·El Paso County
1966 Texas Western Basketball National Champions
Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) was the first institution of higher education in a southern state to integrate, with a dozen African American students enrolling in 1955. Charles Brown became the Miners' first Black basketball player in the 1956-57 season, followed by several others under head coaches George McCarty and Harold Davis. Coach Don Haskins arrived in 1961 for the first of 38 seasons and continued to recruit Black players.
- History·King County
6666 Ranch
In 1868, Samuel "Burk" Burnett (1849-1922) purchased 100 head of cattle branded with the (Four Sixes) mark from Frank Crowley of Denton and established a ranch in Wichita County. In 1893, Burnett began moving his operations further west. After buying the 141,000-acre "8" ranch in southeast King County from the Louisville Land and Cattle Company, he began moving cattle here in 1900.
- History·Hill County
Abbott Schools
The public school system in Abbott began in 1885 when a one-story frame schoolhouse was constructed on the east side of town. It housed 140 pupils and three teachers. A two-story brick structure, built at this site in 1911, served the Abbott school system for 55 years. The schools were given full accreditation about 1934, and a vocational agriculture program was begun in 1939. Consolidation with surrounding area districts has increased enrollment over the years.
- History·Taylor County
Abilene Christian University
This school, formed to provide a Christian education for all grade levels, was founded in 1906 by A. B. Barret, an early educator and preacher for Texas Churches of Christ. It was first called Childers Classical Institute in honor of Colonel J. W. Childers, who deeded his homesite at North 1st and Victoria streets for use as a campus. Early expansion of the institution began in 1912 with the 12-year presidency of Jesse P. Sewell.
- History·Taylor County
Abilene Negro High School
The first public school for African Americans in Abilene was established in 1890. Located in the 200 block of Plum Street, the one-room school was named the Abilene Colored School. Its first class consisted of 22 students and one teacher. In 1902 the school moved to a one-room structure built at North 7th and Magnolia, and had two teachers serving 84 students. The colored school held its first graduation in 1923 at the Macedonia Baptist Church for one student.
- History·Taylor County
Abilene Reporter-News
The oldest existing business institution in Abilene is the Reporter Publishing Company, started by C. E. Gilbert. The first newspaper was printed on June 17, 1881, three months after the town was founded. Soon after Gilbert began publication, a fire destroyed several buildings in town, including his office. He rode the train to Baird (21 miles east) and, using borrowed presses, published an "extra" edition about the blaze. Two other Abilene papers were started in the 1880s. Part-time preacher W.
- History·Taylor County
Abilene State School
The Texas Legislature provided for the establishment of this institution in 1899 as a center for the treatment of epilepsy. Opened in 1904 under the direction of Dr. John Preton, it was largely self-sufficient, with surrounding land used for raising crops and livestock. Significant research on epilepsy was conducted here by Dr. T. B. Bass, superintendent from 1909 to 1943.
- Architecture·Taylor County
Abilene Woman's Club Building
Founded in 1928, the Abilene Woman's Club had several club homes before hiring noted architect David S. Castle to design a clubhouse at this site, then on the edge of town. Contractor Oscar Rose completed the structure in 1955, and the building's construction and subsequent use influenced further development of south Abilene. With numerous meeting spaces and a great hall, the clubhouse serves many cultural and civic organizations and programs.
- History·Hood County
Acton Cemetery
Location of Acton historic site, smallest state park in Texas. Includes the grave of Mrs. Elizabeth P. Crockett (1788-1860), widow of the Alamo hero David Crockett, and 2 of his children. In 1911 a monument and statue were erected to her memory. Acton (formerly Comanche Peak post office) was named in 1855 by C.P. Hollis, first merchant in town. In spite of early name, Acton had few Comanche raids. After erecting a building for church and school, area pioneers selected this plot as cemetery.
- History·Bexar County
Alamo Low Barracks and Main Gateway
Mission San Antonio de Valero, established nearby in 1718, was relocated here in 1724. By 1762, the Mission Plaza was enclosed by thick stone and adobe walls. The 11 x 14-foot main gateway was located at this site along the south wall. In 1803 Spanish cavalry from San Carlos de Parras del Alamo, Mexico, occupied the secularized mission and built one-story (low) barracks inside the south wall on each side of the main gateway.
- Sports·Harris County
Astrodome
Judge Roy Hofheinz envisioned the world's first air-conditioned fully enclosed multi-purpose stadium by 1960. Officially named the Harris County Domed Stadium, ground was broken for the home of Major League Baseball's Houston Colt .45s on January 3, 1962, with Colt .45 pistols fired into the soil.
- Military·Hunt County
Audie Murphy
Most decorated soldier in World War II. Born 4.5 miles south, June 20, 1924, sixth of nine children of tenant farmers Emmett and Josie Killian Murphy. Living on various farms, Audie Murphy went to school through the 8th grade in Celeste -- considered the family's home town. He had to quit school to help support the family, acquiring marksmanship skills by hunting to provide food.
- Nature·Travis County
Barton Springs
Clear and icy, these springs over the years have drawn Indians, pioneers, and tourists to this spot. The waters are brought from the limestone strata to the surface by the Balcones Fault, which bisects Central Texas. Average flow is 27,000,000 gallons daily. During 1730-1731, Spanish friars located three missions here. Colorful settler William "Uncle Billy" Barton patented the land about 1837, naming two of the springs for his daughters Parthenia and Eliza.
- History·Goliad County
Battle of Coleto and Goliad Massacre
After the fall of the Alamo, March 6, 1836, Colonel James Walker Fannin, with about 400 soldiers, mostly volunteers from the United States in the Texas War for Independence, was ordered by Texas General Sam Houston to retreat from Goliad to Victoria. March 19, the heavy Mexican force of General Urrea surrounded the withdrawing Texas contingent near Coleto Creek, and bitter fighting ensued. Fannin's volunteers hurled back the assaults of the Mexican force.
- History·Galveston County
Battle of Galveston
As part of the Union blockade of the Texas coast, Commander W. B. Renshaw led his small fleet into Galveston harbor to demand the surrender of this most important Texas port on October 4, 1862. Largely unguarded, as it was considered indefensible, the city surrendered after an exchange of gunfire. Major General J. B. Magruder was placed in charge of the Confederate forces in Texas after the loss of Galveston. He quickly organized a plan for the island's recapture.
- History·Gonzales County
Battle of Gonzales
The first battle of the Texas Revolution, fought on the west side of the Guadalupe River about four miles above Gonzales on October 2, 1835, came to be known as the Lexington of Texas. The incident grew out of Col. Domingo de Ugartechea's demand late in September for a cannon given to the settlement for defense against Indians. When the colonists refused to deliver the cannon, Ugartechea sent 150 Dragoons to demand the weapon.
- Military·Harris County
Battle of San Jacinto
At mid-afternoon April 21, 1836, two miles to the north, General Sam Houston with about 1,000 Texans in 18 minutes annihilated the 1,400-man army of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, President of Mexico. Screened by trees and rising ground, Houston's men formed with Edward Burleson's regiment at center, Sidney Sherman's on the left wing, artillery under George W. Hockley on Burleson's right, the infantry under Henry Millard on the right of the artillery. Under M. B.
- History·Gillespie County
Birthplace of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN
Typical early Fredericksburg home built 1866 by Carl Basse. Property of the Henke family since 1873. Heinrich Henke, early settler, Confederate freighter, had butcher counter on front porch; meat processing was done in back yard; there the horses that pulled meat vending cart were stabled. Shop later built on foundation of stone walls surrounding lot. He and his wife Dorothea (nee Weirich) added the long dining room and kitchen with sloped roof to accommodate their twelve children.
- History·Freestone County
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Born near Wortham. As a young street musician, played a guitar and sang spirituals and blues. Composed many of his songs, and had a distinctive vocal style. From Dallas' Deep Ellum district went to Chicago in 1920's with a talent scout; made 79 great jazz and blues recordings. One of America's outstanding original musicians, influenced Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Bessie Smith, and other great artists. Recorded - 1967
- History·Jefferson County
Blind Willie Johnson
Willie Johnson was born near Independence, Texas, in 1897 to Willie and Mary (Fields) Johnson. His family moved to Marlin when Johnson was a young boy, and it was there that he first learned gospel songs at church; his first guitar was said to be made from a cigar box. Johnson lost his sight as a child, possibly as the result of an accident at home. Johnson grew up in and around Marlin singing on the streets there and in nearby Hearne.
- Industry & Science·Washington County
Blue Bell Creameries
In August 1907, the Brenham Creamery Company formed to purchase excess dairy products from farmers and produce butter local sales. In 1911, the creamery began making ice cream, producing a maximum of two gallons each day. E.F. Kruse, who managed the creamery from 1919 to 1951, changed the company's name to Blue Bell Creameries in 1930. During the company's early years, management set the tone for careful business practices and respect for tradition.
- Quirky·Motley County
Bob's Oil Well
Greenville, Texas native Luther Bedford "Bob" Robertson (1894-1947), a veteran of World War I, came to Matador in the 1920s. He was a gas station attendant in 1932 when he decided to open a service station here. To promote his new business, he built a wooden oil derrick over the station. He patented his design, and in 1939 replaced the wooden derrick with one of steel that reached 84 feet in height and included lights.
- Music History·Travis County
Broken Spoke
In 1964, Austin native James M. White (1939-2021) opened a new dance hall and restaurant south of the city limits at a former lumberyard on South Lamar. It was designed in the style of a traditional honky tonk, and patrons danced to jukebox records and live bands on weekends. The Broken Spoke was so popular that White enlarged the facility with a dance hall and stage.
- Military·Wheeler County
Buffalo Soldiers at Fort Elliott
Fort Elliott, established June 5, 1875 to help keep Native Americans on their Indian Territory Reservations, was partially garrisoned by African American soldiers called 'buffalo soldiers' by Native Americans. Various companies of the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry were stationed at Fort Elliott in its 15-year existence.
- History·Val Verde County
Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz
In 1910, publishing titan William Randolph Hearst offered $50,000 to the first person to successfully complete a transcontinental flight across America in 30 days, with a stop in Chicago, Illinois. Adventurer and newly-trained aviator Calbraith "Cal" Perry Rodgers sought sponsorship from the Armour Meatpacking Company to bankroll his attempt. In return, Rodgers agreed to promote Armour's new grape-flavored soft drink called Vin Fiz.
- Military·Travis County
Camp Ben McCulloch
Camp Ben McCulloch, near Driftwood in Hays County, was organized in the summer of 1896 as a reunion camp for Confederate veterans and named for Benjamin McCulloch. The first commander was Capt. M. L. Reed of Henly. Annual three-day reunions were held at the camp, often with 5,000 to 6,000 persons attending. In 1930 Ben McCulloch was said to be the largest Confederate camp in existence.
- History·Palo Pinto County
Charles Goodnight
Here at Black Springs in the Keechi Valley in 1857, the celebrated pioneer open range cowman and trail driver Charles Goodnight (1836-1929) located his first ranch on the extreme Indian frontier of Texas. From here he took part in the 1860 Pease River fight when Cynthia Ann Parker was recaptured from Comanches, he served as scout and guide for the Texas Rangers during the Civil War and in 1866 he laid out the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail, over which thousands of longhorns were driven to market…
- History·Taylor County
Claiborne Walker Merchant
(August 31, 1836 - March 9, 1926) Claiborne W. Merchant and his twin, John, were born in Nacogdoches. "Clabe" married Frances Bell in 1856. He served in the Confederate army and later became a cattle rancher. Merchant established his first ranch in 1874 in Callahan County and began acquiring land in neighboring Taylor County prior to the arrival of the railroad in 1881. When Abilene was established, Merchant, a city founder, named the new town after Abilene, Kansas.
- Industry & Science·Navarro County
Collin Street Bakery
Opened two blocks north of this site in 1896, by August Weidmann, an immigrant baker from Wiesbaden, Germany, and W. T. McElwee, a local cotton buyer. Combining the talents of a baker whose pride and joy was baking a better cake with the flare of a man whose business ability had a touch of the sensational was a move that resulted in a most unusual and successful business enterprise. One of Weidmann's few assets was an unknown cake recipe.
- History·El Paso County
Concordia Cemetery
Known as Concordia during the 1840s, this area was the home of Chihuahua trader Hugh Stephenson. In 1856 his wife, Juana (Ascarate), was buried in what is now part of Concordia Cemetery. The graveyard gained widespread use in the 1880s when El Pasoans drove three miles to Concordia to bury their dead. By 1890 various sections had been purchased by different groups and were designated Catholic, Masonic, Jewish, Black, Chinese, Military, Jesuit, city, and county.
- History·Zavala County
Crystal City Family Internment Camp, World War II
When the U.S. entered the war in 1941, an immediate fear was the possibility of enemy agents in the country and the Western Hemisphere. As one response, thousands of Japanese-Americans were moved away from the West Coast. Lesser-known was an internment camp system operated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The government built these camps to hold Japanese, German and Italian nationals arrested in the U.S.
- History·Wheeler County
Custer on the Sweetwater
Sweetwater Creek was essential to millions of southern buffalo In a region known as the Comancheria. Plains Indians camped along this freshwater stream to seek shelter from harsh winters. As Anglos continued to settle the southern plains, the incompatible cultures fought for survival. On two separate occasions in 1868, members of the Cheyenne and Sioux tribes kidnapped two Anglo women from Kansas, Sarah White and Anna Brewster Morgan.
- History·Hill County
Czech Settlers in Hill County
One of the most influential and numerous national groups to settle in Hill County, Czechs came to this area from Fayette County and the province of Moravia in Austria-Hungary. Many sought greater freedom due to barriers to attaining national status in the old country, political restraints, introduction of German into the schools, and compulsory military service. Land agents painted a rosy picture of opportunities awaiting those who purchased cheap state university lands in this region.
- History·Travis County
Desegregation of Texas Public Schools
The State of Texas instituted a public school system for African-American students during Reconstruction. This segregation of students was further established through the 1896 United States Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the legality of the doctrine, "separate but equal." Desegragation of schools began after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 that segregated schools were unconstitutional.
- Nature·Somervell County
Dinosaur Tracks
Formed 100,000,000 years ago, tracks of 3 kinds of dinosaurs are preserved in the limestone below Paluxy River. Types include Acrocanthosaurus (a meat-eater), Camptosaurus (plant-eater who left 3-toed bird-like tracks), and Pleurocoelus (a plant-eater who made huge 5-toed prints). For years following their discovery (about 1910), the tracks remained a novelty. When Paluxy River ran low, farmers caught catfish stranded in them.
- Military·McLennan County
Doris Miller
Doris (Dorie) Miller was reared on a farm in McLennan County, Texas, and attended Waco's A.J. Moore High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was assigned to the battleship "USS West Virginia" in 1940. The "West Virginia" was docked in Pearl Harbor when it was struck by a Japanese torpedo on December 7, 1941. Moments after the torpedo hit, an explosion on a nearby ship showered the "West Virginia's" deck with burning debris and flaming oil.
- History·Taylor County
Dr. William and Beatrice Butler Home
Dr. William H. Butler, Sr., was the first African American physician to practice medicine in Abilene. He was born in Dec. 1875 in Palestine (Anderson co.), where he attended grade and high school. He continued his education at Wiley College in Marshall (Harrison Co.). In 1910, Dr. Butler received his degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, one of the few institutions in the U.S. That issued medical degrees to African Americans at the time. After moving to Abilene, Dr.
- History·Taylor County
Drummond Cemetery
In 1879, after her husband's death in Jamaica, Helen Fanny Harris Drummond returned with her children to England. She immigrated with them to the United States in 1885, settling in Brazos County, Texas. In October 1891, she purchased 100 acres in Taylor County, including this site, from the Hammond family. By 1895, she had donated two acres for the Drummond Cemetery; the deed for the property was officially recorded in 1901. The earliest grave is believed to be that of an infant buried in 1892.
- History·Erath County
Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company
Sam Houston Prim (1863-1946) arrived in Dublin in 1891 with $680 worth of bottling equiment, purchasing property at the southeast corner of Patrick and Elm streets to house his bottling works. Prim bottled Dr Pepper, along with other products, under an informal agreement until 1925, when he formally chose as a Dr Pepper distribution territory a 44-mile radius centered on Dublin -- an area that remains as the company's territory today.
- History·Taylor County
Dyess Elementary School
On January 21, 1963, Dyess Elementary was the first school in the Abilene Independent School District to integrate all students. African American military families living on Dyess Air Force Base were previously forced to send their children to the segregated Woodson School, which was located further from the base than Dyess Elementary. Although the U.S.
- History·Taylor County
Eugenia Pickard
A philanthropic African American woman greatly improved Abilene's minority neighborhoods. Eugenia Pickard was born in Georgia about 1877. She moved to Texas in the early 1900s and settled in Abilene. Here she owned several properties and made them available for no rent to poor families with children. She also provided places to play to African American children who had no public parks.
- History·Live Oak County
Felix Longoria
The funeral rites of Three Rivers native Felix Longoria advanced public debate on the status and rights of Mexican-Americans and military veterans. Private first class Longoria enlisted in the U.S. Army in Nov. 1944 and was killed during the Battle of Luzon in the Philippines. His parents received his posthumous medals, while his wife and daughter moved to Corpus Christi after the war.
- History·Taylor County
Fletcher Ranch
In 1878 James Robert Fletcher, his wife, and son Lorenzo Thomas (1868-1939) came here from Granbury. Their caravan included a small herd of cattle and work animals. A carpenter came to construct a two-story ranch house. Fletcher filed for a patent on this land because of the nearby spring-fed creek, large trees for wood, coved for animal protection and ample grass. The first spring Fletcher planted sorghum for his cattle, making this one of the first cultivated areas in the county.
- History·Limestone County
Fort Parker
Built 1834 for protection from Indians. Named for leaders who bought first Predestinarian Baptist church body to Texas: Elder Daniel Parker; his father, Elder John; brothers Jas. W., Benjamin, Silas, John. Also here were Kellogg, Frost, Nixon, Duty and Plummer families on May 18, 1836, raiding Comanches killed Benjamin, John and Silas Parker, Samuel and Robert Frost and others; captured Elizabeth Kellogg, Rachel Plummer and son James, and Sila's children, John and Cynthia Ann in captivity,…
- History·Tarrant County
Fort Worth Stockyards Horse and Mule Barns
The Fort Worth Stock Yard Company's wooden horse and mule barns on this site were destroyed by fire on March 14, 1911, opening day of the Feeders and Breeders show (later Southwestern Exposition & Fat Stock Show). The show opened as planned, with former President Theodore Roosevelt giving the opening address. The company announced plans to replace the destroyed barns immediately with new concrete and steel fireproof buildings.
- History·Galveston County
Galveston Island
Few spots have played a more exciting role in the life of Texas than Galveston Island. Cabeza de Vaca, the Spanish explorer, wrote of the cannibalistic Karankawa Indians when he was shipwrecked here in 1528. The island became headquarters for Jean Lafitte and other adventurers between 1815 and 1821. Importance of the harbor was recognized as early as 1825 when Stephen F. Austin petitioned the Mexican government to establish a port.
- History·Midland County
George W. Bush Childhood Home
George Herbert Walker Bush and wife Barbara (Pierce) came to Texas in 1948, moving to Midland with son George Walker Bush in 1950. They bought this home in 1951 and while here faced the loss of daughter Robin and celebrated the birth of two sons. The years spent here were vital for young George, who attended Sam Houston Elementary, made lifelong friends and played baseball. The family moved to a larger home in 1955 and then to Houston. This c.