History
M. R. (Boss) Greene
(Oct. 14, 1843 - May 12, 1877) Deputy U.S. Marshal: pursued Dee and James Bailey for passing counterfeit quarters in Comanche. After 10 mile chase, he captured and disarmed brothers. Catching Greene off guard (because of an unruly horse), one prisoner took Greene's rifle and shot him. He returned fire with hand gun but was fatally wounded in exchange.
Architecture
McCrary House
James Madison McCrary (1845-1932) came to Comanche about 1870. With his father and brother he operated a mercantile on the town square and began the county's first cotton gin. He married Ella Griffith in 1872 and began construction of this house in 1876. Built of limestone quarried near Austin, the central-hall structure features segmental arches and gable-end chimneys.
History
Mollie E. Moore
(1844-1909) During the Civil War, wrote poems Texans memorized, cut out of newspapers, sent their boys on the battlefront: about the deaths of heroes, Texans' units, Confederate victories and such topics. She also did social work and nursing at Camp Ford, Tyler. She was a lively, spirited girl who went horseback riding with a pistol strapped to her side.
History
Newburg Cemetery
Pioneer settlers of this area of Comanche County arrived in the mid-1850s and established a town named for the nearby South Leon River. P.W. Brewer set aside land for a cemetery and church in 1872. Although earlier unmarked burials exist here, the oldest documented grave is that of Rosie E. McCurdy, who died in 1875.
History
Nineveh Cemetery
Settlement in the community that became known as Nineveh began as some southerners moved west after the close of the Civil War. In 1886, Hezekiah Bellamy gave two acres for a school and cemetery around this site. A young schoolmaster who was a graduate of Harvard University in Massachusetts named the school and cemetery for Nineveh in ancient Assyria.
History
Oakland Cemetery
Settlement of Oakland community, which was named for the abundant live oak trees in the area, began in the early 1860s. H. S. Anglin and Sarah Frances Weaver were married in 1872, and they moved to Oakland in 1875. Brother Anglin, as H. S. was known, was a circuit riding Methodist minister who built the church in Oakland while also serving nine churches in nearby communitites.
History
Oakwood Cemetery
Reconfiguration of Comanche County by the state in 1858 led to a relocation of its county seat. In 1859 local land developer Captain John Duncan donated 200 acres here for a townsite to served as Comanche County seat. Duncan's deed specified that sufficient portions of the donated acreage be set aside for a graveyard, churches, and schools. A cemetery consisting of about 5.
History
Old Cora Courthouse
Soon after the creation of Comanche County in 1856, the town of Cora (10 mi. SE) was platted to serve as the county seat. The courthouse in Cora, typical of many early Texas courthouses, was a 12' 7" x 12" 10", one-room, squared log structure. It served the county until the seat of government was moved to Comanche in 1859.
History
Old Corn Trail
Surveyed in 1850 by Army engineers, this was the first wagon road to penetrate this area. Point of origin was San Antonio, site of U.S. Army District Headquarters after annexation of Texas in 1846. This segment of road extended from Fort Gates (in Coryell County) to Fort Griffin (Shackelford County) and Fort Belknap (Young County).
History
Old Proctor
One mile northeast of this well stood Old Proctor, named for A.W. Proctor who gave land for first school. Town moved here in 1890 when construction halted on the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railroad. Considered for county seat since rail freight was shipped here. In 20 years following coming of railroad, town developed into an important business center.
History
Pendergrass Cemetery
Pioneer farmer and rancher William Pendergrass (1818-98) and his wife, Emaline (1819-1907), moved from Tennessee to Smith County, Texas, in 1849. They first came to Comanche County in 1859, then settled here permanently after a brief return to Smith County (1866-73). Some of the Pendergrasses' nine children also settled in this area.
History
Proctor Cemetery
The land on which this cemetery is located was once part of a farm owned by the pioneer Larkin Gyger family. The first person interred here was W.B. Long (1817-1875), a Methodist minister and neighbor of the Gyger family. As the small town of Proctor began to grow with the arrival of the railroad in the 1890s, this gradually became a community graveyard.
History
Robert Thomas Hill
Robert Thomas Hill began life on August 11, 1858, in the aristocratic comforts of his parents' Nashville, Tennessee, home. His family, however, suffered tragic losses during the Civil War and by 1864 young Robert was an orphan living in his grandmother's Nashville home.
History
Site of Indian Creek Community
One of the first settlements in Comanche County; founded in 1851 by John A. McGuire. The first public building here was a stockade that enclosed several log cabins. Named "Double Pens" for its double walls, it was a storehouse for emergency supplies of grain, water and other food to be used by the settlers when they took refuge there during Indian raids.
History
Site of Swann Hill School
John Henry Swann deeded this land about 1900 for educational purposes so that area children would not have to travel to Little Valley (3 mi. N) to school. In response, the Little Valley School closed and its building was relocated here. At its peak, Swann Hill offered ten grades of instruction to more than 100 students. In 1929, it was consolidated with the Pettit School (2 mi.
Transport
St. Louis and San Francisco (Frisco) Railway Depot
The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway extended tracks to Comanche in 1890 and built depots and a section house. The St. Louis and San Francisco Railway acquired the line in 1901, and in 1909 built this depot to replace an earlier frame structure. The one-story brick and limestone prairie school style building has a rectangular floor plan, wide overhanging eaves, and a hipped terra cotta tile roof.
Architecture
St. Matthews Episcopal Church
The earliest Episcopal worship services in the Comanche area were conducted in the late 1870s by Bishop Alexander C. Garrett of Dallas. In 1886, soon after the organization of the St. Matthews congregation, work began on this frame building.
Transport
Texas Central Railroad
Railroad construction in Texas, interrupted by the Civil War and by the national economic depression of the early 1870s, began a period of recovery in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Chartered on May 31, 1879, the Texas Central Railway was owned by the Houston & Texas Central Railway and was in competition with the Texas Pacific to build a line westward through North Central Texas.
History
Texas Ranger Captain James Cunningham
Born in Alabama, settled in Comanche County, 1855. Commander of Texas Ranger Company stationed in Comanche County, 1858. Helped bring law and order to county--drove out renegades and wild Indians. Cunningham commanded men from Comanche County in Dove Creek Battle, Jan. 8, 1864 (500 white men against 1,000 Indians). His sons became sheriffs in Comanche, Mills and Taylor counties. Recorded - 1967
History
Toliver Cemetery
Burial place of pioneers, including James H. Neel (east center plot), one of first seven men to bring families here (1852), four years before county was organized. His home was a quarter-mile east. He was postmaster, Resley's Creek Village, Sept. 17, 1858 to Nov. 5, 1866. (1967)
Elsewhere in Texas
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