History
Johnson, Middleton T., Colonel; Cleburne, Patrick R., General
County named for Texas Confederate-- Colonel Middleton T. Johnson, 1810-1866 South Carolinian; Legislator Alabama came to Texas 1840. Member Republic of Texas Congress. Cavalryman in U.S. War with Mexico. Texas Ranger surveyor of early railroads. As colonel raised 14th Texas Cavalry regiment, taking them to Little Rock 1862 for induction C.S.A. service.
Architecture
Joiner-Long House
Joiner-Long House John B. Joiner bought land here from P.C. Chambers and built a one-story farmhouse in 1895. Insurance and real estate salesman Joiner sold the house in 1912 to the long family. Joseph Benjamin Long (1876-1939) moved to Cleburne in 1907 and worked as a banker. He wed Lorena Brown in 1909, and they added the house's second story.
History
Lowell Smith Home
Of pine and poplar lumber and other materials from an 1850 house acquired by John Wesley Smith, Civil War veteran and banker who came to Johnson County in 1868. Built this home 1887. Used square iron nails. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
History
Market Square
Established 1898 when 11 men, not waiting for an expenditure of public money, donated this land to the county "forever". Carries on tradition of "First Monday" (day used for trading in 1890s). Still used for trade of cattle, produce, and gossip among Johnson countians.
History
Marystown Cemetery
MARYSTOWN CEMETERY FAMILIES MOVED TO THIS AREA IN THE 1850s, SETTLING AMONG THE BEAUTIFUL TREES SURROUNDING QUIL MILLER CREEK AND ITS SPRINGS WHICH RAN ALMOST YEAR-ROUND. ONE OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS, CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER J. S. WILSHIRE, FARMED WITH HIS WIFE AND SEVEN CHILDREN BY 1853. IN 1869, THOMAS W. HOLLINGSWORTH OPENED A MILL AND A LARGE MERCANTILE STORE.
History
Menefee Reunion
Yearly gathering of heirs of colonists entering America 1623. Wm. L. Menefee, ancestor of this branch of the family, migrated to Texas 1830; signed Declaration of Independence 1836; was on the commission selecting Capital site at present-day Austin. He served 6 terms in Congress of Republic of Texas, one term in the State Legislature. His sons, H. F. and the Rev. W. O.
History
Meredith Hart House
Built 1856 by Indian fighter, cattleman, Texas Ranger, patriot. Early Texas colonial. Built by slaves. Hand-hewn and pegged foundation. No nails in framing. Timbers carted from Louisiana by oxen.
History
Methodism in Joshua
Prior to the establishment of Joshua as a railroad town in 1881, Methodists in the area worshiped at the Caddo Grove and Marystown communities. A Methodist church was organized in Joshua in 1883 with assistance from the Marystown church. Constituted as part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the congregation is now known as the First United Methodist Church of Joshua.
History
Mizpah Gate
Southwestern Adventist University was founded in 1883 as the Keene Industrial and Missionary Academy. The school was founded with the purpose of training workers to fulfill positions of responsibility within the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination.
History
Oliver Perry Arnold (1826-1905)
An officer noted for integrity. Born in South Carolina. Came to Texas 1847, and engaged in livestock and mercantile business. Spent six years seeking gold in California. Returned to Johnson County, 1859; joined Co. H, Young's regiment, 1861. Served with distinction as Sheriff of Johnson County, 1870-1876. Married Abigail Winchester; they had 12 children.
History
Outlaws Benjamin Bickerstaff and Josiah Thompson
Near this site in 1869, Alvarado citizens ended the lives of outlaws Benjamin Bickerstaff and Josiah Thompson. A former Confederate veteran and prisoner of war, Bickerstaff was wanted for the murder of an African American man in Louisiana shortly after the Civil War.
History
Pioneer Texas Telephones
The first telephones in Texas, in 1878, connected the "Galveston News" with the home of its publisher, Col. A. H. Belo. Galveston also had the first exchange, 1879, and first long-distance line, which ran to Houston, in 1883. Cleburne phone service began 1882 when Automatic Telephone Company opened.
History
Renfro-Clark House
Home of heirs of donor of the Burleson townsite. By providing land for the M.K.T. Railroad line, Henry C. Renfro (deceased 1885) won right to name town for his friend, Dr. Rufus Burleson, a pioneer preacher, president of Waco College (1861-86) and Baylor University (1851-61; 1886-97). This was the first house in the Clark addition, and was built in 1894 by Mrs. Henry C.
History
Rio Vista
Located in an area of Johnson County's earliest settlement, Rio Vista was founded on the railroad in 1885. The townsite, which affords views of both Nolan River and Mustang Creek, was given the spanish name for "River View". The post office that was established in Rio Vista in 1885 was discontinued in 1889, but was reinstated in 1890.
History
Site of Alvarado School, Church and Union Building
In 1854, E.M. Heath petitioned for the formation of Johnson County. That year, William Balch gave this site for a school, church and union meeting-house. Residents constructed a one-room log building for a school and meeting space for Baptist, Methodist, Disciples of Christ and Cumberland Presbyterian congregations, as well as for county officials and community events.
History
Site of Buchanan
(1/4 mile southwest) Johnson County's second seat of government. (Wardville, just west of Nolan River, at U.S. 67, was first). Buchanan, named for president-elect of the United States, was founded in December 1856 on 60-acre townsite donated by John P. Bailey. A jail (first for the county) and office for the district clerk were built 1858.
History
Site of Ezell-McLeroy Cotton Gin
John Ezell (1857-1933) and his family moved from Alabama to Texas in 1867 and settled on a farm near here. The growth of cotton crops increased in Johnson County by the 1890s, and the need for more cotton gins became acute. In 1896 Ezell built a cotton gin on his land located halfway between the communities of Alvarado and Cahill; it became a major business in rural Johnson County.
History
Site of Norman Springs & Norman Grove
William Balch (1804-1870) claimed land around this site as a member of the Peters Colony in 1849. When he returned with his family in 1851, they found a group of Caddo Indians camping on one side of the springs. The Balch family built their cabin on the other side and lived peaceably with their neighbors. Other Caddo were living in the area that became Alvarado.
History
The Interurban in Burleson
At the turn of the 20th century, the Northern Texas Traction Co. found success with an interurban railway that operated between Fort Worth and Dallas. In 1911, a group began planning a new interurban that would run from Fort Worth to Cleburne by way of Everman, Burleson and Joshua.
History
The Texas World War II Home Front
World War II brought a shared sense of patriotism and purpose to the Texas home front as civilians benefited from new or expanded war industry jobs, such as petroleum, lumber, bomber manufacturing and farming. However, the large number of Texans seeking employment in larger cities or joining the military created an extreme labor shortage in many smaller communities.
History
Town of Grandview
(Original Site One Mile Northwest) Settled in 1850 on land grant from Governor Elisha M. Pease. Supplies were hauled by ox wagon from Houston. A visitor exclaimed, "What a grand view!" which gave community its name. Church organized 1853. Post office opened in 1856. Masonic lodge (county's first) founded 1860. Town moved to this site, on Missouri-Kansas-Texas rail line, in 1883.
History
Union Hill Presbyterian Church and Cemetery
Settlement in this area began in the early 1850s. By the 1870s Union Hill had developed into a small rural community of families primarily engaged in cotton farming. In 1879 a presbyterian congregation was organized in Union Hill through the efforts of the Rev. J. S. Davenport. The congregation erected a one-room church building at this site in 1880. In 1882 W. P.
History
Watts Chapel Methodist Church and Cemetery
The rural Watts Chapel community is named for the family of Nathaniel Franklin Watts (1851-1919), who settled in this area of Johnson County in 1872. Watts married Rachel Ann Bennett in 1875, and they bought a small farm near this site. They acquired additional acreage over the years and operated a cotton gin for farmers in the region. Mr. Watts later served as a Johnson County commissioner.
History
Wilkinson Family Cemetery
Henry and Sarah Ann (Weldon) Wilkinson and their seven children left their former home in Mississippi in November 1866 to travel to Texas. Their journey in two ox-drawn wagons lasted 62 days, and they settled near this site in January 1867. The family rented land upon their arrival, and in 1869 purchased 762 acres on which they established a farm.
Civic & Local
Yellow Jacket Stadium
In 1939, work began to replace Rhome Field, where Cleburne High played home football games for twenty years. The Works Projects Administration (WPA) provided most of the funding for the new $80,000 stadium built from concrete and rough cut Somervell County limestone. It opened in fall 1941, with ivy-covered stands, pilasters, seating for 3800, ticket windows, and dressing rooms.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
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