Local History
Texas Early Settler Historical Markers: The First Families and What They Found
Texas has more than 16,000 historical markers, and hundreds honor the first settler families. Here are early settler markers you can visit and the real people behind them.
Photo: Bryan Dickerson / Unsplash. Texas Hill Country.
You're driving a two-lane road through the Texas Hill Country, and a small granite marker flashes past on the shoulder. Behind it once stood a log cabin, a family, and a decision to start over on land no one they knew had seen. Texas holds more than 16,000 official historical markers, and hundreds of them tell the story of the state's first settler families. RoadHistorical is a Texas historical preservation platform that helps you find these markers as you drive. This guide walks you through early settler markers you can visit, the real families behind them, and what they found when they arrived.
The First Family in Bandera
When Amasa Clark reached the future town of Bandera in 1852, only three families lived there. They camped in tents and cut cypress shingles from the timber along the river. Clark was a veteran of the Mexican War. He became the first permanent settler of Bandera.
He planted an orchard and ran a nursery on his homestead for decades. He lived to 101, from 1825 to 1927. That was long enough to watch a tent camp grow into a Hill Country town. The Clark Family Cemetery sits on his original homestead and holds several generations of the family. The Texas Historical Commission placed the marker here in 1990.
Visit Clark Family Cemetery, Bandera, TX. Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
A Homestead Built on Foot in Parker County
In December 1846, William Woody and his family set out for Texas on foot. Bill Woody was born in 1824. He became one of the first Anglo settlers in Parker County. The walk took the family across rough country with everything they owned.
They finished building their home by 1855, near present-day Springtown. Woody lived until 1915. He saw the frontier he once crossed fill in around him. The William and Elisabeth Woody Homestead marker stands at the site today.
Visit 7903 Old Springtown Road, Springtown, TX 76082. Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
Eight Children and 2,000 Acres near Austin
Frederick and Harriet Bachman Jourdan came to the land north of Austin with eight children. They built a farm from nothing and kept adding to it. Over the years the family holdings grew to roughly 2,000 acres.
Today the site is the Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farms, a living-history farm where you can walk the same ground the family worked. The marker tells the story of one family that helped settle Travis County. You can still see how a homestead turned into a working farm.
Visit 10621 Pioneer Farms Dr, Austin, TX 78754. Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
A Farmstead in Mesquite Built After the War
Benjamin Franklin Galloway came to Texas from Tennessee in 1872. He was a Confederate veteran, and he was looking for land and a fresh start. In 1874 he bought 101 acres in what is now Mesquite.
The family worked the land for generations. The Galloway Farmstead marker records their arrival and the farm they built east of Dallas. It's a reminder that Texas settlement kept going well after the frontier era most people picture.
Visit 18680 Interstate 635, Mesquite, TX. Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
How RoadHistorical Finds These Markers
RoadHistorical runs Discovery Mode in the background as you drive. When you pass one of these markers, the app notifies you. You never miss a stop just because you didn't know it was there.
Each marker also comes with an AI Tour Guide that answers questions the plaque can't fit. Want to know what cypress shingles were worth in 1852, or where the Woody family went after 1855? Ask. The app works offline too, so it keeps guiding you through the back roads where cell coverage drops out.
Start Discovering Texas History Today
RoadHistorical is free to download on iPhone and Android. Download it here and turn on Discovery Mode before your next drive. Android users can download RoadHistorical from Google Play.
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