Local History
Texas Pecan Industry Historical Markers: The Native Nut That Became a Cash Crop
Texas named the pecan its state tree in 1919. Five historical markers, from San Saba to Center Point, trace how growers turned a wild river nut into a cash crop.
Photo: Olive F. / Unsplash. A pecan orchard in leaf.
Drive US 190 into San Saba in late October and you'll see pecans scattered on the shoulder. The trees along the river have been dropping them for centuries. RoadHistorical is a Texas historical preservation platform that maps more than 16,000 official markers across the state. Several of those markers explain how a wild river nut turned into a cash crop. Texas named the pecan its state tree in 1919. These five markers show you the people who made that happen.
The San Saba Nursery Behind the Modern Pecan
Edmond E. Risien, Pecan Pioneer stands on the north side of the San Saba County Courthouse grounds, facing Wallace Street. Risien was born in Dover, England, in 1853. He came to San Saba County in the 1870s and stayed until his death in 1940.
He spent his life upbreeding the native San Saba pecan. Wild pecans run small and hard to crack. Risien picked the best native trees, grafted from them, and did it again for decades. Varieties he originated include Onliwon, San Saba Improved, and Western Schley.
The 42nd Texas Legislature cited him as a world leader in the pecan industry. He also installed the first San Saba water works. His son E. Guy Risien carried on the pecan work. San Saba still calls itself the pecan capital of the world.
The marker is at 500 E. Wallace St., San Saba, TX. Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
The Burkett Pecan Started as One Tree Near Putnam
Burkett Pecan Tree sits about two miles east of Putnam on US 80, in Callahan County. Its marker text runs a single sentence. It credits J. H. Burkett (1861-1945), a Texas pecan industry leader, with breeding the tree from a native in 1900.
A second marker in Eastland fills in the family. Burkett House records Joe Burkett, who with his brother and father discovered and cultivated that original Burkett pecan tree in 1900. He taught school, held county office, and served in the state legislature.
Joe and Fannye Pullig Burkett built the house in 1919 and 1920. It started as a Foursquare with a farm lot and outbuildings. New owners restyled it in the 1930s. The stucco finish, low hipped tile roof, and porte cochere give it a Spanish Colonial Revival look today. It became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1998.
The tree marker sits at this spot on US 80 east of Putnam. The house is at 1301 S. Mulberry St., Eastland, TX. Find them in RoadHistorical before your visit.
Old Oliver and the Kimble County Harvest
The Oliver Pecan stands on FM 2169, about two and a half miles east of Junction. Young P. Oliver came to the area in 1876 from his native Guadalupe County. In 1896 he bought a 640 acre section with hundreds of pecan trees growing on it.
One tree carried the story. Growers called it Old Oliver. It produced 350 to 400 pounds of soft shelled nuts a year, and 800 pounds in 1906.
Oliver grafted buds from Old Oliver onto seedlings raised from its own strain. That's how the Oliver pecan spread. A flood destroyed the original tree in 1935. The strain outlived it, and nut harvesting is still a major Kimble County industry.
The marker is at this spot on FM 2169 east of Junction. Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
The Kerr County Nursery That Sold Texas Its Trees
Mosty Brothers Nursery has been in the same family since 1898. Leander A. Mosty was the son of Belgian immigrants. He worked as a cattle driver and broker in Kansas, then moved to Kerr County in 1897.
He saw a market. The country around him had few trees, and settlers wanted fruit and pecans. Mosty and his wife Elizabeth started an orchard and nursery on a tract along the Guadalupe River. Texas certified the operation in 1907, and it expanded to Center Point the next year.
Mosty developed new pecan and peach varieties that carry his name. After he died in 1917, his sons Lee and Harvey took over. Their wholesale operation grew to rank among the largest in the Southwest. They helped organize the Texas Association of Nurserymen in the 1930s. They also supplied the native plants that landscaped the Texas Centennial Central Exposition grounds in Dallas, now the State Fair grounds.
The Kerrville nursery closed in 1985. The Center Point location still runs, five generations in.
The marker is at 200 Mosty Lane, Center Point, TX. Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
How RoadHistorical Finds These Markers
Discovery Mode runs while you drive. Your phone tells you when a marker is coming up, so you don't blow past the turnoff at 70 miles an hour. Pecan markers sit on ranch roads and courthouse lawns. You'll miss most of them without a heads up.
The AI Tour Guide answers what the plaque leaves out. Ask why grafting mattered, or who else planted Western Schley, and you get an answer at the roadside. Offline mode keeps working in Kimble and Callahan counties, where cell coverage drops out fast.
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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