Johnson County, Texas
Alvarado is home to 17 official Texas Historical Commission markers — each one telling a piece of the city’s story. Browse the markers below, then find them on the map and discover more nearby with RoadHistorical.
Held early services in hall put up by Wm. Balch, who in 1851 founded Alvarado. First church built 1866, burned 1885. This Victorian building with spire and lancet windows, 1886-1887 annexes 1940, 1950, 1960. Still has…
View on map ↗Nancy and Aquilla Cahill came to Texas in 1859 and settled in this area. The community which grew up around their farm was known as Cahill. In 1893 land for a Methodist church and cemetery was deeded by Sarah E.…
View on map ↗One of the largest events of its kind in Texas, the Johnson County Pioneers and Old Settlers Reunion traces its beginnings to 1892, when local farmer and newspaper correspondent John James (1852-1927) proposed the idea…
View on map ↗Alanson Asbury (A. A.) Head (1843-1925) and his wife, Susanna Alabama Bethany (1843-1924) built a two-story residence here about 1877. Over the years A. A. and Susanna, known as Uncle Ben and Aunt Sukie, terraced about…
View on map ↗Early settler David Mitchell established a trading post near here in the late 1840s, about the time colonists of W. S. Peters' empresario grant began to settle the area. Colonist William Balch, who settled on an area…
View on map ↗This graveyard was established in 1856 adjacent to the Balch Cemetery for the African American population following the death of a slave girl killed by a black bear. The girl had come to Alvarado with George Sigler and…
View on map ↗Dr. John Duke (1827-1884), his wife Martha (1836-1888), and their family moved to Johnson County in 1854. They established a farm in the area later called the Willow Springs Community. When their ten-year-old daughter…
View on map ↗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…
View on map ↗Samuel Houston Myers (1810-1874) and his wife Martha "Patsy" Wallace Myers came to Texas with their six children in 1851. Patsy Myers died in 1853; Sam Houston married Cynthia Ann Bales in 1854; she bore 5 children and…
View on map ↗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…
View on map ↗Alvarado Masonic Lodge No. 314 A.F. & A.M. Chartered in 1869, the Alvarado Masonic Lodge began under leadership of A. J. Chambers, J. C. Weaver and Joel Higgins. From its earliest years it offered strong support of…
View on map ↗Bethany Rest Cemetery A small group of settlers from Alabama arrived in the Alvarado area, near Chambers Creek, in 1857. Among them were the Frost, Newby, Murphree and Head families. The family of Sampson and Betty Ann…
View on map ↗Settlers came to Alvarado in the 1850s, and area Baptists are believed to have gathered for several years before formally organizing a church on October 6, 1861. Members first met at the community's Union Building,…
View on map ↗Two early area families established cemeteries at this site in the 1870s. During that time, the Campbell and Sansom families purchased land in this vicinity. The first documented burial is that of seven-month-old Ula…
View on map ↗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…
View on map ↗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…
View on map ↗RoadHistorical maps all 15,000+ Texas historical markers and alerts you as you pass them. Free to download.
Keep exploring