Historical Markers in Cleburne, Texas

Johnson County · 1936

Named for Middleton T. Johnson (1810-1866), native of South Carolina, for 7 terms an Alabama legislator, a leading Texan after 1840. Served in 9th Texas Legislature; in Texas Rangers, Mexican War, Civil War. County…

Johnson, Middleton T., Colonel; Cleburne, Patrick R., General · 1963

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…

Dotey-Kirkham House (Little Old House) · 1965

Believed to have been built in the late 1860s or early 1870s, soon after Cleburne was established, the house is within “water-totin” distance of what became known as City Spring on West Buffalo Creek. This single-story,…

City Wagon Yards · 1966

Were meeting places for early rural folks coming to town to buy, sell, trade, catch up on latest news. Here on this lot farmers, travelers for "two bits" got feed, water for teams; crude overnight accommodations. Wagon…

Site of Old Picnic Grounds · 1966

Had wood, water. Was used after 1854 start of Camp Henderson (named for land owner-townsite donor) for decisive public meetings. In 1867 Camp Henderson became county seat. Then men at 4th of July picnic here named town…

Site of the Old City Spring · 1966

Early-day watering spot for explorers, Confederate Camp Henderson, settlers. People came many miles to wash, haul water, visit. At a nickel a bucket, boys "toted" water to merchants. Brick-lined pool often was dipped…

Lake Pat Cleburne · 1967

Named to honor famous Confederate general and leader of Texas troops. Built to supply city water needs after $3,200,000 bond issue approved Aug. 14, 1962. Lake covers 2,000 acres of land. Treatment plant has normal…

Market Square · 1967

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…

Pioneer Texas Telephones · 1967

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…

Oliver Perry Arnold (1826-1905) · 1968

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,…

Church of the Holy Comforter · 1970

As early as 1860, the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, first bishop of Texas, visited Johnson County. This parish, first in the county, was formed 1871; the Rev. Robert S. Nash was first rector. First church building in…

Cleburne Town Square · 1970

Traces its beginning to 1854 when first house, a log cabin, was built here near a good spring. County seat was bodily moved by wagon to this place (then called Camp Henderson) in 1867, and renamed to honor Patrick…

Site of Buchanan · 1972

(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…

Site of Wardville · 1972

(1/4 mile south of marker) First county seat of Johnson County, chosen in Aug. 1855, and located on an 80-acre donation from William O'Neal. Named for Thomas William Ward (1807-72), a Republic of Texas soldier and…

Carnegie Library Building · 1981

A Cleburne Public Library was begun in 1901 under the direction of the local women's club. In 1902 members of the organization met with New York industrialist and benefactor Andrew S. Carnegie to secure funds for a…

Watts Chapel Methodist Church and Cemetery · 1992

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…

Bethel Salter A.M.E. Church · 1996

Salter Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in Cleburne in 1887 by the Goodwin and Sims families, with help from Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church in Fort Worth, and was named for Bishop Moses B. Salter…

Johnson County Courthouse · 1999

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Cleburne Lodge No. 315, A.F. & A.M. · 2000

The new town of Cleburne was selected as the Johnson County Seat in 1867. Two years later, The Grand Lodge of Texas granted a charter to the Cleburne Masonic Lodge No. 315. The members built a lodge hall in March 1871…

Baker-Lain Cemetery · 2001

In the 1850s a little girl, traveling through this area with her family by wagon train, fell ill and died. She is said to be the first person buried here. Records of the New Hope Baptist Church, founded nearby in 1860,…

First Baptist Church Of Cleburne · 2001

First Baptist Church Of Cleburne Baptist missionary preacher W. A. Mason held a revival in the new Johnson County Seat of Cleburne in 1868 and on May 5 of that year formally organized the First Baptist Church with 16…

John L. and Annie Upshaw Cleveland House · 2002

John L. and Annie Upshaw Cleveland House John L. Cleveland was born in Georgia in 1851 to James Monroe and Catherine (Wright) Cleveland. He studied agriculture and business before moving to Midlothian, Texas, to teach…

Joiner-Long House · 2002

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…

First United Methodist Church, Cleburne · 2009

Johnson County Sheriff's Posse · 2010

On October 8, 1951, nine men gathered at the Cleburne Livestock Auction barn to create the Johnson County Sheriff's Posse (JCSP). The organization was charged with establishing a local riding group to promote good will…

The Texas World War II Home Front · 2010

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,…

Yellow Jacket Stadium · 2010

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…

Field Street Baptist Church · 2011

IN THE LATE 1800s, A BIBLE STUDY GROUP KNOWN AS THE WEST SIDE MISSION GREW OUT OF PRAYER GROUPS AT CLEBURNE’S FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. ITS BUILDING WAS LOCATED ON A LOT AT WEST WILLINGHAM STREET BOUGHT IN THE EARLY 1900s.…

Southwest Metroplex Baptist Association · 2014

Messengers from nine Baptist churches, Shady Grove # 1 and # 2, Alvarado, Bethesda, Rock Springs, Hillsboro, Island Grove, West Fork and Union met to organize themselves as an Association on October 29, 1864. The…

Pat Cleburne Camp No. 88, UCV · 2015

Cleburne Memorial Cemetery serves as the final resting place of many Civil War veterans with more than 400 confederate soldiers and seven union soldiers. These men represent the foundation of Cleburne’s thriving…

Confederate Soldiers

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