Bell County, Texas
Killeen is home to 22 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.
Lt. Gen. Andrew Davis Bruce (September 14, 1894-July 27, 1969) Originator of tank destroyer corps; "Father of Fort Hood." Brilliant battlefield leader and educator. Born in St. Louis, Mo.; graduated 1916 from Texas A.…
View on map ↗Gen. Patton's "Hell on Wheels," the 2nd Armored Division, United States Army Formed to meet 20th century challenges, this force includes Battery A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery, which has been in service since…
View on map ↗First in Manila -- First in Tokyo -- First in Pyongyang. The Fifth Cavalry Regiment, raised and posted in 1855 to Fort Belknap, Texas, is the oldest unit in the 1st Cavalry Division, United States Army. Next (1866) were…
View on map ↗Born in Tennessee, Hiram B. Reynolds (1858-1929) came to Texas with his parents in 1866 and lived near Sparta, a locality now absorbed into Fort Hood. He grew up on a farm and received a good education. Going into…
View on map ↗Constructed to replace an earlier brick schoolhouse destroyed by fire, the present Avenue D School was built in 1923. C.J. Leinbach of Dallas designed the three-story building, which features decorative stonework and…
View on map ↗When the tracks of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad were extended from Temple to Lampasas in the early 1880s, a switching station was installed near the midway point. The settlement that grew up around the site…
View on map ↗Chartered on Feb. 27, 1901, the First National Bank of Killeen is the oldest continuously operated bank in Bell County. It first served a primarily agricultural economy, but as Killeen began to develop the bank led in…
View on map ↗This fellowship was established in 1873 as the Baptist Church of Christ at Palo Alto. In 1883, one year after Killeen was founded on the rail line, the congregation moved three miles southwest to the new town. The Rev.…
View on map ↗The first burial in this graveyard, that of Wilhelm Wolf, took place in 1891, two years after the German Evangelical Lutheran Emmanuel Congregation was formally organized. The Rev. H.F. Daude (1850-1924), who served as…
View on map ↗John Churchill Gaines Blackburn (1832-1912) was born in Tennessee and came to Texas in 1853. He and his wife Mary Ann Chambers Blackburn (1831-1908) first stopped with other family members in Williamson County, then…
View on map ↗The only remaining legible headstone in this graveyard reveals that the cemetery dates to the late 19th century. The grave of James Moses Cowan (1834-1888) is believed to be one of 12-20 burials. Other graves are marked…
View on map ↗Organized by twelve charter members in September 1906, this organization was originally known as the Ladies Literary Society of Killeen. The name was changed one month later to the Wednesday Review Club. Pursuing…
View on map ↗Bethel Primitive Baptist Church originated in the Palo Alto Community, which was located about 3.5 miles northeast of present Killeen. Organized about 1864, the congregation met in a Union Church building shared with…
View on map ↗W.E. Bennett began publishing the Killeen Herald in June 1890, eight years after the town of Killeen was founded. Later owners of the newspaper included W.T. Carter, an active civic leader who served as publisher and…
View on map ↗In July 1913, the Bell County Commissioners Court, in response to repeated flooding in this area, approved construction of a bridge at this site to provide access to Killeen for residents of the Maxdale Community.…
View on map ↗Founded in 1882 as a shipping point on the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad, Killeen was named for railroad official Frank P. Killeen. After the first depot was destroyed by fire, Santa Fe workers used standard…
View on map ↗Emily LeSeur Haynes Sharp (1824-1880) came to Texas from Alabama with her first husband, William Glenn Haynes. They settled in Harrison County, where they owned a large amount of land and operated a cotton gin. William…
View on map ↗Although an inventory of marked gravesites indicates that the first person buried here was Michael Young, local tradition claims that distinction actually belongs to Young's daughter. She is believed to have died of…
View on map ↗Elisha Ivy, for whom Ivy Mountain Road was named, established a home and store in this vicinity in the 1860s. In the 1870s, a community known as Liberty Hill developed northwest of his property. In 1896, when the rural…
View on map ↗In January 1846, Francis L. Mudd received one-third of a league of land in this area along the Lampasas River. Four years later, the property became part of the newly created Bell County, carved out of Milam County. The…
View on map ↗Oveta Culp Hobby served as the director of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) during World War II. Her organizational skills and leadership helped make the WAC a respected part of the American military and opened new…
View on map ↗Although this cemetery is the last remnant of the Blackburn estate, it gives visitors a glimpse of the history of a long line of Texans who served in many wars and once owned land that now makes up part of fort hood.…
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