Historical Markers in Llano, Texas

Llano County · 1936

The name "Llano," first given by Spanish explorers in the 18th century to the river traversing the region, is a corruption of the French name given the Lipan Indians. First settlements were made by Germans about 1850.…

Nine Miles West is the Enchanted Rock · 1936

From its summit, in the fall of 1841, Captain John C. Hays, while surrounded by Comanche Indians who cut him off from his ranging company, repulsed the whole band and inflicted upon them such heavy losses that they…

Packsaddle Mountain · 1936

Two and one half miles east on the Packsaddle Mountain, in a battle fought August 4, 1873, Captain J. R. Moss, Stephen B. Moss, William B. Moss, Eli Lloyd, Arch Martin, Pink Ayers, E. D. Harrington and Robert Brown…

Grace Episcopal Church · 1965

Begun as Llano Academy, 1881. Venture failed. Purchased 1883 by West Texas Missionary District, Episcopal Church. Building was completed and first worship service held 1889 by Bishop James Steptoe Johnston. Recorded…

Early Explorers in Llano County · 1971

By commission of the Governor of Spanish Texas, Bernardo de Miranda in 1756 examined Cerro del Almagre, a red ochre hill supposedly rich in silver. His party of 23 from San Antonio struck Honey Creek near here, then…

The Llano County Jail · 1979

This building was erected in 1895 by the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis, Mo. The gray granite for the exterior was quarried in the county. The red roof of the Romanesque revival jail provided the…

Llano County Courthouse · 1980

Designed by Austin architect A.O. Watson, this building is the fourth courthouse for Llano County. Work on the structure began in 1892 and was completed one year later. The contractors were J.A. and G.H. Wilson of…

Badu House · 1981

Built in 1891 during the city's iron production boom days, this structure originally housed the First National Bank of Llano. In 1898 it was purchased by French native N. J. "Professor" Badu, a noted local mineralogist,…

O'Henry School Building · 1981

The original section of this two-story schoolhouse was completed in 1887 to serve the Llano students living south of the river. Constructed of native sandstone and timber, it was known as the "College Building" because…

Old Southern Hotel Building · 1981

J.W. Owen had this hotel building constructed about 1880. Stonemasons J.K. Finlay and John Goodman built the original two-story structure, which was a stagecoach stop. The third floor was added during the ownership of…

Frank Teich · 1984

(Sept. 22, 1856 - Jan. 27, 1939) A native of Germany, Frank Teich studied under master German artists and sculptors before coming to the United States in 1878. By 1883 he was established in San Antonio as an…

Oxford Cemetery · 1985

The Oxford community was founded in 1880 when Confederate veteran A. J. Johnson came to Llano County and laid out the townsite. In 1881, a burial ground was established near this site for the use of the families of…

Acme Dry Goods Building · 1987

Built in 1892 by Llano builder and stonemason John Goodman (8152-1935), this turn-of-the-century commercial row structure has housed a succession of dry goods merchants, including Mrs. Riley's Millinery, Carlton's Dry…

Baby Head Cemetery · 1991

According to local oral tradition, the name Babyhead was given to the mountain in this area in the 1850s, when a small child was killed by Indians and its remains left on the mountain. A local creek also carried the…

Ford Street Commercial Row · 1991

These three attached structures are believed to have been built by John Goodman, a builder and stone mason who immigrated to Llano from Germany in 1878. They exhibit typical features of early 20th century commercial…

Six Mile Cemetery · 1991

Six Mile Cemetery has served residents of Six Mile since the early 1880s. William A. and Jane E. Stephens, early residents of this farming and ranching community, donated land for a burial ground in 1883. The earliest…

Cassaday Grey Granite Company Office Building · 1992

Llano businessman Tye Yates Hill built this structure in 1919 to house the office of the Cassaday Grey Granite Company, so named for the man whose nearby land contained a rare deposit of the high-quality stone. The…

Bruhl's Drugstore, Former Site of · 1994

Watkins House · 1994

Merchant and civic leader George M. Watkins (1863-1945) and his second wife, Lutie (McLean) (d. 1921), first president of Llano's Woman's Culture Club, built this house about 1916. The house, probably built by local…

Richmond Alexander McInnis · 1996

Mississippi native Richmond Alexander (R. A.) McInnis (1852-1922) moved to Llano as a young man in the 1870s. He owned and operated Llano Furniture Company on the town square, and served as Llano County sheriff from…

Llano Woman's Culture Club · 1997

Local music teacher Jennie Clopton (1861-1904) organized the Woman's Literary Society with 16 charter members in 1901. The club established a public library, first called Clopton Library for the club's founder. Other…

St. James Lutheran Church · 1997

Founded in 1897, St. Jakobi Evangelish Lutherisch Kirche was organized to serve German Lutherans in the growing community of Llano. Pastor Hugo Krienke, also serving churches in Mason and Leiningen, held German-language…

Edna J. Moore Seaholm House · 1998

Built in 1892 for Frank H. and Alice Hester Hargon with materials purchased from the Llano Brick and Lumber Company for $600, this house is a nicely detailed one and one-half story L-plan Victorian cottage. Notable…

Chew Cemetery · 1999

Born in West Virginia in 1832, George Oliver Chew came to Texas in 1839. He married Nancy Taylor prior to 1870, and they settled in western Llano County in 1883, purchasing 320 acres of land. This site probably was…

Salem Cemetery · 1999

William Leggette Lewis, a physician and ordained Methodist minister who served in the Civil War, came to Texas with his family in 1878. Lewis land probably was used for a family and community burial ground before 1884,…

Six Mile School · 1999

Six Mile community was established in the 1880s. Most residents farmed, ranched or worked in granite quarries. The land around this site was donated to Llano County by William A. and Jane E. Stevens for a school and…

Board Branch Cemetery · 2000

This graveyard developed as a public burial ground for the Lone Grove community and surrounding area on the property of W. A. and Sallie Templeton. According to oral history, the earliest grave on this site may be that…

Bluffton Cemetery · 2001

Bluffton Cemetery This site was purchased in 1930 by the Emery, Peck and Rockwood Development Company and donated to the Bluffton Cemetery Association in anticipation of the company's construction of what would become…

St. John Lutheran Church Cemetery · 2001

The congregation of St. John Lutheran Church had been meeting in its new sanctuary for some four years when the death of one of its members, Anna Charlotte Lillie (Kowierschke) Bauer (1905-1930), led to the purchase of…

First Christian Church of Llano · 2002

First Christian Church of Llano This congregation began worshiping together about 1882. Early services were held in a two-room schoolhouse. By 1886, members were meeting in the county courthouse, and two years later,…

Isaac Byler Maxwell · 2002

Isaac Byler "Ike" Maxwell was born April 21, 1837, in Ripley, Tennessee to Isaac D. and Nancy Love Byler Maxwell. In 1844, after his mother died, his family moved to Bluffton, Arkansas. He moved from there to this area…

Lone Grove School · 2002

Lone Grove School Among the rural schools in early Llano County were Lone Grove, Flat Rock, Little Llano, McNutt and Spice Wood. These rural schools also served their communities as gathering places. Located on a major…

Llano City Cemetery · 2003

Area residents founded the city of Llano as the county seat for newly-formed Llano County in 1856. By August 1862, with internment of one-year-old Tina Miller, this site served as a burial ground. Seventeen-year-old…

Lantex Theater · 2014

This theater opened on May 19, 1927, on the north side of Llano’s courthouse square. S. D. Rainier and George Shaw hired J. R. Blackmore as their builder. On opening night, a packed house, at 30 cents for adults and 10…

Robert F. Rowntree House · 2016

Early Llano County leader, Robert Flack (Bob) Rowntree (1847-1893), built this majestic two-story house in the Prairie Mountain community from 1875 to 1888. Scottish architect John K. Finlay, a pioneer in the Texas…

Llano County Granite Industry

Llano County's granite industry can be traced to 1888 when J. K. Finlay first polished a stone from his mill site and David Stewart opened a quarry south of Llano. Prominent sculptor Frank Teich leased a quarry from…