Lubbock County, Texas
Lubbock is home to 43 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.
Formed from Young and Bexar territories Created August 21, 1876 Organized March 10, 1891 Named in honor of Colonel Thomas S. Lubbock 1817 - 1862 Member of the New Orleans Greys at the storming of Bexar, commander of a…
View on map ↗Known to Spanish explorers of the 17th and 18th centuries - Described by Albert Pike who visited the region in 1832 - The last battle in Lubbock County between white buffalo hunters and the red men who had called the…
View on map ↗(1817-1862) South Carolinian. Came to Texas 1835. Indian fighter, soldier, businessman. Member Secession Convention. Went to Virginia hoping to fight for South in first battle of war. Commended for valuable volunteer…
View on map ↗This marks one route of the Mackenzie Scout Trail extending from Camp Supply, Crosby County to Fort Sumner, New Mexico and used by the Army, 1872-1875, by buffalo hunters, 1876-1878, and by cattlemen 1878 until the…
View on map ↗Born in New York City on July 24, 1840, Mackenzie attained the rank of major general during the Civil War. On February 25, 1871, at Fort Concho, Texas, he assumed command as colonel of the 4th Cavalry, which soon became…
View on map ↗A predecessor of present Lubbock, this area was, in 1890, a subject of heated dispute by three factions (led by W.D. Crump, W.E. Rayner, and Frank Wheelock) that vied in the founding of the county seat. Unlike most…
View on map ↗Opened in 1965. Named for Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, the Spanish explorer who, guided by an Indian known as "The Turk", traversed the Llano Estacado in search of the fabled "city" of Gran Quivira in 1541. The…
View on map ↗Pioneer Lubbock teacher; prominent civic and church leader. Born in Haskell County; daughter of J. E. and Sarah Murfee. First taught in Lubbock County schools in Slide community, 1905; was principal there. Entered Texas…
View on map ↗Opened in 1955. Named for town of Monterey, one of the two original townsites for Lubbock. It was founded in present northwest Lubbock by W. E. Rayner in 1890. In a unique compromise in 1891, Rayner joined the promoters…
View on map ↗The oldest national bank in continuous operation in Lubbock. When this bank was founded on May 5, 1906 (under National Bank Charter No. 8208), Lubbock was a town of 1,500. Citizens National was one of three pioneer…
View on map ↗The Free Range Era of Ranching Northwest Texas, 1878-1885 After Indians and buffalo were removed in 1870s, several hundred cattlemen with small herds came to rolling plains near site of later Lubbock, to graze free…
View on map ↗A relic from one of America's last frontiers. Built in 1925 on range land of newly organized Cochran County, at Bledsoe, this structure not only served its purpose as a railroad station, but was a meeting hall for…
View on map ↗This two-story brick home was built in 1916 for Warren A. Bacon (1871-1938), a prominent Lubbock business and civic leader, and his wife Myrta (Hunt) (1878-1967), daughter of a pioneer area family. The Bacon residence…
View on map ↗One of the first four buildings on the Texas Tech campus, the Livestock Judging Pavilion was the school's first structure built specifically for agricultural education. Completed in the 1920s, it was designed by the…
View on map ↗The pioneer Carlisle community was named for W. Augustus "Uncle Gus" Carlisle (1849-1920), who settled here with his wife Lizzie (Spikes) (d. 1914) in 1890. A cattleman and a prominent landowner, Carlisle made…
View on map ↗This house was constructed in 1925 by prominent Lubbock builder A.M. Hensley for the family of Dr. Clarence S. Mast (d. 1936). Mast served as a physics professor on the original faculty of Texas Tech University. The…
View on map ↗(1870-1938) Known for his leadership in the field of agricultural education, Bradford Knapp served as first director of the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service and helped plan and carry out World War I overseas food…
View on map ↗The city of Lubbock experienced a significant increase in population during the 1920s as it became the agricultural, educational, service, and trade center of the South Plains. This high school was built out of the need…
View on map ↗The organizational meeting for this congregation was held in October 1917 by the Rev. A. Wilson. Although early problems plagued the fellowship and many members left the church, a successful cotton harvest in September…
View on map ↗Organized in 1891, the First Baptist Church congregation met at the county jail until 1901, when a small church building was built at 13th Street and Avenue G. The church's first pastor was the Rev. J. R. Miller. The…
View on map ↗This congregation traces its history to 1892, when circuit riding minister R .M. Morris and 12 charter members organized the Lubbock Methodist Church. Early worship services were held in the schoolhouse and the Lubbock…
View on map ↗Spanish explorers crossed this canyon, part of the larger Yellow House Canyon, perhaps as early as the 1540s. Jumano, Apache, and Comanche Indians camped here to take advantage of the canyon's protective walls, fresh…
View on map ↗Ten years of concentrated efforts by city officials led to the establishment of a U. S. Army Air Corps Advanced Flying School at Lubbock in the summer of 1941. Built ten miles west of the city, where barracks, runways…
View on map ↗In March 1892, a delegation of Lubbock residents requested five acres of pasture land from rancher H.M. Bandy for use as a cemetery. That same month, they held the first burial, that of a Cochran County cowboy, Henry…
View on map ↗Isham Tubbs (1852-1947) married Texana Spikes (1857-1930) in Kaufman County in 1877. They moved to the Monterey area of Lubbock County circa 1890. Isham became one of the first school board trustees and a charter member…
View on map ↗Early Catholic settlers in Lubbock and on the Texas South Plains celebrated Mass with traveling priests in private homes. Beginning in 1905, Father Joseph Keller traveled from Slaton to offer Mass for Catholics at the…
View on map ↗In 1938, Clyde Trusty opened a ballroom in a renovated army quonset hut at this site. The Lubbock Cotton Club hosted well-known orchestras and big bands popular at the time. The venue expanded the following year, with…
View on map ↗Early Hispanic residents of frontier Lubbock County included ranch hands in the 1880s. Railroad lines brought many workers to the South Plains, the majority recruited from El Paso. Rail companies built row houses near…
View on map ↗In 1954, Lucille Graves established Mary & Mac Private School as a preschool for African-American students. Named for a version of the hand-clapping song “Mary Mack,” emphasizing aspirations for the students to become…
View on map ↗During World War II, nine preliminary and advanced military glider pilot training fields operated in Texas; one of the most prominent sites was located here. The U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) leased Lubbock Municipal…
View on map ↗W.G. McMillan came to Lubbock in 1924 to assist in the construction of the Hotel Lubbock. McMillan stayed, and over the next thirty years oversaw over 850 construction projects. Some of McMillan’s first projects…
View on map ↗WHEN CHARLES LINDBERGH WAS TRAVELLING THE U.S. BY AIRPLANE ON A SPEAKING TOUR, HE WAS UNABLE TO LAND AT LUBBOCK BECAUSE THERE WAS NO AIRPORT AT THE TIME. CITY LEADERS AND AVIATION ENTHUSIASTS, DETERMINED TO SEE THAT…
View on map ↗Starting in 1944, several women’s organizations met to coordinate their community improvement efforts. In February 1945, 22 groups became charter members of the Lubbock Women’s Club. After meeting at members’ homes,…
View on map ↗Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927 dramatically increased worldwide interest in aviation. To participate in this new and potentially significant technology, the City of Lubbock established…
View on map ↗First built as a wedding gift for J. Lanham and Glenn (Pratt) Higginbotham in 1915, the Arnett House became the longtime home of the family of Alice (Ford) and Sam C. Arnett, pioneer rancher and banker. For decades,…
View on map ↗Charles Hardin “Buddy” Holley was born in Lubbock on September 7, 1936, to Ella Pauline (Drake) and Lawrence Odell “L.O.” Holley. The youngest of four children, Buddy grew up in a musical household, with his mother and…
View on map ↗The dairy barn at Texas Tech University was completed in 1927 and was built to house the cows used by the Animal Husbandry Department. The barn and adjacent silo were designed by the architectural and engineering firm…
View on map ↗George Herman Mahon (1900-1985) was born in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, to John Kirkpatrick and Lola Willis (Brown) Mahon. In 1908, the family moved to Loraine (Mitchell County), Texas, where George grew up on a cotton…
View on map ↗Aircraft vastly changed the face of war and Dagley Field played a part in that transformation. As tensions mounted in the late 1930s, the United States created the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), administered by…
View on map ↗The Lubbock Cotton Gin Company operated at a site 1/10 mile northeast in the 1900s and 1910s. Until 1903, the nearest gins were over 100 miles away, thus limiting any local experiments with growing cotton. However,…
View on map ↗Established in 1939, St. John's was at first announced by Methodist Bishop Ivan Lee Holt to be located one mile south of campus to serve faculty and students of Texas Technological College. Several methodist faculty…
View on map ↗The first graduating class of Texas Technological College received their diplomas on May 30, 1927. Wanting to stay connected to their alma mater, these students immediately formed the Alumni Association of Texas…
View on map ↗(1914-1976) Born in 1914 in San Angelo, Willie Lusk Jr. worked as a shoeshine boy in N.A. Brown's boot shop when he was 12 years old. He then apprenticed with Czech bootmaker Frank Urban, earning a daily wage of one…
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