Coke County, Texas

Historical Markers in Robert Lee, Texas

Robert Lee is home to 15 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.

Coke County · 1936

Formed from Tom Green county. Created March 13, 1889, Organized April 23, 1889. Named in honor of Richard Coke 1829-1896. Governor of Texas 1874-1876, member of United States Senate 1878 - 1896. County seat, Hayrick,…

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Hayrick · 1936

First county seat of Coke County, 1889-1890. Robert Lee then became the county seat.

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Richard Coke · 1963

(1829-1896) Virginia native. Leader Texas secession movement. Joined army, rose to captain 15th Texas Infantry company serving in Louisiana, Arkansas, chiefly Tennessee campaigns. Elected to state supreme court 1866,…

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Hayrick Lodge 696, A.F. & A.M. · 1966

Organized 1890 at Hayrick, first county seat of Coke County. Moved to Robert Lee 1891. This hall was built in 1906 by a contractor, S.C. Wilkins, of concrete blocks mixed and cast by hand. First story has housed many…

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Fence-Cutting War · 1967

This area was a center of hostilities during 1880's conflict between landless cattlemen trying to keep use of free grass and open range and those erecting barbed wire fences to create permanent ranches. On L.B. Harris…

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Cary Allen Gates · 1968

(October 14, 1836-July 27, 1927) Born near town of Paint Lick, Kentucky. Came to Collin County, Texas, 1858. Joined Confederate army at McKinney, October, 1861, as private in army of Tennessee. Served in five divisions.…

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James Franklin Byrd · 1968

(December 18, 1844-June 9, 1915) Born in Kentucky. Joined the Confederate army at Gonzales, Texas, 1862. Was in Co. F., Willis' Battalion of Cavalry, army of Virginia. Fought in battles of Holly Springs, Harrisburg,…

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Edith · 1969

Settled by cattlemen who ran herds on open range, and stock-farming homesteaders. Development began in early 1880's after Winfield Scott, rancher, fenced his spread. Area had three schools, lodge hall, tabernacle,…

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Henry Davis Pearce · 1970

(June 4, 1845 - December 8, 1911) Born in Illinois. Came to Texas 1856. Joined Confederate army in New Orleans, 1861; fought in Siege of Vicksburg (1863), in Battle of Mansfield (1864), and at Pleasant Hill, La., where…

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Coke County Jail · 1972

Successor to county's first one-room jail of rough lumber built about 1891, this building was erected 1907 by Southern Structural Steel Company, San Antonio. Officials who let the contract were P.D. Coulson, county…

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Shelving Rock · 1972

Natural Landmark Shelving Rock (8 mi. W. on private land) Archeological findings at an overhanging rock ledge on Walnut Creek show that the spot, midway between the Colorado and North Concho Rivers, was for hundreds of…

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Divide Cemetery · 1973

In 1896 the Smith and Chapman families donated 4 acres here for a cemetery and church lot. A sanctuary for all faiths was built on the site the same year to serve the scattered ranches along the divide between the…

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Locklin Bartholomew Murray · 1973

(June 17, 1849-April 29, 1923) Born in Jackson, Miss. Came to Texas with family in early 1860's. Married Susan Lucinda McSpadden (1855-1917), and had 7 children who lived to adulthood. Settled near Sanco, in Yellow Wolf…

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Robert Lee Cemetery · 1973

Established in 1891, two years after the founding of the city of Robert Lee. Developers L.B. Harris and Eugene Cartledge, as president and secretary of the Austin and Northern Land and Cattle Company, on Sept. 29, 1891,…

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First Methodist Church of Robert Lee · 1988

The Rev. Green Cotton Fields organized this Methodist congregation in January 1891. A one-room frame sanctuary built on this site in 1896 was replaced by a second structure in 1907. This structure was completed in 1928,…

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