Historical Markers in Stephenville, Texas

Erath County Courthouse · 1963

Founded in 1854 and named for early settler and land donor John M. Stephen, the town of Stephenville became county seat when Erath County was created in 1856. The first county courthouse, a wood frame structure built in…

Oldest Home in Stephenville · 1967

Built in 1869 by J. D. Berry. Native limestone; Victorian architecture distinguished by steep roof, narrow windows, filigree gingerbread trim. Purchased 1965. Restored by public donation sponsored by Stephenville Study…

Crow Opera House · 1977

The first floor of this limestone building, erected before 1892, housed the Erath County National Bank, with Dr. M. S. Crow as president. His wife Mollie Jane Crow suggested use of the top floor for cultural events. The…

Stephenville Church of 1900 · 1977

The Rev. John William Everds led his Presbyterian congregation in raising funds to erect this church, 1899-1900. It was designed by local builder and church leader William John Wilson. Fishscale shingling decorates the…

Brick Streets of Stephenville · 1978

Seeking to improve the town's dirt streets, the Stephenville City Council in 1929 authorized paving by the Thurber Construction Company. High-quality bricks from Thurber (26 mi. NW), popular with builders around the…

Historic Brick Streets of Stephenville · 1978

Seeking to improve the town's dirt streets, the Stephenville City Council in 1929 authorized paving by the Thurber Construction Co. High-quality bricks from Thurber (26 mi. NW), popular with builders around the state,…

Cage Home · 1983

Merchant, rancher, and banker J. H. Cage bought this property in 1876 and moved his family into an existing house. After his death in 1912, his children had the house moved and in 1913 built this home for their mother,…

John Tarleton · 1986

John Tarleton was an orphan, who at an early age worked his way from New England to Knoxville, Tennessee. Employed in a dry goods store for over forty years, he invested in government land certificates, eventually…

Wyatt-Boyd Ranch Complex · 1987

This is a rare example of a virtually complete 19th-century Cross Timbers farmstead. Thought to have been built in the early 1870s by James J. Wyatt, the Cumberland plan one-story rough limestone two room ranch house…

First Methodist Church of Stephenville · 1988

This congregation, organized in 1855 with ten charter members, traces its history to the founding of Stephenville. Early worship services were held in the Masonic lodge building on the town square. A sanctuary erected…

President's House · 1988

This home was built on the Tarleton State University campus in 1923 to serve as the residence of the college's chief executive officer. Originally called the Dean's Home, it was first occupied by the family of J. Thomas…

First National Bank Building · 1994

Built in 1889 to house the city's first bank, this is the earliest of three structures on the town square designed by prominent San Antonio architect J. Riely Gordon. It features elaborate stonework and large arches…

Duffau School · 1998

This schoolhouse was built by architect-contractor George Coleman of Stephenville in 1936 with the $4,700 insurance settlement received after an earlier school building burned. The simple one-story structure, built of…

Johnsville Cemetery · 1998

The community of Johnsville, settled before 1860, was named for John Z. Martin when he was appointed first postmaster in 1901. Once a thriving village on the main road from Stephenville to Glen Rose, Johnsville…

Pony Creek Cemetery · 2000

(also known as Box/Pony Creek Cemetery) This cemetery is the final resting place for generations of local families, including descendants of pioneer settlers in the Pony Creek Community who came here as early as 1845.…

Oak Dale Cemetery · 2004

Founders of Oak Dale community began arriving in 1867. They included: John R. Pickard; George Lidia, who became Pickard's son-in-law; the Rev. James M. Johnson, a Methodist minister; and William Jasper Mefferd. These…

Erath Arches · 2009

Stephenville Drug Stores · 2009

Local drug stores were an important and essential part of the economy and well-being of early Texas towns. This site at the corner of Washington and Belknap streets served as the location of a series of Stephenville…

Crow Home · 2010

Tennessee natives Dr. Martin Swan Crow (1833-1892) and his wife Mollie Jane (George) Crow (1843-1910) arrived in Stephenville in 1871. Dr. Crow operated a successful medical practice and drug store, and he invested…

Smith Springs Cemetery · 2010

This burial ground, established by 1907, served the rural Smith Springs Community. Most of the interred were related to Swiss-born Frederick Hook (d. 1920), a stonemason who helped build the Erath County Courthouse, and…

Cornelia Graves · 2011

The youngest of nine children of John and Laura (Fuqua) Tyler, Cornelia Tyler was born in Dallas in 1875. She attended Dallas schools and then Prairie View Normal School and Hearne Academy to earn her teaching…

Corinth Cemetery · 2012

In 1880, North Carolina native Dr. William Wallace McNeill and his wife, Elizabeth Ann (Bell), deeded land to the Methodist Episcopal Church, south, for a church, school and cemetery. The burial ground is the last…

Erath County Poor Farm Cemetery · 2012

In 1869, the Texas Constitution directed counties to establish a “Manual-Labor Poor-House” to care for “indigent and poor inhabitants” and provide work for “all persons committing petty offences.” Erath County…

Liberty Cemetery · 2012

LIBERTY CEMETERY MARION D. AND HARRIET PRYOR KELLEY SETTLED IN THE LIBERTY COMMUNITY IN THE MID-1880s. IN 1891, THEY DEEDED LAND FOR A CEMETERY AND SCHOOL TO ERATH COUNTY. THE OLDEST GRAVE IS THAT OF THE INFANT SON OF…

Stephenville Masonic Lodge #267 · 2012

The Masonic Lodge in Stephenville organized on July 23, 1860, with 24 masons assembling, including town founder John M. Stephen and four visitors from Gatesville Lodge No. 197. Members first met in a two-story log…

Audie Murphy Arena · 2016

Located in an area of Texas known for rodeos, the Audie Murphy Arena originated in Euless, Texas, on the property of car dealer Ray Woods. Woods met Audie Murphy on a defense bonds drive and instantly connected over…

Dawson Saloon · 2016

Dating from the early 1880s, downtown Stephenville consisted of wood frame and masonry one-part and two-part commercial block buildings, oriented around the county courthouse. The Dawson Saloon building was constructed…

Gentry and Shelton Building · 2016

In the 1870s, Stephenville’s population was around 300 people and contained a handful of businesses in wooden buildings along the town square. In 1870, James A. Shelton purchased lots on the southeast corner of the town…

Mount Olive Cemetery · 2017

This historic African American cemetery was established in 1922 when the Colored Burial Association purchased acreage from Charles Neblett. Many of the first burials were relocated graves from the segregated West End…

First Christian Church · 2018

450 W. Tarleton Street (corner of Race and Tarleton Streets in Stephenville, Texas)

Shapard Street · 2019

Chalk Mountain Masonic Lodge #894 A.F. & A.M. · 2022

Fourteen charter members organized Chalk Mountain Masonic Lodge on Dec. 8, 1904. Joe Dotson was elected the first worshipful master. Lodge member J.H. Underwood built a two-story frame building by 1908 with a first…