Tilden is home to 8 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.
McMullen County · 1964
Created 1858. Organized 1862. Abandoned because of bandit activities in thicket area during the Civil War. Reorganized 1877, with Tilden as county seat. Named for John McMullen (1785-1853), founded with James McGloin of…
View on map ↗Old Rock Store · 1966
Built about 1865 by Pat Cavanaugh, Irish stonemason, assisted by Dick Barker. Site of gun battles in Dog Town (now Tilden), "wide open" during lawless era of the 1860's and 1870's. Preserved since 1929 by Clifton…
View on map ↗Franklin Ranch · 1967
Ranch founder, Ralph S. "Rafe" Franklin, was born in Louisiana, April 4, 1848. He came to McMullen County in the early 1860's with his family. He started this ranch about 1870, building it up until he owned 40,000…
View on map ↗Townsite of Zella · 1968
Organized 1913, with 189 city blocks laid off along San Antonio, Uvalde & Gulf Railroad. Structures built included depot, store-post office, schoolhouse, hotel. A water well was drilled. War and the 1917 drouth stifled…
View on map ↗Loma Alta · 1973
First settlers moved into region in early 1880s. Community was named for Loma Alta/Hills. School, built 1896, moved several times in area until consolidation, 1943. Post office, established Jan. 3, 1910, was…
View on map ↗Old San Antonio-Laredo Road · 1973
Shortly after the founding of Laredo, in 1755, the Spanish established a transportation-communication route across this site. The road provided necessary abundance of water and grass for travel across this arid region,…
View on map ↗Old McMullen College · 1975
Established 1881 under leadership of Dr. John Van Epps Covey, founder of three Texas colleges--aided here by civic leaders S.F. Dixon, Dr. M.W.C. Frazier, C.F.H. Hiers, R.W. Johnson, M.F. Lowe and L. Wheeler. A 3-acre…
View on map ↗John Swanson Yarbrough · 2001
(Dec. 25, 1774 - Oct. 20, 1862) A native of North Carolina, John Swanson Yarbrough came to Texas in 1832 and settled in what is now Houston County in east Texas. A veteran of the Texas War for Independence, Yarbrough…
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