Historical Markers in Wharton, Texas

Site of The Home of Robert McAlpin Williamson · 1936

Born in Georgia in 1806, editor "The Texas Gazette" and "The Mexican Citizen," pioneer Texas newspapers. Active in the revolution, member of the Supreme Court of the Republic, 1836-1839. Member of Texas Legislature…

Wharton County · 1936

Wharton County, created April 3, 1846, from Matagorda and Jackson counties, Organized same year. Named for William H. Wharton, 1806-1839, Texas minister to the United States 1836-1837, and his brother John A. Wharton…

First East Bernard School · 1965

Built 1888 a mile north of town (so trains would not disturb). Moved to town, 1892. Making way for new 2-story school, was sold and moved 1895 by Herman W. Koym. Used since for gristmill, blacksmith shop, storage. (1965)

Judge Edwin Hawes House · 1982

Rosa F. McCamly had this home built in 1896. In 1897 she sold it to Edwin Hawes (b. 1852), Wharton County judge in the 1870s and 1880s. Hawes had returned to this area after temporarily residing in Kerrville, where he…

Joseph A. Hamilton House · 1984

A native of Ohio, Joseph Andrew Hamilton served in the Union army during the Civil War. About 1866 he settled in Wharton, where he held a variety of local political offices. Hamilton purchased this property in 1885 and…

Albert Clinton Horton · 1986

(1798-1865) Georgia native Albert Clinton Horton came to Texas in 1834 from Alabama, where he had served in the state legislature. He established a plantation along Caney Creek in present Wharton County. In 1835, he…

City of Wharton · 1986

The town of Wharton was founded as the seat of Wharton County in April 1846. Land for a courthouse, named Monterey Square, was given from the land grant of William Kincheloe, one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three…

First Baptist Church of Wharton · 1986

Early Baptist worship services in this area were most likely held at the home of "Old 300" colonist William Kincheloe, perhaps as early as 1822. A Sunday School was started in or near present-day Wharton in 1829 or…

Judge George E. Quinan · 1988

A native of Dublin, Ireland, George E. Quinan came to Texas in the 1830s. By the mid-1840s he had moved to Wharton and set up a law office near this site. He was elected district attorney in 1845. Quinan and his wife…

Security Bank and Trust Company · 1988

The Security Bank and Trust Company traces its history to the Wharton National Bank. The second banking institution to open in the city, the Wharton National Bank was organized in 1902, and closed in 1915. Following…

Shearith Israel Synagogue · 1988

Jewish families in Wharton began meeting together for worship services about 1899. The congregation received its official charter in 1913 and was registered as Shearith Israel Synagogue. A synagogue building was erected…

St. Paul Lutheran Church · 1990

This church traces its history to 1893, when German settlers in Waterhouse (about 10 miles W) began worshiping together. Officially named St. John Lutheran Church in 1895, the congregation moved to Glen Flora in 1920,…

Site of World War II Prisoner of War Camp · 1991

Included in a land grant awarded in 1824 to Martin Allen, one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" colonists, this property has had a long and varied history. In the 1840s Allen's heirs sold most of his land to…

Site of Plaza Hotel and Plaza Theater · 1994

Built on Wharton's Courthouse Square, the Plaza Hotel began circa 1904 as a two-story brick structure with a large dining room on the first floor and 20 rooms to let. Owned and operated by R. B. Huston and his wife Lula…

St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church · 1996

The Rev. Ernst August Wenzel, a German Lutheran missionary, began visiting German immigrant families in the Kriegel area east of Wharton in the 1890s. They formed a congregation, and in 1898 purchased the former…

Texas Gulf Sulphur Company-Newgulf · 1996

The Gulf Sulphur Company began in Matagorda County in 1909, and in 1918 changed its name to Texas Gulf Sulphur Company. A plant was built at the Big Hill Dome, and the first sulphur was produced in 1919. A company town…

First United Methodist Church of Wharton · 1999

Early Methodist services in this area can be traced to 1835 when a camp meeting was held in Egypt. According to local church historians, the Wharton congregation began meeting in 1859 and was officially organized in…

Wharton Cemetery · 2002

Wharton County was established in 1846, and the county seat, Wharton, was laid out on the Mexican land grant of "Old 300" colonist William Kincheloe. In 1866, county commissioners appointed James Whitten to find a…

Wharton County Courthouse · 2007

The Texas legislature created Wharton County in 1846, incorporating part of Stephen F. Austin's original land grant from Mexico. The William Kincheloe family donated land on the east bank of the Colorado River for a…

St. Thomas' Episcopal Church · 2017

Wharton County Library · 2019

Wharton Training School · 2019

For almost eighty years, the Wharton Training School provided the African American community of Wharton County with high-quality education. The school was established in 1896 under the name Wharton Colored School. The…

Wharton Hispanic Cemetery · 2020

Located across Grove Street from Wharton Cemetery, this historic burial ground is the final resting place for many of Wharton’s early Hispanic citizens. In February 1925, D.A. Dickson conveyed 1.5 acres to the Mexican…

Elkins, Nettie, House

Garrett, John and Sophie, House

The Judge Robert McAlpin Williamson Home

Formerly stood a block and a half east of this marker, which was moved to this site in 1976.

Wharton County Abstract Company

Attorney William S. "Billie" Brooks founded this abstract firm in 1890. He was assisted by Daisy Speed, who made the original hand-written entries in the tract books. Brooks was joined in 1899 by his law partner Henry…