Historical Markers in Wichita Falls, Texas

Wichita County · 1936

Formed from Young Land District; created February 1, 1858; organized June 21, 1882; named for the Wichita Indians who formerly resided here; county seat, Wichita Falls

Call Field Monument · 1937

Application for Listing Private Historical Markers with the State included.

Lost Battalion · 1951

To the memory of those honored members of the Lost Battalion, native sons, members of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Infantry Division. On March 3, 1942, these gallant men were taken prisoner by the…

First County Officials · 1970

First Anglo-Americans settled in Wichita County in 1856. The county was named for Indians, and Indian troubles delayed local organization until 1882. The first officials were: Judge, James S. Akers; Attorney, Robert E.…

Texas Governor James V. Allred · 1970

From this courthouse, James V. Allred began his career that led to highest state office. As lawyer with firm of O'Neal and Martin, he won elections as district attorney in 1923 and Attorney General of Texas, 1931.…

Call Field · 1973

When the United States entered World War I, April 1917, the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, U.S. Army, had only 112 pilots. Yet the allies, relying heavily on the U.S., planned the greatest of all aerial fleets, and the…

Henry C. Luecke Pioneer, Blacksmith and Inventor · 1978

A native of Missouri, Henry C. Luecke (1861-1937) came to Texas about 1890. He opened a blacksmith shop at this intersection in 1903. Here he developed and manufactured the Wichita Gang Plow, patented in 1905. His…

Weeks Mansion · 1978

A lawyer who made a fortune during the oil boom in this area, Fred Weeks (1888-1977) erected this elegant home in 1924-26. Designed by Kansas City architect J. F. Louck, the mansion stood in the middle of a 13-acre…

Wichita Falls Bank Robbery of 1896 · 1978

On the afternoon of February 25, 1896, two cowboys, Foster Crawford and Elmer "Kid" Lewis, robbed the City National Bank, then located at Ohio and 7th Street (2 blocks east). They killed cashier Frank Dorsey, took about…

George Alonzo Soule · 1979

Before coming to Wichita Falls George Alonzo Soule (1840-1913) owned a freight and stage line in Jacksboro and Fort Griffin. After the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad came through here, Soule brought his wife Lilla and…

Kemp Public Library · 1979

In the 1890s Flora Anderson Kemp (1861-1957) and other women in Wichita Falls circulated books among friends. After many attempts to begin a library, Mrs. Kemp in 1916 asked her husband, pioneer businessman Joseph…

Site of Gorsline's Fashion Livery Stable · 1979

In 1889 Edgar B. Gorsline (1859-1933) and his wife came to Wichita Falls from Indiana. For two years Gorsline operated a grocery and bakery. He opened the Fashion Livery Stable at this site in 1892. Horses and rigs were…

Zenobia Trimble · 1979

(May 14, 1881 -February 13, 1950) After growing up in an Alabama foster home, Zenobia Estelle married C. C. Trimble and came to Wichita Falls. They had two children. While her husband was principal of Booker T.…

Frank Kell Home · 1980

Native Texan Frank Kell (1859-1941), in partnership with his brother in law Joseph A. Kemp, became a prominent area businessman and civic leader. His developments in the grain business, banking, real estate, and…

Ohio Street Bridge · 1980

Planning for construction of the first bridge at this site began soon after the organization of Wichita County in 1882. The structure was built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, and formally dedicated on…

Site of St. James Hotel · 1980

Joseph Alexander Kemp (1861-1930), a Wichita Falls merchant, and Morris Lasker (1840-1916), a native of Prussia who later served as state senator from Galveston, formed a partnership in 1892 for the construction of a…

The Anderson House · 1980

This Victorian residence with distinctive second floor windows was designed by Wichita Falls architect Joseph C. Pate. Built for local businessman Guy Dewitt Anderson and his wife, it was completed in 1907. A noted…

Times Publishing Company · 1980

Ed Howard, a pioneer area publisher, acquired a local newspaper in 1898. His "Weekly Times" became a daily afternoon paper in 1907, soon after several leading Wichita Falls businessmen established the Times Publishing…

Wichita Falls Women's Forum · 1980

This building was constructed for members of the Wichita Falls Woman's Forum, organized in 1925. Designed by T. L. Sorey, it was completed in 1927 on land donated by the Hamilton-Martin Investment Company. Mediterranean…

Kell Field Air Terminal · 1981

Known as "Little Adobe", this pueblo revival building was constructed in 1928 to serve as the air terminal for Kell Field, the first municipal airport for the city of Wichita Falls. In 1941 it was incorporated into…

Site of: The Antlers Hotel Fire of 1929 · 1981

A three-story brick hotel building was constructed at this site in 1920 by the firm of Bachman and Goodwin. Originally known as the Argonne, the name was later changed to the Antlers Hotel when the structure was…

St. Paul Lutheran Church · 1981

Lutheran missionary work in the Wichita Falls area was begun in 1886. This congregation was organized September 2, 1894, by the Rev. Robert L. Mehlhorn, first resident missionary. Worship services were held in private…

Wichita Falls Junior College · 1981

Although private junior colleges were operating in Texas before the 1900s, similar public institutions were not started until the 1920s. The first, Wichita Falls Junior College, began here in 1922, seven years before…

Wichita Falls Opera House · 1981

The Wichita Falls Opera Company was formed in 1908 to establish a theater in the city. The first seven directors were C. W. Bean, N. Henderson, J. L. Jackson, Frank Kell, J. A. Kemp, W. M. McGregor, and T. R. T. Orth.…

First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls · 1982

Begun under the direction of the Rev. H. M. Burroughs in 1883, this church was organized in a log schoolhouse with eight charter members. Work on this sanctuary, the third for the congregation, was begun in 1919.…

First United Methodist Church of Wichita Falls · 1983

This congregation, the first to be organized in Wichita Falls, began in March 1881 at the home of Alfred H. Harris, with F. O. Miller as pastor, six charter members held services in a log schoolhouse and later in the…

Hodges-Hardy House · 1984

Local builders W. Lee Moore and James A. Richolt constructed this residence in 1893-95 for Samuel H. Hodges, an attorney and real estate investor. The late Victorian style house has a wraparound porch and Eastlake…

Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church · 1984

Founded in 1891 by the Rev. Mr. Thurston and twelve charter members, this congregation was the first to be organized on the east side of Wichita Falls. The fellowship met in the homes of the members until 1894, when a…

Wichita Falls High School · 1986

Evolving out of three private schools founded in 1879, the first public school in Wichita Falls opened in 1880 in a log cabin. Five years later the former Wichita County Courthouse was relocated to Tenth and Scott…

Wichita Falls Lodge No. 635 A.F. and A.M. · 1987

In November 1884 Masons living here who regularly made the 18-mile journey to Henrietta for meetings petitioned the Henrietta Masonic Lodge for a new lodge to be located in Wichita Falls. In December the Grand Lodge of…

City View School · 1990

Created in 1889 as Common School District No. 8, City View School was renamed by its students because of its original site (ca. 2 miles northwest) which featured a commanding view of the surrounding city. The school was…

Joseph Hudson Barwise · 1990

A native of Ohio, Joseph Hudson Barwise brought his family to Texas in 1877 and to Wichita County in 1880. An astute businessman and community leader, he earned the nickname "Father of Wichita Falls" after he donated…

Wichita Falls Traction Company · 1991

This company, founded by Frank Kell and J. A. Kemp in 1909, played a major role in Wichita Falls growth during the early 20th century. After purchasing undeveloped land between the city limits and Lake Wichita, the…

Cashion School · 1993

In 1902 Wichita County built a one-room schoolhouse here on land donated by H. F. Knippenberg. The school, named for County Commissioner T. J. Cashion, opened with one teacher, Mrs. Lou (White) Dodson, and 12 students.…

Site of Friberg School · 1993

Friberg School was created in 1895 to serve families in this area. By 1896 students attended classes in a granary owned by Will Friberg; the following year John Friberg donated land here and a 2-room schoolhouse was…

Dr. Samuel Hiatt Burnside, Mary Margaret Grice Burnside · 1994

Kentucky native Samuel H. Burnside, an 1882 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, opened a medical practice in Wichita Falls in 1883. Mary Margaret Grice, a native of Philadelphia, moved to Wichita Falls in 1885…

J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery Building · 1997

Built in 1892, this structure housed the J. A. Kemp Wholesale Grocery business for 35 years. The building originally measured 50 by 100 feet and contained a full basement. A two-story brick addition was completed by…

O'Donohoe, John F. · 2003

Mississippi native John F. O' Donohoe (1885-1967) first came to Wichita Falls in 1909 as a scout for the J.M. Guffey Petroleum Company, which later became the Gulf Oil Corporation While staying in the Jolene Hotel, the…

Site of Booker T. Washington High School · 2004

Records indicate that by 1886, when Cora Robinson was chosen as a teacher, Wichita County operated at least one school for African American students in the Wichita Falls area. Other early teachers included A.L. Hedrick…

Kell, Frank · 2008

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Frank Kell helped build Wichita Falls into a major commercial and manufacturing center. Born in Clifton, he worked there and in Galveston in the milling and mercantile businesses in his…

Kemp, Joseph Alexander · 2008

Joseph Alexander Kemp was a visionary and entrepreneur whose business and civic activities were vital to the development of Wichita Falls. Kemp was born in Clifton (Bosque Co.), where he opened his first store at the…

Riverside Cemetery · 2008

This municipal burial ground dates back to the early days of settlement in Wichita Falls. The area was sparsely settled before tracks of the Fort Worth aand Denver City Railroad reached here in September 182. Citizens…

Wichita County Water Improvement District No. 2 · 2008

Wichita County Water Improvement Districts No. 1 and No. 2 played major roles in the agricultural development of Wichita County. By 1900, Joseph Kemp, whose business activities were vital for the growth of Wichita…

John Hart Wilson · 2010

Entrepreneur John Hart Wilson was born in Pueblo, Colorado and grew up in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He graduated from Purdue University in 1914 with a degree in electrical engineering and joined the U.S. Army Corps of…

Charlye Ola Farris · 2011

(1929 - 2010) Public school educators James Randolph Farris, Sr. and Roberta (Bell) Farris welcomed their only daughter, Charlye Ola Farris, on June 30, 1929 in Wichita Falls. Charlye graduated as valedictorian of…

Sheppard Air Force Base · 2011

In July 1940, the U.S. Army Air Corps evaluated Call Field, a former World War I flight training base, as a potential site for a technical training school. That site was not available. However, Kell Field was a viable…

Davenport Grocery · 2012

DAVENPORT GROCERY RALL D. DAVENPORT (1902-1998), A NATIVE OF ARKANSAS, AND ORA L. DAVENPORT (1905-1997) MOVED TO WICHITA FALLS AROUND 1920 AND SETTLED IN THEIR HOME AT 3RD AND SEYMOUR STREET (NOW FARRIS STREET).…

Felix L. Lindsey · 2012

Felix L Lindsey was born in Gallatin county, Kentucky on October 10, 1847. His mother was mulatto and his father was full-blood Creek Indian. He was sent to live with a white family named Meeks when he was seven years…

Joseph Sterling Bridwell · 2012

JOSEPH BRIDWELL WAS BORN MARCH 23, 1885, NEAR NORTHVIEW, MISSOURI. HE MOVED TO WICHITA FALLS IN 1909 AND WENT INTO THE REAL ESTATE BUSINESS. BY 1915, BRIDWELL BEGAN BUYING, SELLING, AND TRADING OIL LEASES. HIS FIRST…

Bethania Hospital · 2014

The oil boom of 1918 was still benefitting Wichita Falls in the 1920s as the population increased to 55,000 residents. Drs. R.L. Hargrave and M.M. Walker saw the need for another medical facility besides the Wichita…

Dr. Colonel Bertram (C. B.) Fuller · 2014

Born in 1920 in the east Texas town of Terrell, Colonel Bertram Fuller attended Wiley College in Marshall. Dr. Fuller then earned his medical degree in 1947 at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, the first…

Wichita General Hospital · 2014

WICHITA GENERAL HOSPITAL Wichita Falls was a growing town in 1882 as professionals started to arrive looking for opportunities. Dr. Perrigo arrived in 1881 and is believed to be the first doctor to practice in Wichita…

Joe and Lois Perkins Estate · 2015

The Joe and Lois Perkins Estate is one of many surviving symbols of the legacy of the Perkins and Prothro families. The Tudor Revival home was designed by Fooshee and Cheek with a steep-pitched roof, arcaded loggias and…

Midwestern University Desegregation · 2015

In 1948, Emzy Downing and James O. Chandler, both graduates from the African American high school in Wichita Falls, Booker T. Washington High School, applied for admission to Hardin Junior College, a division of…

Dr. Anne Elizabeth Davis Roark · 2016

Following the local oil boom in 1918, the African American population in Wichita Falls increased as did the need for businesses and services. Dr. Anne Elizabeth Davis Roark was born in rural Texas in 1894 and educated…

Hotter 'N Hell Hundred · 2017

An annual 100-mile bicycle ride in 100-degree heat on the roads and highways of the Texoma region, the Hotter 'N Hell Hundred (HHH) first began as a kick-off event for the 1982 centennial celebration of Wichita Falls.…

Lake Wichita · 2017

At the Kemp Street boat ramp on Lake Wichita, physical address 6102 Kemp Blvd.

Wichita Falls Municipal Zoo · 2017

Mytinger-Richardson House · 2019

Saint John Baptist Church · 2019

In June 1884, the Grainger & Ballow Addition was platted in an area later called the Eastside, which became the center of the African American community of Wichita Falls. In this neighborhood in November 1905, Rev. W.M.…