HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Black's Fort

Bertram, Burnet County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Built as a defense against the Indians in 1851 by William Black (1815-1907) on land owned by him. In the stockade, constructed of cedar logs, sentries were kept on guard on moonlight nights. Guns and ammunition for public use were kept here. Abandoned in 1868. Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

In 1851 William Black raised a cedar-log stockade on his own land as a refuge against Indian raids, where guns and ammunition were stored for public use and sentries kept watch on moonlit nights. The fort served the scattered frontier settlers until it was abandoned in 1868.

Why it matters

Black's Fort recalls the era when isolated Texas families built their own defenses on a contested frontier.

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Related people

  • · William Black

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

Site of Town of Strickling

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Strickling grew up in the 1850s as a rural crossroads on the Central Texas frontier, named for Martha Webster Strickling, who settled here in 1853. As a child she had survived the infamous Webster Massacre near Leander and months of Indian captivity—a harrowing frontier ordeal. With a post office established in 1857, the town became a mail terminal and stage stop where lumber and buffalo hides moved through, supporting a school, churches, a doctor, and stores until the railroad bypassed it in 1882.

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