Crosby County
Crosbyton, Crosby County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In memory of Henry Clay Smith, 'Uncle Hank'...Born in Germany, August 15, 1836, died, May 20, 1912 and Elizabeth Boyle Smith, 'Aunt Hank,'...Born July 12, 1848, died, June 5, 1925....Pioneers of the Plains, builders of the Rock House, 1877, a monument to frontier hospitality........They sleep above the Cap Rock, at Old Emma. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This state monument honors Henry Clay Smith — "Uncle Hank" — a German-born pioneer who, with his wife Elizabeth, built the famed Rock House in 1877 and became a byword for frontier hospitality on the Texas Plains. The couple settled at Old Emma above the Cap Rock, an escarpment marking the edge of the high plains, and the State of Texas raised this memorial to them in 1936. They lie buried near the home that made their name.
Why it matters
Smith's story marks the arrival of permanent settlement on the West Texas plains, where an immigrant's stone house and open door became a landmark of the frontier.
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Related people
- · Henry Clay Smith
- · Elizabeth Boyle Smith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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