Eanes-Marshall Ranch
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Alexander Eanes (1806-1888) moved to Texas from Mississippi in 1845 and acquired this ranch by 1857. In 1873 he sold the property to his brother, Robert Eanes (1805-1895), who had moved to the area following the Civil War. A log cabin built on the Eanes ranch was the first Eanes school, and the community also assumed the Eanes name. Robert Eanes sold the ranch to his son-in-law, Hudson Boatner Marshall (1862-1951) in 1883. Marshall dismantled the ranch house and moved it to a site adjacent to the nearby creek. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Alexander Eanes moved from Mississippi to Texas in 1845 and had acquired this Travis County ranch by 1857, later selling it to his brother Robert, who came west after the Civil War. A log cabin on the ranch became the first Eanes school, and the surrounding community took the family name as well. In 1883 the ranch passed to Robert's son-in-law, Hudson Boatner Marshall, who moved the ranch house to a site by the nearby creek.
Why it matters
The Eanes name, still borne by the area and its schools, shows how a single pioneer family can leave a lasting imprint on the map of a growing region.
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Related people
- · Alexander Eanes
- · Robert Eanes
- · Hudson Boatner Marshall
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Robert Eanes
Austin, TX
South Carolina–born Robert Eanes brought his family to Travis County in 1872, following a brother who had settled the area decades earlier. Buying a ranch from that brother, he built the first school in the neighborhood, and both the community and the school came to bear the Eanes name. He was laid to rest here in 1895 beside his wife, Eliza.
Littlefield Home
Austin, TX
George W. Littlefield came to Texas as a boy in 1850, rode with Terry's Texas Rangers in the Civil War, and emerged a major who turned to the cattle business, amassing great ranches across New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle. Settling in Austin in 1883, he moved into banking and served as a regent of the University of Texas, funding buildings, scholarships, and library collections. He built this Victorian residence in 1894 and left it to the university on his death.
Site of Temporary Texas State Capitol of 1880's
Austin, TX
After fire destroyed the previous statehouse in 1881, Texas built this three-story brick Temporary Capitol in 1882–1883, the third capitol to stand in Austin. During its five busy years it saw legislation to fund education and to halt the fence-cutting that had erupted into a range war, hosted the first classes of the University of Texas, and even witnessed cattle baron Charles Goodnight wheel in $100,000 in cash to force a land settlement. After the grand new Capitol opened, the building served as a high school and offices until it, too, burned in 1899.
Eanes School and Chapel
West Lake Hills, TX
Education in the hill country west of Austin began humbly: a log cabin raised on Robert Eanes's land in 1872, then a one-room frame schoolhouse on land donated by William and Sophia Teague. Circuit-riding ministers preached in the schoolroom and a community cemetery grew up nearby, while a 1928 stone chapel was later folded into the school's use. The Eanes name endured into the modern Eanes Independent School District, which by 1975 served over 1,800 students.