Edwards County
Rocksprings, Edwards County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Atop the Edwards Plateau, extending into the scenic Nueces Valley. Angora goat capital of the world. The economy is based on ranching. Wild game is abundant. Created in 1858 and organized 1883 from old Bexar district. Named for Haden Edwards (1813-1865), an early leader and colonizer in Texas. First county seat was Leakey; present boundaries were created, and county seat was moved on April 13, 1891, to Rocksprings. First courthouse and jail were built that year. After a fire in 1897, the present courthouse was erected; it withstood a destructive tornado that claimed 72 lives in the county in 1927. First officials to serve the county (1891-1893) as it is presently constituted were the following: James M. Hunter, County Judge; W. M. Sanford, County and District Clerk; Ira L. Wheat, Sheriff and Tax Collector; S.A. Hough, County Attorney; W.H. Cowan, County Treasurer County Commissioners: John Eaton, Precinct No. 1; C. H. Kirchner, Precinct No. 2; H. Schweithelm, Precinct No. 3; M. M. Bradford, Precinct No. 4 (1967)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Spread across the Edwards Plateau and dipping into the scenic Nueces Valley, Edwards County was created in 1858 and organized in 1883 from the old Bexar district, taking its name from early Texas colonizer Haden Edwards. Ranching built its economy, and it once styled itself the Angora goat capital of the world. The county seat moved to Rocksprings in 1891, whose courthouse survived a fire in 1897 and, in 1927, a devastating tornado that killed 72 people.
Why it matters
Edwards County typifies the ranching frontier of the Texas Hill Country, its very name a link to the empresario era of Anglo colonization.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Haden Edwards
Related events
- · 1927 Rocksprings tornado
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Turner-Davis Ranch Headquarters
Rocksprings, TX
Established in 1921 on the rugged limestone country of the Edwards Plateau, the Turner-Davis Ranch raised Angora goats for the mohair industry that thrived in this hard-to-farm terrain. Owned first by Ruby and Helen Davis and later by the Turner family and their heirs, its pioneer-style headquarters were built to last and improved by each generation. The ranch relied heavily on Mexican labor, including workers brought through the Bracero program, before it was sold and subdivided in 2003 after 82 years.
Real County Courthouse
Leakey, TX
When Real County was carved from neighboring counties in 1913 and named for rancher and state senator Julius Real, its residents wrangled for years over where to seat the government. Judge D. D. Thompson pushed for a permanent courthouse, and in 1918 architect H. A. Reuter's Classical Revival design rose from native limestone quarried nearby at Tucker Hollow. Its rusticated, fortress-like walls still anchor the square in Leakey.
R. M. Turner Family
Kimble County, TX
In April 1879, R. M. Turner and his bride Emma Scarborough settled on the north bank of the South Llano River, where Turner rose to prominence as a cattle and sheep rancher. Of their ten children, eight reached adulthood, and many stayed to become leading citizens of Kimble County. Best known was son Jack Turner, who conducted the first Angora doe sale in Texas and helped organize the National Angora Goat Breeders Association in 1925.
First School House
Mountain Home, TX
J. L. O'Conner built this cabin at Center Point in 1852 from foot-thick cypress logs cut along the Guadalupe River, chinked with hand-mixed lime-and-sand mortar. The making of cypress roofing shakes here became one of the first industries along the river in Kerr County. By 1858 the cabin was serving as the community's first school, teaching the children of Hill Country pioneers before it was later moved to the Y.O. Ranch and restored.