Erath
China Spring, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This locale is one of the early settlements of McLennan County. Erath was one of the first voting precincts in the county in 1850, with settlers attracted by fertile agricultural lands between the Brazos and Bosque rivers. The community was named for George B. Erath, a soldier and legislator who surveyed Waco in 1849. At its peak the rural community had two churches, a school, two cotton gins, a gristmill, stores and a blacksmith shop. Erath post office operated from 1896 to 1907, and the Erath School was active until consolidating with China Spring in the 1920s. The area was sparsely populated through most of the 20th century; by the time the City of Waco annexed the area in the 1980s, only the Baptist church remained from historic Erath. (2008)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Erath was one of McLennan County's earliest settlements, serving as a voting precinct by 1850 as settlers were drawn to fertile land between the Brazos and Bosque rivers. Named for surveyor and legislator George B. Erath, who laid out Waco in 1849, the community grew to hold churches, a school, cotton gins, a gristmill, and shops. Its post office closed in 1907 and its school consolidated away in the 1920s; by the time Waco annexed the area in the 1980s only a Baptist church remained.
Why it matters
Its rise and fading tell the common American story of the small rural crossroads communities that flourished briefly and then dissolved into the countryside.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · George B. Erath
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
China Spring Tabernacle
China Spring, TX
Raised around 1903 on land given by Lavantia Conger, this two-story tabernacle has long been the civic heart of the farming community of China Spring. The Woodmen of the World lodge met upstairs for seven decades, and the building was remodeled by the Works Progress Administration in 1934. Over the years its floors have hosted school assemblies, church revivals, traveling shows, theatricals, lectures, and political rallies.
Bosque River Crossing of the 1841 Texan Santa Fe Expedition
China Spring, TX
In 1841 Republic of Texas president Mirabeau B. Lamar dispatched an expedition to open trade with Santa Fe and press Texas' claims to New Mexico. Struggling with steep banks, the party crossed the Bosque River near here on July 6, 1841, early in a journey plagued by hunger and Indian attacks. When they finally reached New Mexico that September, Mexican troops captured them and marched them off to prison in Mexico City.
China Spring Cemetery
China Spring, TX
Settled around 1870 and named for a grove of chinaberry trees beside a spring, the China Spring community first buried its dead in scattered family plots before local citizens formed an association in 1902 and bought five acres for a shared burial ground. In an early experiment, sheep were set loose to trim the grass—until they began to stray. Among the graves is that of Isaac Brock, said to have lived in three centuries (1787–1909).
Bosqueville Methodist Church
Waco, TX
This Methodist congregation took root in the Bosqueville community outside Waco in 1853, when frontier worshippers gathered in homes, then a schoolhouse, then the local college before building a church of their own. Traveling circuit riders such as Mordecai Yell served the scattered settlers, a hallmark of Methodism's reach across the Texas frontier. The present sanctuary dates to 1911–12, with educational wings added in the 1950s.