George and Myra Wilson
Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Only about a year after they met in 1880, George and Myra (Tuggle) Wilson married and began changing their small town into a bustling city. George and his brother opened a brick plant and were hired to build many prominent buildings such as the City National Bank building, First Baptist Church, Cumby High School, Sulphur Springs City Hall and the Freestone, Llano and Titus County Courthouses. Myra was a charter member of the Joseph Wheeler Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, was President of the Ladies’ Cemetery Society for 43 years and raised funding for a cemetery chapel. Both were involved with the public library. The efforts of the Wilsons and others like them paved the way for cultural change in the once-frontier State of Texas.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Soon after they married in 1881, George and Myra Wilson set about transforming Sulphur Springs from a small town into a city. George and his brother ran a brick plant and built many of its landmarks—the City National Bank, First Baptist Church, and several county courthouses—while Myra led the Ladies' Cemetery Society for 43 years, helped found the public library, and raised money for a cemetery chapel. Together they typified the civic energy that reshaped a once-frontier Texas town.
Why it matters
The Wilsons show how enterprising couples—he building in brick, she building institutions—turned rough frontier settlements into settled cities in the decades after the Civil War.
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Related people
- · George Wilson
- · Myra Tuggle Wilson
Themes & tags
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