Home of A. J. ("Jack") Hart
Rainbow, Somervell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Home of A. J. ("Jack") Hart (1832-1896). Near Hart Crossing on Brazos River. Builder, a Confederate veteran, was an organizer (1875) of Somervell County, state legislator (1874-1880), county judge (1884-1888). Home built 1884. Of native stone, hand-hewn lumber. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A.J. 'Jack' Hart settled near a Brazos River crossing that still bears his name and became a builder of both structures and institutions. A Confederate veteran, he helped organize Somervell County in 1875 and served as state legislator and later county judge. In 1884 he raised this home of native stone and hand-hewn lumber, a landmark of the county he helped create.
Why it matters
Hart's life traces the founding generation of a Texas county, whose settlers doubled as its first lawmakers, judges, and builders.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · A. J. "Jack" Hart
Related events
- · Organization of Somervell County (1875)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Mineral Springs Primitive Baptist Church
Glen Rose, TX
Founded in 1886 by Elder Wilson Hufner and W. L. Rogers in the community of Post Oak, this Primitive Baptist congregation joined with fifteen neighboring churches in 1899 to form the Duffau Association, the largest of its kind in Texas. Its meeting house was relocated to this site around 1920, and in the mid-1950s the grounds became home to a summer youth camp. The present sanctuary was moved here in 1960.
Barnard's Trading Post No. 2
Glen Rose, TX
In 1843 the Torrey brothers and their friend George Barnard—with Sam Houston as a silent partner—won a contract to build trading posts along the Brazos frontier. Barnard's fair dealing earned Native trust, and after ransoming a young captive, Juana Cavasos, from the Comanches, the family settled her with his brother Charles at a post near Comanche Peak. When the government removed the region's Native peoples to Oklahoma in 1859, the trade faded, and Charles built a gristmill whose town became Glen Rose.
Booker Home
Glen Rose, TX
This limestone home was built in the early 1870s by William G. McCamant, an early Texan who had helped bring Somervell County into being and served as one of its first commissioners. In 1896 it passed to Civil War veteran George L. Booker during his long 36-year run as county surveyor. Its eighteen-inch stone walls and end chimneys are hallmarks of frontier-era construction.
Baker-Lain Cemetery
Cleburne, TX
Tradition holds that a little girl who fell ill and died while traveling by wagon train in the 1850s was the first person buried on this ground. Church records suggest J. L. Baker first deeded land for the cemetery near New Hope Baptist Church, founded nearby in 1860, with the Lain family later adding more; the earliest dated stone belongs to Hixy Moore, who died in 1870. Generations of pioneers, veterans and Johnson County families rest here, tended still by their descendants.