Johnson Fork Colony
Segovia, Kimble County, Texas
Marker Inscription
One of first settlements in Kimble County, founded early 1806's on land once owned by Samuel Maverick, famed pioneer Texas cattleman. Name of the colony was taken from its site on the Johnson Fork of the Llano River. Settled by Wiley Joy family, who built gravity irrigation system, rock fence, 2-room log house, traces of which still remain. By end of Civil War was home of 8 families, called the Joy settlement; it became a watering place for troops and travelers; later a stage stop. (1967)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
One of Kimble County's earliest settlements grew up on land once owned by famed Texas cattleman Samuel Maverick, taking its name from the Johnson Fork of the Llano River. The Wiley Joy family put down roots here, building a gravity irrigation system, a rock fence, and a two-room log house whose traces still remain. By the end of the Civil War eight families formed the "Joy settlement," which became a watering place for travelers and troops and, later, a stage stop.
Why it matters
The colony marks the first tentative Anglo settlement of the Texas Hill Country frontier, where a single pioneering family could seed a community that served the roads west.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Samuel Maverick
- · Wiley Joy
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Cloud Point
Junction, TX
Cloud Point is the cliff commanding the junction of the Llano River valley and Johnson Fork Creek, long a natural landmark for soldiers and travelers crossing this rugged Hill Country terrain. Its name honors the family of Civil War veteran William Johnston Cloud, who bought land nearby and made his home in view of the bluff. Beneath it once ran a web of historic routes—the Upper Presidio Road, the military road from Fort Terrett to San Antonio, and the transcontinental Old Spanish Trail—though modern highways bypassed it in the 1970s.
Remount Station
Mountain Home, TX
This modest cabin of eight-inch elm logs was raised in the 1850s in the Texas Hill Country, when the road west from San Antonio was a hard and dangerous journey. By the 1870s it offered food and lodging to stagecoach travelers, and it is remembered as a spot where riders could swap tired horses for fresh mounts, earning it the name Remount Station and Stage Stop. Later moved to the Y.O. Ranch and restored, it survives as a token of the overland travel era.
First Post Office
Junction, TX
Junction's first post office opened in 1876 under postmaster Harriet Kountz, who at first simply kept the mail at home. In 1879 her husband, Dr. Ezekiel Kountz, built a post office, drugstore, and mercantile on the square using lumber hauled from Austin, and the building also served as the county's first offices. The old store stood until it was dismantled in 1911.
Site of First Livery Stable
Junction, TX
On a lot where a public corral had operated since 1877, John Allen built a livery stable in 1879 that quickly became the busiest spot in early Junction. It fed and housed visiting ranch teams, hired out horses and buggies, and drew men to gossip and trade. Owned by T. M. Hodges in its final years, the stable was made obsolete by automobiles in the 1920s.