London Town Square
London, Kimble County, Texas
Marker Inscription
PLANNED AS COURT SQUARE OF PROPOSED COUNTY. PLATTED ABOUT 1878 BY POSTMASTER LEN L. LEWIS, WHOSE TOWN NAME CHOICE, "BETTY LEWIS "(FOR HIS WIFE), WAS VETOED BY POSTAL AUTHORITIES. "LONDON" IS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN PROPOSED BY THE PEARL FAMILY, FOR THEIR OLD KENTUCKY HOME TOWN. ON THE WESTERN CATTLE TRAIL, LONDON HAD TRAIL DRIVERS AS RESIDENTS AND SOLD SUPPLIES TO CREWS PASSING WITH LONGHORN HERDS. BUSINESSES IN EARLY DAYS: BLACKSMITH SHOP, STORES, COTTON GIN. ALSO THERE WERE 3 CHURCHES AND A SCHOOL. COKE R. STEVENSON, 19411-47 TEXAS GOVERNOR, LIVED HERE AS A CHILD. (1971)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Laid out around 1878 as the hoped-for courthouse square of a proposed county, this town took the name London after the postmaster's first choice honoring his wife was rejected by postal authorities. Sitting astride the Western Cattle Trail, London counted trail drivers among its residents and sold supplies to crews pushing longhorn herds north, supporting a blacksmith, stores, a cotton gin, churches, and a school. A future Texas governor spent part of his childhood here.
Why it matters
London is a small survivor of the great cattle-drive era, when Texas trail towns fed and outfitted the herds that stocked the ranges of the American West.
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Related people
- · Coke R. Stevenson
- · Len L. Lewis
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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