Miller's Store
Waelder, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Erected 1900-1901 by R. L. Miller and Sons. Now owned by 4th generation of family. First store established 1866. Unique bannister features wooden balls carved by the contractor "Cap" Smith. Bullet holes in awning testify to rowdy early era. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1968.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
R. L. Miller and Sons erected this store in 1900–1901, carrying on a family mercantile business first established in 1866 and still owned by their descendants four generations later. A distinctive bannister features wooden balls hand-carved by the contractor known as "Cap" Smith. Bullet holes in the awning remain as physical testimony to the rowdy, rough-edged early days of the frontier town of Waelder.
Why it matters
A general store handed down through four generations, Miller's captures the endurance of small-town Texas commerce and the frontier's lingering lawlessness at the turn of the century.
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Related people
- · R. L. Miller
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hopkinsville Lodge No. 183, A.F. & A.M.
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Hopkinsville sprang up after farmer D.S. Hopkins settled here in 1852, growing into a thriving pioneer community in the surrounding farm-and-ranch country. Cattle herds gathered here before striking out for the Chisholm Trail. When a new railroad bypassed the town in 1873, its residents pulled up stakes and moved south to found Waelder, leaving Hopkinsville a memory on the land.
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