Old Carson Store
Rocksprings, Edwards County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First stone store in town; built 1920-21 by G. M. Carson, merchant. His 1904 general store (on this site) was for years only establishment in county selling caskets. Present store withstood 1927 tornado that killed 72 here; is still owned by the Carson family. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1920–21 by merchant G. M. Carson, this was the first stone store in Rocksprings, replacing his 1904 general store on the same spot—long the only place in the county selling caskets. The sturdy building survived the devastating 1927 tornado that killed 72 people in the town. More than a century on, it remains in the Carson family.
Why it matters
The store anchors the memory of a small West Texas town's commerce and of the 1927 disaster that marked one of the deadliest tornadoes in the state's history.
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Related people
- · G. M. Carson
Related events
- · 1927 Rocksprings tornado
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Rocksprings Telephone Company
Rocksprings, TX
In 1898 a local businessman and a Kerrville partner strung a long-distance line across the Hill Country to Rocksprings, installing the town's first telephone in a general store. From crank-handled magneto phones shared by as many as seventeen parties, the enterprise grew into a family-run company that survived the 1927 tornado and converted every exchange to dial service by 1958. A century on, descendants of the founder still sat on its board.
Edwards County
Rocksprings, TX
Spread across the Edwards Plateau and dipping into the scenic Nueces Valley, Edwards County was created in 1858 and organized in 1883 from the old Bexar district, taking its name from early Texas colonizer Haden Edwards. Ranching built its economy, and it once styled itself the Angora goat capital of the world. The county seat moved to Rocksprings in 1891, whose courthouse survived a fire in 1897 and, in 1927, a devastating tornado that killed 72 people.
Headquarters, American Angora Goat Breeders' Assn.
Rocksprings, TX
Founded in Missouri in 1898, the American Angora Goat Breeders' Association moved to Texas in 1924 and settled in Rocksprings in 1926, the heart of the state's mohair country. Its headquarters keeps the complete national registry of Angora goats along with portraits of breeders and champion animals.
Turner-Davis Ranch Headquarters
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Established in 1921 on the rugged limestone country of the Edwards Plateau, the Turner-Davis Ranch raised Angora goats for the mohair industry that thrived in this hard-to-farm terrain. Owned first by Ruby and Helen Davis and later by the Turner family and their heirs, its pioneer-style headquarters were built to last and improved by each generation. The ranch relied heavily on Mexican labor, including workers brought through the Bracero program, before it was sold and subdivided in 2003 after 82 years.