Rancho
Nixon, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Rancho grew up around the country store of Paul Murray, on land he purchased in 1849. His store was located at the intersection of roads that led to the important settlements of San Antonio, Gonzales, Seguin, Cuero, Goliad and Indianola. Murray had come to Texas from Mississippi and was soon followed by many of his Mississippi neighbors. They came in search of farm land, but soon abandoned the plow to adopt the cowboy culture of the area, as unbranded range cattle were everywhere and free for the taking. The name “Rancho” was given to the settlement as a ranching culture developed. Some of the earliest open range branding codes in Texas originated here in 1866, as local stockmen were gathering cattle herds to be driven to northern markets by Rancho cowboys. These codes facilitated the system of marking and tracking the cattle that mingled together in open, unfenced ranges. A post office was officially established in 1855, and Rancho grew to have several businesses, as well as a school and two churches. Rancho began a rapid decline in population when the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railroad bypassed the town in 1906, and many residents relocated to the new railroad town of Nixon, two miles to the south. The post office closed in 1911, and by that time, many of Rancho’s buildings had been moved to Nixon and most of Rancho’s residents had relocated to the new town. Although virtually no visible evidence of the town of Rancho remains, the town’s short existence stands as a reminder of the hundreds of similar towns that fell prey to the railroads that crossed Texas during the late 19th century.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Rancho grew up around Paul Murray's country store, opened in 1849 at the crossing of roads to San Antonio, Gonzales, Seguin, Cuero, Goliad, and Indianola. Murray's fellow Mississippians followed him west for farmland but soon traded the plow for the saddle amid the free-ranging cattle of the open country, and the settlement took its Spanish name as a ranching culture took hold—some of Texas's earliest range branding codes were devised here in 1866. The town thrived with stores, a school, and two churches until 1906, when the railroad bypassed it for nearby Nixon and Rancho's buildings and people drifted away.
Why it matters
Rancho stands for the hundreds of Texas towns that vanished when the railroads chose a different route, and for the birth of the open-range cattle culture that defined the American West.
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Related people
- · Paul Murray
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Gonzales-San Antonio Road
Gonzales County, TX
When Green DeWitt planted his colony on the Guadalupe River in 1825, he ordered a road cut to link his capital at Gonzales with San Antonio, and surveyor Byrd Lockhart opened the eighty-mile route in 1827—its mileage notched into roadside oak trunks. Settlers, traders, and Mexican travelers braved the road despite the danger of raids. A decade later it became a thoroughfare of the Texas Revolution: the 'Immortal 32' marched down it from Gonzales to reinforce the Alamo, and Santa Anna's army followed after the fort fell.
Sutherland Springs Cemetery
Sutherland Springs, TX
Dr. John Sutherland, a Virginia-born physician, came to Texas in 1835 and was helping ready the Alamo's defense when a horse accident left him unable to fight; Col. Travis instead sent him riding to Gonzales for help, and the Mexican army stormed the fort before aid could come. Sutherland later settled near the sulphur springs on the Cibolo, boarding health-seekers in his home, which became a stop on the San Antonio–to–coast stage line. He set aside about five acres as a community cemetery in 1860, and the ground now holds Texas Rangers, veterans, officials, and residents of every background who built Wilson County.
Rector Chapel Cemetery
La Vernia, TX
This cemetery grew from the friendship of two early La Vernia settlers: William Wiseman, who ran the town's first cotton gin, and William Claiborne Rector, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto who farmed, carried the mail, and supplied horses for the stage line. Together they organized the Cibolo Presbyterian Church in 1852, and after Rector's death Wiseman built a new chapel on his farm named in his friend's honor, setting aside four acres in 1877 for worship and burial. Though the chapel itself was moved to town in 1891, the weathered gravestones still mark the community's founding generation.
Cibolo Crossing on the Gonzales Road
La Vernia, TX
Under Mexican rule, the Gonzales Road linked the DeWitt Colony settlement of Gonzales to San Antonio de Béxar, fording the Cibolo Creek at a natural crossing about twenty-two miles east of the town. That ford ran through land granted to spy Erastus "Deaf" Smith, who is said to have watched Mexican troops from a nearby tree in 1835. The crossing became a rendezvous during the Texas Revolution, where relief forces under captains like Juan Seguín and Albert Martin gathered in early 1836 hoping to reinforce the Alamo, before annexation and new roads left the old ford abandoned.