Rock House Community
Liberty Hill, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(0.8 mi.S) A pioneer agricultural community of Williamson County, this site was first settled in the late 1840s by Uriah H. Anderson, a native of Tennessee who received a land grant here from the state of Texas. By 1875 a rural school was in operation and classes were held in the Bethel Church sanctuary. The settlement was named for the stone structure, which was known as the Rock House. Another church, Macedonia, which later became a Missionary Baptist congregation, was organized in 1873. Early services and camp meetings were conducted in a tabernacle. The settlement also included a general store started about 1885 by T. C. Sowell, The village was later the site of a grist mill, a blacksmith shop, an active farmers' union, and a string band. A post office was opened in 1890 under the name of Draco, an Indian word for the area meaning "favorite place." It closed two years later. The school continued until the 1940s when it was consolidated with Liberty Hill (5 mi.SW). The general store, later owned by other residents of the area, was in operation until 1960. All that remains of the original townsite is the Rock House Cemetery and the evidence of early buildings. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
First settled in the late 1840s by Tennessee native Uriah H. Anderson on a Texas land grant, this Williamson County community grew up around a stone building known as the Rock House. By the 1870s it had schools, churches, camp meetings, a general store, a grist mill, a blacksmith, and even a string band; a post office briefly operated under the name Draco, said to mean "favorite place." The school closed in the 1940s and the store in 1960, and today only the Rock House Cemetery and building traces remain.
Why it matters
The rise and quiet disappearance of Rock House shows the full life cycle of countless rural American farm settlements that flourished for a lifetime and then faded into the landscape.
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Related people
- · Uriah H. Anderson
- · T. C. Sowell
Themes & tags
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