HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Veal's Station

Veal's Station, Parker County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Settled in 1852. Here was established in 1858 by William G. Veal (1831-1891), a leading spirit in all public improvements of the region, an outstanding school of Parker County which functioned more than a half-century. (1936)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Settlers arrived at Veal's Station in 1852, and in 1858 William G. Veal established a school that would serve Parker County for more than half a century. Veal was remembered as a leading force behind the region's public improvements, and his school became one of the area's most respected.

Why it matters

It marks the frontier commitment to education, where even small settlements invested early in schools as the foundation of a lasting community.

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Related people

  • · William G. Veal

Themes & tags

EducationFrontier HistorySchool

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Bill Woody, one of Parker County's first Anglo settlers, left the Tennessee hills in December 1846 and set out for Texas on foot with his wife Elisabeth and their six-week-old son. After years of moving, the family built a story-and-a-half dogtrot home here by 1855, using hand-sawn yellow pine hauled by ox from New Orleans. In the Veal's Station community the house became a stagecoach stop, a boarding house for college students, a cobbler's shop, and a meeting place for every local congregation, and in 1858 Woody helped build a frame hall that served as church, school, and eventually Parsons College.

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