Wheelock
Wheelock, Robertson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Eleazar Louis Ripley Wheelock (1793-1847) came to Texas from Illinois in 1830. A surveyor for Robertson's colony, he established a town on his land along the Old San Antonio Road. Named Wheelock in 1837, the town boasted twenty businesses by the 1840s, including general stores, land and freight offices, and a cotton gin. By 1845 Wheelock was a transportation hub in Central Texas. A post office was established in 1846, and the town was Robertson County Seat from 1850 to 1856. Bypassed by the railroad in the 1860s, Wheelock declined; many of its citizens moved to Hearne. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Surveyor Eleazar Louis Ripley Wheelock came to Texas from Illinois in 1830 and founded a town on his land along the Old San Antonio Road, named Wheelock in 1837. By the 1840s it boasted some twenty businesses and became a Central Texas transportation hub, serving as Robertson County seat from 1850 to 1856. When the railroad bypassed it in the 1860s, the town declined and many residents drifted to nearby Hearne.
Why it matters
Wheelock's rise and fall shows how the arrival—or absence—of the railroad could make or unmake a frontier Texas town within a single generation.
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Related people
- · Eleazar Louis Ripley Wheelock
Themes & tags
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