Historical Markers

CITY OF ALVORD

• U.S. 287

By 1882, when the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad built a line to this area, a small agricultural community had developed here on an old Indian trail. First known as Nina, the town was renamed Alvord in 1883, probably in honor of J.B. Alvord, president of the railroad. Early businesses here included mercantile stores, a drugstore, a variety store, a bank, Hotels and a saloon with a second-floor opera house. The first school was established at Briar Branch in 1890. Alvord has continued to develop as a center of farming, ranching and oil production.

GEORGE LAWTON BLEDSOE
BEAUCHAMP DRIVE, AURORA

• Aurora Cemetery, at southern part of cemetery on Beauchamp Drive. Cemetery road about .5 mile south of FM 114 -Aurora

Georgia native George Lawton Bledsoe (b. 1805), a carpenter and cotton gin builder, came to Texas in 1834. A veteran of the Texas Revolution and the Battle of San Jacinto, he received a pension for his military service and patented land grants in Brazoria, Cooke, Jack, Fannin, and Wise counties. He was married to the former Ellen Bowdre (d. 1850) and had five children. Bledsoe is buried here along with his daughter Georgia and a brother-in-law, Preston E. Bowdre. Ellen Bledsoe and the couple’s other four children are buried in Fannin County, probably in Bledsoe Cemetery near Dial.

ARKANSAS JOHNSON GRAVE

• Round Rock, SW of Cottondale. Near Earp Cemetery, north of Parker County line.

The grave of the outlaw Arkansaw Johnson is located to the west of Cottondale. You go west from Cottondale on FM Rd 2123, turn left on CR 3673, and then left on CR 3661.

Pal of Sam Bass, killed at Round Rock, early 1800s. On private property.

TOLL BRIDGE AND OLD BRIDGEPORT

• FM 920 and Trinity River Bridge, Bridgeport, just west of Bridgeport.

When Butterfield Overland Mail traversed this area (1858-61) on the St. Louis to San Francisco route, a crossing over West Fork of the Trinity was a necessity. Colonel W. H. Hunt on Feb. 11, 1860, obtained a charter and built a toll bridge here (50 yards west). The Overland Mail ceased operating as Civil War began. The bridge soon collapsed. However, a settlement had begun here, and in 1873 Charles Cates, a Decatur merchant, spanned the river with an iron bridge. When the Rock Island Railroad built to this point in 1893, town moved but retained historic name.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BRIDGEPORT

• 1307 Newby St.

In 1883, the Rock Island Railroad established a line close to Bridgeport on the banks of the west fork of the Trinity River, and soon the town began to grow. In 1895, the family of J.A. Weakley moved from Decatur to Bridgeport and as charter members of other Presbyterian churches in the area, decided to start a Presbyterian church in Bridgeport. After meeting in a school for several years, the twelve charter members officially organized on April 1, 1898. In Sept. 1898, the Bridgeport town company sold two lots to the church for $1. The first church building, a dignified carpenter gothic structure, was completed at the conclusion of 1898. The church would reside in several buildings over the years. The original 1898 structure, a second structure built in 1960, and a rebuild of the second structure after a fire in 1974.

Opportunities for women to organize within the church began almost immediately and included the women’s auxiliary in 1899 and the women’s missionary union in 1901 (later called the Presbyterian Auxiliary of Fort Worth Presbytery). Martha Green Weakley, one of the first leaders of both organizations and a charter member of the church, traveled the area delivering speeches on Christian education and methods of organization. Descendants of the charter membership in the church, William Montford and Jane Holden Montford of Ireland, have held continuous membership in the church to this date. In the 1960s, the church began to share services and programs with other denominations in Bridgeport, such as youth, community and educational activities. For more than a century, the church has been a beacon of light in the community.

J. T. BROWN HOTEL

• Decatur Street, one block east of Chico Square

Colonel J.T. Brown founded town of Chico in 1876; built this hotel 1888. In ceremony on hotel porch, Governor Charles A. Culberson pardoned Brown for his part in an 1895 fight fatality. Banker-tenant R. Lee Morris owned Brown Hotel from 1908 to 1965.

CATTLE TRAIL CROSSING

• U.S. 380, east of Decatur
• From Decatur take US 380 about 10 miles east to Denton/Wise County line; marker on south side of the highway.

Near this site ran one of the many “feeder” branches of the famous Chisholm Trail, best-known of all the cattle trails that once linked the vast grasslands of Texas with the meat-hungry markets of the north. The original trail, which stretched from the North Canadian to the Arkansas River, was blazed in 1865 by Jesse Chisholm, a half-Scottish and half-Cherokee trader. The 220-mile route, soon taken up by drovers, was extended north and south. Branches all the way from the Rio Grande gradually snaked up to join the main trail at the Red River. Although unpredictable Texas weather and hostile Indians sometimes prevented the drovers from keeping to the main route, certain points were fixed. One of these was the Trinity River ford at Fort Worth, just south of here, where cattle might have to wait for weeks to cross if the river had recently flooded. In 1895, the fenced range, railroad, and quarantines against the fever tick had reduced to a trickle the flood of cattle leaving Texas on the hoof; but by this time, the trail had helped restore the economy of Texas (wrecked by the Civil War) and it had left a legacy in folksong and legend of cowboy days on the untamed Texas frontier.

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF PARADISE

• Main St. and CR 3267

During the late 1880s, members of this church held home worship services in Old Town, the original Paradise townsite (1.5 miles southwest). The arrival of the Rock Island Railroad sent residents to this location, which was nearer to the rail line. Sometime after the move, the First Christian Church of Paradise was chartered. During the early 1900s, three of the twenty-nine charter members became the original trustees. Merchant M. D. Cansler, school superintendent S. L. Atkins, and land owner and cotton farmer Fred Harms were responsible for purchasing the land and constructing a building for the church. This Gothic revival structure was built about 1905 by local contractor Will Plymell. The steeple houses the original church bell. At one time, the number of attending members dwindled to as few as three, yet worship services have continued to be held throughout the church’s history. Over the years the First Christian Church of Paradise has reflected the determination and ideals of its founders. With historic ties to the old and new Paradise townsites, it is a significant part of the area’s heritage.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK IN RHOME

• U.S. 287 bypass at Texas 114

Prominent area businessman Dan Waggoner began this financial institution in 1904 as a branch of his privately-owned bank in Decatur (15 mi. NW). His son, W.T., served for a time as its president. Rhome’s first bank was given a national charter in 1914 and grew steadily through the years. Its sound financial policies enabled it to survive the period of the Great Depression. Headquartered downtown for more than seventy years, the First National Bank in Rhome has been located at this site since 1975.

ETERNAL OAKS CEMETERY

• Other names: Runaway Bay Cemetery

Eternal Oaks is in the Runaway Bay addition. It’s on the south side of Hwy 380. On Hwy 380 go west and cross the Lake Bridgeport bridge. Go to the third exit on the left (Exit #6) and turn left onto Port-O-Call. Head east on Port-O-Call until you come to Palomino Ct. on the right. The cemetery is on the corner of Palomino Ct. and Port-O-Call.

THE COMPLETE LIST

• Allison Family Cemetery
• Alvord Cemetery
• Alvord Lodge No. 512, A.F. & A.M.
• City of Alvord
• Anna’s Chapel Cemetery
• Anneville Cemetery
• Anneville School
• Arkansas Cemetery
• Arkansas Johnson Grave
• Audubon
• Aurora Cemetery
• B & D Dabney Cemetery
• Babb Cemetery
• Indian Captives Dot and Bianca Babb
• Ball Knob Cemetery
• Balsora Cemetery
• Baptist Cemetery
• Baptist Jr. College
• Bethel Cemetery No. 1
• Bethel Cemetery No. 2
• Bethel Cemetery No. 3
• Bledsoe, George Lawton
• Blocker Cemetery
• Bodine Cemetery
• Boonesville Cemetery
• Booth Cemetery
• Boyd Cemetery
• Briar Branch Cemetery
• Bridge and Old Bridgeport, Toll
• Bridgeport Catholic Cemetery
• Bridgeport Coal Mines
• Bridgeport East Cemetery
• Bridgeport Lodge No. 586, A.F. & A.M
• Bridgeport West Cemetery
• J. T. Brown Hotel
• Butterfield Overland Stage Line (Decatur)
• Cattle Trail Crossing
• Charlie Jones Grave
• Chico Cemetery
• Chief Red Feather Grave
• Chisholm Trail
• Cottondale
• Cottondale Cemetery
• Cottonwood Cemetery
• County Farm Cemetery
• Crafton Cemetery
• Cumbey Cemetery
• Dawson Cemetery
• Decatur Baptist College Administration Building
• Decatur First United Methodist Church
• Deep Creek Cemetery
• Deep Creek Community
• Draco
• Dunn-Comstock Cemetery
• East Mound Cemetery
• East Mount Cemetery and School
• Easton Cemetery
• Eaton Cemetery
• Elebey Cemetery
• Episcopal Mission of the Ascension
• Eternal Oaks Cemetery
• Evetts, Samuel G. Victorian Farmhouse (rural)
• First Baptist Church of Chico
• First Baptist Church of Decatur
• First Christian Church of Paradise
• First National Bank in Rhome
• First National Bank of Decatur
• First United Methodist Church of Bridgeport
• Flat Rock Cemetery
• A. H. Fortenberry
• Foster Cemtery
• Friendship Cemetery
• Garvin Cemetery
• Gilley Cemetery
• Glass Cemetery
• Gose Trees
• Gouley Cemetery
• Grandview Cemetery
• Greenwood
• Greenwood Cemetery
• Hanna-Robinson-Richey Drugstore
• Hart Cemetery
• Hefley Cemetery
• Hog Branch Cemetery
• Holden Grave
• Hopewell Cemetery
• Howard Cemetery
• Huff Family Massacre
• Col. William Hudson Hunt
• Hutchinson Cemetery
• Hyde Cemetery
• Indian Creek Cemetery
• Isabelle Cemetery
• Old Campsite of Jesse and Frank James
• Jim Ned Cemetery
• Jonestown Cemetery
• Keeter Cemetery
• Kincannan Cemetery Battle of the Knobs
• Lake Valley Cemetery
• Loftis Family Cemetery
• Lone Star Cemetery
• Ira Long – Texas Ranger Captain
• Masonic Lodge No. 479
• Dr. M. W. Matthews McDaniel Cemetery No. 1
• McNair Cemetery
• The Methodist Church in Chico
• Mount Cemetery
• R. C. Mount House
• Mount Zion Baptist Church & Jonestown Cemetery
• Robert Calvin Mount
• New Bridgeport Cemetery
• Norwood Cemetery
• Oak Grove Cemetery
• Oak Grove United Methodist Church
• Oak Lawn Cemetery
• Oaklawn Cemetery No. 1
• Oaklawn Cemetery No. 2
• Old Boonesville Cemetery
• Old Bridgeport Cemetery
• Old Cottonwood Cemetery
• Old Friendship Cemetery
• Old Sweetwater Cemetery
• Old Willow Point Cemetery
• Olive Branch Cemetery
• Opal Cemetery
• Owen’s Pasture Cemetery
• Paradise Cemetery
• Paschall
• Pella Cemetery
• Perkins Cemetery
• Pleasant Grove Cemetery No. 1
• Pleasant Grove Cemetery No. 2
• Pleasant Grove Cemetery No. 3
• Pleasant Grove No. 2 Cemetery, School and Church
• Pleasant View Church Cemetery
• Poco Graphite
• Pope Cemetery
• First Post Office in Wise County
• Prairie Point Cemetery
• Prescott Cemetery
• Preskitt Cemetery
• Press Perkins Grave
• Price Cemetery
• Pruitt Cemetery
• George Lafayette Ramsdale
• Dr. William Renshaw
• Rhoads Family Cemetery
• Rhome Cemetery
• Rush Creek Community Cemetery
• Saint Clair Grave
• Sand Hill Cemetery
• Sand Hill Community
• Saunders Cemetery
• Siddons-Barnes Log Cabin
• Slidell
• Slidell Cemetery
• Slimp Cemetery
• Smith Cemetery
• Souther Cemetery
• Captain George Stevens
• Old Stone Prison
• Sweetwater Cemetery
• Sycamore Cemetery
• Teague Cemetery
• Charles Vernon Terrell
• Texas Tourist Camp
• General Ernest O. Thompson
• Thurmond-Fairview Cemetery
• Tilghman House, S. W.
• Trimble Cemetery
• Trimble Cemetery
• Tucker Cemetery
• Union Hill Cemetery
• United Methodist Church of Rhome
• Unknown Grave
• Unnamed Cemetery No. 1
• Unnamed Cemetery No. 2
• Unnamed Cemetery No. 3
• Unnamed Cemetery No. 4
• Valley View Cemetery
• Randolph Vesey
• Waggoner Cemetery
• Waggoner Mansion
• Westbrook Cemetery
• Willow Point Cemetery
• Wilson Cemetery
• Wilson Praire Cemetery
• Wise County Courthouse
• Wise County Courthouse (1858)
• Wise County Courthouse (1861)
• Wise County Courthouse (1883)
• Wise County Heritage Museum
• Wise County Jail
• Wise County Messenger
• Site of Wise County Poor Farm & Cemetery
• Wise County Reunion
• Wise County, C.S.A.
• Woods Cemetery
• Sam Woody’s Cabin

APPROVED IN 2011 WERE:

• Santa Fe Trail
• St. John Baptist Church
• New Salem Free Will Baptist Church