Colorado County

Marker Location: Columbus, 1/2 mile N. of Colorado River on Business 71 at FM 109 turnoff, Columbus

Marker Text: The river traversing the region was called "Colorado" (Red) by Spanish explorers who mistook it for the reddish Brazos. From the river, the county took its name; Columbus, the county seat.

City of Columbus

Marker Location: Columbus, Spring & Bowie Sts.

Marker Text: Oldest surveyed and platted Anglo-American town in Texas. About Christmas, 1821, Robert and Joseph Kuykendall and Daniel Gilleland settled at this place--in vicinity of old Indian campgrounds on Mexico-to-Sabine River Trail. Stephen F. Austin had noted advantages of this spot earlier. In 1823 he and the Baron de Bastrop surveyed land here. Although they relocated the capital, this site remained a hamlet with a grist mill, ferry, other improvements. Soon known as Beason's, community had as settlers, along with the first three men, many others of the "Old 300": Abram, John, Rawson, Thomas V., and William Alley; Benjamin Beason, Caleb R. Botick, David Bright, Robert Brotherton, James Cummins, W. B. DeWees, Thomas Kuykendall, James McNair, James Nelson, Gabriel Strawn Snyder; Elizabeth, James, and John Tumlinson; Nathaniel Whiting, and possibly others. In 1824, Milton Cook opened a tavern where many Texans stopped over the years. By 1835, village had been named. In Texas War for Independence, buildings here were burned by the Texas Army, to keep them out of the hands of Santa Anna. But after the victory at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, Columbus rose again. W. B. DeWees and J. W. E. Wallace platted the new town site in 1837.

Town of Eagle Lake

Marker Text: Named for lake where in 1821 exploring party of Stephen F. Austin killed an eagle. In 1851 resident Gamaliel Good started a Houston-to-San Antonio Stage line with lakeside headquarters. In 1856, with D. W. C. Harris, Good platted Eagle Lake townsite. The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad reached here in 1859. Early a cattle and farm market; after 1898 had rice production; later ranked as oil center and shipper of sand and gravel. Now fishing and goose hunting mecca. Home town of Gen. H. H. Johnson (born in 1895), military governor of Rome, Italy in the 1940s.

Nada

Marker Location: In Nada, on the grounds of St. Mary's Parish 1/8 mile E. off SH 71.

Marker Text: Located on land once included in Stephen F. Austin's colony, the community of Nada was first settled in the 1880s by German and Czech immigrants. John William Schoellman brought his family here from nearby Frelsburg in 1881. He built the area's first store, which was operated by his son, John Henry Schoellmann. Other early settlers included the families of Joseph Laby, Florian Frnka, Gerhard Eggemeyer, Ernest Krenk, Joseph Schneider, and Diedrich Frels. A public school, known as Red Bluff, opened in 1883. In 1889 the Schoellmann and Laby families donated land for a Catholic Church and Parochial School. The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1896 and has served as a center of community activities since that time. A U.S. post office was established in 1894 with William Engbrock as postmaster and the town was named Nada. By 1904 the community boasted homes, schools, stores, a church, cotton gin, and dance hall. Nada has remained an agricultural community. Many descendants of pioneer German and Czech settlers continue to live in the area.

Nada Post Office

Marker Location: In Nada, on Sh 71 in front of Nada Post Office Marker Text: The post office in Nada was established in 1894 when William J. Engbrock, Jr. was appointed the first postmaster. The post office was located in the general store owned by his father, William Engbrock, Sr., until 1898. Subsequent locations of the post office changed several times over the years, depending on the profession of the succeeding postmasters. Twice it was housed in the medical office and pharmacy of Dr. Francis Daehne, appointed in 1898, and Dr. John A. Halamicek, appointed in 1915. The post office returned to the general store during the terms of Joseph H. Labay, named in 1900, and Joseph J. Patter (Potter), appointed in 1903. Adolf Hruzek became postmaster in 1911 and moved the post office to his general store across the street. Appointed in 1921, Antone Lichnovsky moved the office in 1935 to his general store built near the newly constructed State Highway 71. His daughter, appointed in 1946, also served from his store. In 1953 the post office moved to the site of the postmaster's new service station and garage, where it remained for thirty years. In 1987 a new post office facility was built here on land purchased from the Braden family.

Saint Michael's Catholic Church

Marker Location: Weimer, 400 N. Center St.

Marker Text: Established as a Mission in 1888, by Father Edward Brucklin, who became first resident priest in 1892. An earlier frame structure was replaced by this stately sanctuary in 1913, under direction of Father Joseph Szymanski (1873-1948), who served the congregation for 42 years. The imposing edifice was constructed of Elgin brick by Italian and Mexican craftsmen directed by contractors L. M. and J. C. Dielmann of San Antonio. The Gothic revival architectural style reflects the central European heritage of the Czechoslovakian and German settlers.

Information excerpted from Texas Historic Sites Atlas (on line) located at: http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Atlas/atlas_search_frame.html

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