In 1834 settlers located near the falls on Brazos River and called their community Sarahville de Viesca in honor of the wife of the Mexican governor of Coahuila y Tejas. However, the settlement was soon abandoned due to continuing Indian raids; so, Fort Milam was built on the site to protect other settlers in the area. After curtailment of the Indian raids, Fort Milam was abandoned and when settler returned to the site they named their community Milam.
Marlin (population 5,967) was selected to be the county seat for Falls county in 1855 and a log cabin located on Courthouse Square served as the first courthouse until it could be replaced by a building constructed of flammable Native White Cedar. Yep! The building burned down in 1870. Then, the third wooden courthouse made it until 1876 when it was destroyed by a storm. The fourth courthouse had major design flaws and deteriorated quickly, so the fifth courthouse was constructed by masons using bricks and Texas Pink Granite. The fifth courthouse is still in use and maintains much of its original beauty.
There are various monuments in front of the courthouse honoring veterans, early settlers and people that made significant contributions to the development of Falls County.
Today, Marlin is known as "The Hot Mineral Water City of Texas" because of the hot artesian waters found in the area. The town's visitor center reports that thousands of people have traveled to Marlin to bathe in the curative "miracle" waters.
Centerville (population 903) received its name because the community is located approximately in the middle of Leon County and it is also midway between Dallas and Houston. The economy is agriculturally based and since 1937 Centerville has hosted the annual "Black-Eyed Pea Festival."
The courthouse was constructed in 1887 using slate bricks that were handmade near the site and the courthouse is now one of the oldest such buildings in the State of Texas.
Woody's Smokehouse was originally an independent grocery store with adjacent facilities for processing wild game. Over time the smokehouse became famous for its special recipes and techniques, so the business expanded into a much larger facility and added a wide variety of processed meats. This is a must stop for anyone that likes jerky. They have also opened a restaurant on the adjacent lot and one of their smokers is in the shape of a six-shooter pistol.
Groesbeck (population 4,328) started as a railroad stop on the Houston and Texas Central Railroad and was named for one of the railroad's directors, Abram Groesbeeck; but the post office changed the spelling to Groesbeck. The community's original economy was based on area farms and ranches, but in later years oil, gas and coal deposits became the major income generators for the area.
Fort Parker State Park is located a short distance from Groesbeck and was established in 1834 to protect area settlers from Indian attacks. However, in 1836 a large band of Comanche Indians overran the fort and took 9-year old Cynthia Ann Parker as a captive. Cynthia grew up with the Comanche Indians and later in life married Comanche Chief Peta Nocona. When Cynthia was 33 years old she was recaptured by white people in the area and forced to return to live with relative of the Parker family. Cynthia hated living with the white people and tried numerous times to escape because she wanted to go back and live with her Comanche husband and children. Although Cynthia never saw her Comanche family again, her son grew up to be the last great Warrior Chief of the Comanches.
Fairfield (population 2,951) was named for Fairfield, Alabama, which is where most of the original settlers arrived from. There are numerous murals and art objects throughout the community and one of my favorite signs on a building that reminds me of Texas said "If It Ain't Fried - It Ain't Food."
The area around Fairfield is famous for its peach trees, so on on the way out of town we stopped at one of the peach farms to have some homemade peach ice cream and purchased some homemade canned peaches to eat later.
Corsicana (population 23,770) is where oil was first discovered west of the Mississippi River. In 1897 the first oil refinery in Texas was built here by Magnolia Petroleum Company (now Mobil) and a few years later Texas Company (now Texaco) was formed. Corsicana was also the first city in Texas to use natural gas for heating and lighting.
The famous country music singer-songwriter Lefty Frizzell was born in Corsicana and went on to record such hits as "If You've Got The Money, Honey, I've Got The Time" and "Always Late." Throughout his country music career, Frizzell is credited with influenced many other music artist including George Jones, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Merle Haggard, John Fogerty, and many more.
Athens (population 12,710) was reported to be named after Athens, Greece, because the community was originally intended to be the cultural center of Texas. (Another version of the town's name is that one of the first settlers in the area was from Athens, Greece, and named the community after his homeland.) Athens is also the self-proclaimed "Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World," even though Centerville (located to the south) has hosted the annual "Black Eyed Pea Festival " since 1937. Okay, since Athens does not have the Black-Eyed Pea Festival, the City does hosts the annual "Athens Old Fiddlers' Reunion," which Athens claims to be the longest running event of its kind in the United States. (Other places that we have visited also make the same claim.) And, the City also claims that Fletcher Davis invented the hamburger in Athens. The story goes that after serving hamburgers in his downtown diner, "Uncle Fletch" introduced his creation to the world at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. I am not disputing Athens claims, but I looked up hamburger on the web and it said that the "ORIGINAL hamburger was invented in a city in northern Germany." You decide for yourself!
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