In 1958 the State Historical Society of Missouri and the State Highway Commission installed a highway marker for Texas County on US Route 63 just south of Houston. This marker was just like the other 121 highway markers that they were installing in each county in the state. The two-sided markers provided an in-depth synopsis of the physical, historical, and cultural features of the subject. They were constructed of cast aluminum alloy with a baked enamel blue finish and gold lettering and the state seal at the top. The Texas County marker was accompanied by a lengthy turnout so locals and travelers could pull off the highway and leisurely read the encyclopedia's worth of information about Texas County as it was in 1958. It stood at this spot for decades as the town of Houston grew around it, but changes were brewing in the 1990's.
In 1995 the County Commission believed that an update was necessary and installed a new marker for Texas County at the county courthouse in Houston. Although the 1995 marker had the same design as the 1958 marker, the Commission made substantial revisions, additions, and deletions to the marker's text to reflect the new Texas County of 1995. These two markers, each providing a snapshot of the county in different eras, coexisted for several years but soon it was thought by some that the outdated needed to be brought to an end.
Around five years ago the Texas County Memorial Hospital needed to expand, and the 1958 marker was targeted for removal. Although the hospital's expansion did not really need the land the marker sat upon, the hospital and the Missouri Department of Transportation decided that this marker over 50 years old was not worthy of protection. They removed the 1958 marker and reformed the highway turnout into a drainage ditch, grass, and a little bit of parking lot and a new sign for the hospital.
Because places grow and highways get wider and realigned, many of the Missouri state historical markers from the 1950's have been removed from their original locations. For most of these markers, they were relocated nearby to the courthouse grounds or a park or a similar place to continue their original role. But this does not appear to be the case for the 1958 Texas County historical marker. I don't know if the marker was saved, I don't know if it is sitting around somewhere in storage, I don't know if the marker (if it was saved) will be installed anew somewhere else. I do know that for now the 1958 State Historical Society of Missouri highway marker for Texas County is a lost marker.
Marker Information
Name: Texas County
Type: Double-sided highway marker
Year Erected: 1958
Date Removed: Between May 2009 and September 2011
Location: Texas County, in the south part of the town of Houston, on US Route 63 (Sam Houston Boulevard)
Location Coordinates: 37.316035, -91.959703
Photos of Marker in 2008 (Courtesy of flickr link and photos provided by Jimmy Emerson, DVM)
Marker Inscription:
Largest of Missouri's 114 counties, Texas comprises 1,183 sq. miles of Ozark Highland. With the same name as the largest of the 48 states, it exceeds the smallest, Rhode Island, by 125 sq. land miles. When formed in 1843, it was named for the explorer, fur trader, and first Lt. Gov. of Mo. William H. Ashley, but when formally organized, 1845, it was renamed for the Republic of Texas.
A seat of justice for the county was laid out in 1846 near the center of the county on Brushy Creek and named Houston for first president of the Texas Republic. In the Civil War, the county was ravished by guerrilla warfare and the town destroyed. Houston's modern development has been as trading center for a dairying, poultry, and livestock farming and lumbering area. The courthouse, built 1932, is the county's sixth.
Rugged hills, springs, and caves abound in Texas County. In the early 1800's, William H. Ashley leached saltpeter from bat guano in a cave to the northeast for use in making gunpowder in his factory at Potosi. In 1818, explorer H.R. Schoolcraft visited the cave and named the area Wall-cave Valley.
Pioneers came to the Texas County area in the 1820's, from Va., Ky., and Tenn., and set up saw mills along Big Piney River. Part of the county is now in Mark Twain National Forest. Roamed by Indians into the 1830's, the area was part of the 1808 Osage Indian land cession. Indian paintings remain upon White Rock Bluffs over an ancient campsite.
In north Texas County is Licking, platted in 1857, and named for a deer and buffalo lick. There was Licking Academy, a noted early school, founded in 1880's. Congressman J.R. Lamar was academy principal in 1889. South is Cabool, laid out 1882, on the route of the Springfield & Memphis (Frisco) R.R., only town in the county on a railroad.
Pioneer educator of the Ozarks, William H. Lynch (1839-1924) was born near Houston. David H. Waite, later governor of Colorado, taught school in Houston, 1859-60, and John T. White, Mo. Supreme Court justice in the 1920's, taught there in 1878-79. Confederate Gen. James H. McBride made his home in the county, and on the farm near Houston, Emmett Kelly, creator of the famed circus clown, "Weary Willie", spent his boyhood.
Erected by State Historical Society of Missouri and State Highway Commission, 1958
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| Street view in 2009 showing the highway turnout and 1958 marker Google Street View (©2016 Google Street View), May 2009 |
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| Street view of same area in 2013 (light post provides a location reference) Google Street View (©2016 Google Street View), December 2013 |
Approximate Location of 1958 Texas County Marker
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