FIRST -- Mayor of Smithville, Smithville TX
N 30° 00.550 W 097° 09.568
14R E 677514 N 3321227
T. C. Collins served as the first Mayor of Smithville in 1895.
Waymark Code: WMVPZX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/16/2017
Views: 2
The town of Smithville was incorporated in 1895, with T. C. Collins as the first Mayor. In 1894 he owned a livery stable and served as the town's undertaker.
A state historic marker at City Hall reads as follows:
"SMITHVILLE
In 1691 missionaries on the expedition of Don Domingo Teran de Los Rios sighted a lagoon which the Indians called Nenocadda. The lagoon, known today as Shipp's Lake, is on the southern edge of present Smithville.
Frederick W. Grasmeyer operated a ferry here on the Colorado River in 1836. Steamboats plied the river from 1845 to about 1865. The village of "Old Smithville" was laid out on 640 acres of land granted to Thomas J. Gazley and Lewis Lomas. The town was located along the Colorado River in the northeast section of present Smithville. There were mercantile stores, dry good shops, and a Masonic lodge. In 1876 the first post office was established with John Pride Jones as postmaster.
The Taylor, Bastrop & Houston Railroad, later a part of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas system, arrived in 1887, and the town relocated along the tracks. The legend is that a coin was tossed to decide if the name would be changed to Burlesonville for Murray Burleson, who gave land for the railroad depot. The coin toss resulted in "Smithville" being retained as the name, apparently in honor of pioneer settler William Smith. The town was incorporated in 1895 and T. C. Collins served as the first mayor. (1979)
[Incised in the base]
Marker Sponsor:
Smithville Chamber of Commerce 1977-78"
FIRST - Classification Variable: Person or Group
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1895
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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