Garwood - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

From the Handbook of Texas Online, Anthony S. Powers, "GARWOOD, TX," accessed June 02, 2019, (visit link)

GARWOOD, TEXAS. Garwood is on State Highway 71 and Farm Road 950 in southern Colorado County. In 1896 Marcus H. Townsend, W. T. Burford, and T. A. Hill built the Red Bluff Irrigation System to attract rice farmers to the area, and by 1901 a number of local farmers were raising rice. Also in 1901 Ed R. Frnka moved the first building to the townsite; Townsend gave Frnka the land on which to place his building. The community's name was changed to Garwood in honor of Hiram Morgan Garwood, a Houston attorney and friend of Townsend. In 1901 the community's first church was organized, and a post office was established. In 1902 an additional building was moved to Garwood and used as a hotel. A school was begun in 1904. In 1906 Garwood was part of a land promotion fraud. Agents would show their victims photographs of crops, including orange groves, taken elsewhere but represented as being from Colorado County. The land was bought unseen, and most buyers left once they saw Garwood and the land around it. From 1909 to 1912 Garwood had two newspapers. A bank opened there in 1910, and that year the population of Garwood was 500. By 1915 the town had 750 residents and was serviced by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. In 1922 fire destroyed most of the businesses on the east side of the main street. These were rebuilt, and the town thereafter grew slowly. In 1990 Garwood reported twelve businesses and an estimated population of 975. In 2000 the population remained unchanged, with thirty-seven rated businesses.

Marker Number: 2106 Marker Text: Founded in 1901, the town of Garwood is located on land once occupied by Preston Gilbert, one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300" colonists, who acquired the acreage in 1827. In 1896, Marcus Hervy Townsend, Thomas A. Hill, and William Thomas Burford bought part of Gilbert's original league of land as a farming and ranching investment. By 1901, they had begun rice production, developed a canal and irrigation system, and platted a townsite on their land. Towsend was a lawyer and Texas legislator. Hill was a prominent merchant and banker, while Burford was a druggist and planter who served as Colorado County sheriff from 1898-1902. They named their town for Judge Hiram Morgan Garwood, a friend of Townsend who never lived in Garwood or in Colorado County. Streets and avenues were named for early area settlers, other friends of the founders, and for the founders themselves. From the town's inception, its economy has been based on rice production. The gravel industry, oil and gas production, and duck and goose hunting are also important businesses here. Throughout its history, the small community has been an important part of Colorado County's heritage. (1985) Incise: Sponsored by James G. and Mary E. Hopkins

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