Reading Wood Black - Uvalde, TX
N 29° 12.877 W 099° 47.547
14R E 422974 N 3232023
A very large concrete memorial shaped like a large stack of wooden logs is found in the Pioneer Park Cemetery to honor Mr Reading Wood Black as the founding father of Uvalde, TX. The address of the cemetery is 500 N Park Street, Uvalde, TX 78801.
Waymark Code: WM12Y9A
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/05/2020
Views: 1
The Pioneer Park Cemetery is the location of many of the early settlers who spread across Texas in its years as a new Republic of Texas in 1836 and later as the United States' state of Texas in 1845. Mr. Reading Wood Black was one of the early settlers who had come from New Jersey in 1852 and settled in this area. By 1855, Mr. Black was influential enough to get the political and legal actions completed to found the original town of Encino which later grew to become the City of Uvalde.
Mr. Black was an entrepreneur and had several businesses at once. He purchased the league of land on which Uvalde was surveyed and platted. Reading Wood Black not only help build the economic base on which Uvalde could grow; he also actively served in political offices that guided that growth of not only the city and its county, but the State of Texas as well. At various times he was elected as Uvalde County Judge, as County Commissioner, and Texas State Representative.
Unfortunately, Reading Wood Black died violently like so many pioneers tended to do. He was killed by one of his former business associates. It is not clear if it was a difference in political views or an argument over business practices that lead to his death, but he was killed nonetheless in 1867 when he was only 37 years old. There are three different Texas historical markers about Reading Wood Black: at his former home site, at Hill Crest Cemetery where he is buried, and at the corner of S. East Street at US-90. Two other TX historical markers, one for the Uvalde Methodist Church and the other for the old Uvalde High School, mention him by name as having donated the land.
The Uvalde Rotary Club erected this memorial to Reading Wood Black for having founded Uvalde. It appears that was only the beginning of what Reading Black did for not only this City of Uvalde, but for the State of Texas as well! The memorial is a dominate feature of the Pioneer Park, just as Reading Black was during his lifetime. In the middle of this faux bois structure is a long rectangular bronze plaque that reads:
"In appreciation of
1830 - Reading Wood Black - 1867
Who came to Texas from New Jersey
in 1852 and founded Uvalde in
May 1855
Erected by - Uvalde Rotary Club - 1934"
Link to Wikipedia link about the life of Reading Wood Black:
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visit link)
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