Harkeyville - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Harkeyville is an example of how the pioneer spirit and fortitude to succeed brought families to settle and succeed in their achieving their vision for the future. Riley Harkey and his brother Israel Harkey hired out as Indian scouts in the 1850s when the Comanches were the dominant force the settlers contended with while settling Texas. The Harkey like what they saw and had a vision for what could be. They convinced their extended families to this area of Texas now know of as San Saba, TX. Once here, the Harkeys built a race track and breed race horses. This succeeded in growing Harkeyville into a small community where travelers would come to watch the races and surely spend their money on bets! This race track kept Harkeyville active for nearly 50 years. A school and a cotton gin were built.
By the early 1900s, the racetrack closed. The school was consolidated into the San Saba school system, and the cotton gin burned down. Thus, the story of Harkeyville survives now as a ghost town and a Texas historical marker.

To find this marker without a GPS, from the intersection of US-190 and TX-16 (Wallace Street and High Street) in the middle of San Saba, travel westward about 4.1 miles on US-190 and turn northward (turn right) onto CR 208. Drive about 900 feet and on the west side of the road (to your left) the Texas historical marker is found close against a white metal building's front doorway. The sign and the building are about 50 feet from the edge of the county road. If you come to the junction of CR 204 with CR 208, you have gone past the marker.

Marker Number: 2379 Marker Text: A site once famous for its horses and racetrack. Riley Harkey (1832-1920) and Israel Harkey (1835-1914) were Indian scouts in Texas in 1850-53. In 1855 they led their parents, Mathias and Catherine Harkey, to move here from Arkansas with other adult sons, daughters, in-laws and grandchildren. The families ranched, and Mathias Harkey ran a country store for many years. Riley Harkey brought to Texas a fine, fleetfooted mare, who with her racing progeny drew crowds of enthusiasts to this site for half a century. Other sons and grandsons of Mathias Harkey also joined in the breeding, training, and racing of horses. Stores, blacksmith shop, and other businesses all faced east on a single street overlooking the flat with its racetrack and baseball diamond. There was no post office, but the village was so well known that mail addressed to Harkeyville promptly arrived here. On Nov. 26, 1873, George W. Barnett (1823-1885) gave land for the first school; the schoolhouse was used also for church services and public meetings. The racetrack closed in 1907; the cotton gin burned in 1920, and was not rebuilt; school consolidated in 1929 with San Saba. The last store closed in 1954. A community hall, built 1973, marks site of the town. (1974)

Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   05/12/2019 WayBetterFinder visited it