This congregation was organized June 19, 1852, in the home of John Fleming near this site. Elders George Daniels and Reuben W. Ellis from the Plum Creek Primitive Baptist Church were called to serve as pastors by the charter members: James Jeffrey, Mary Ann Jeffrey, John M. Fleming, Abigail Fleming, Richard Cole, Sarah Cole, John B. Jeffrey, Elinder Jeffrey, Robert McFeron, and Sarah McFeron. A church building was erected at this site in 1901. Bethel Primitive Baptist Church continues to minister to McMahan and the surrounding area as it has since 1852. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986

Location:  from McMahan take FM 713 W .5 mi. (adjacent to Jeffrey Cemetery)

The harsh anti-Indian policies of President Mirabeau B. Lamar and Mexican efforts to weaken the Republic of Texas stirred Indian hostilities. Hatred increased after the Council House Fight in San Antonio, March 19, 1840, where 12 Comanche chief were killed. After regrouping and making plans for revenge, 600 Comanches and Kiowas, including women and children, moved across central Texas in early August. They raided Victoria and Linnville (120 mi. SE), a prosperous seaport. About 200 Texans met at Good's Crossing on Plum Creek under Major-General Felix Huston (1800-1857) to stop the Indians. Adorned with their plunder from Linnville, the war party stretched for miles across the prairie. The Battle of Plum Creek, August 12, 1840, began on Comanche Flats (5.5 mi. SE) and proceeded to Kelley springs (2.5 mi. SW), with skirmishes as far as present San Marcos and Kyle. Mathew Caldwell (1798-1842), for whom Caldwell County was named, was injured in the Council House fight but took part in this battle. Volunteers under Edward Burleson (1793-1851) included 13 Tonkawa Indians, marked as Texan allies by white armbands. Texan casualties were light while the Indians lost over 80 chiefs and warriors. This battle ended the Comanche penetration of settled portions of Texas.

Location:  In Lockhart near the intersection of US 183 and SH 142 in Lions Park

A part of De Witt's Colony, 1825-1836. A part of Gonzales County to 1848. First settlements were on Plum Creek and the San Marcos River. Created March 6, 1848; organized August 7, 1848. Named in honor of Mathew Caldwell, "Old Paint," 1798-1842, soldier-statesman. Signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Commander of the Texas Rangers. Lockhart, the county seat.

Location:  In Lockhart on the SW corner of the Courthouse Square.

The first Caldwell County Courthouse was erected on this site in 1848, when the county was organized and named for Mathew Caldwell, a Texas Ranger and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. It was replaced in 1858 by a 2-story limestone edifice, measuring 65 feet by 40 feet, with six offices and two rooms for storing records. By 1893, that building had become too small for a growing county. In April 1893, Judge George W. Kyser and commissioners J. H. Jolley, G. A. McGee, C. R. Smith, and R. A. Tiller approved plans for the present courthouse. The cornerstone was laid by Lockhart Lodge No. 690, A. F. & A. M., on August 15, 1893. Contractors Martin, Byrne, and Johnston completed the building on March 19, 1894. The 3-story structure is built of sandstone with red sandstone trim. It displays the fine workmanship and elaborate detail common to architecture of the period. The mansard roof is characteristic of the second empire style that was often used for public buildings. The courthouse is topped by a central clock tower, with additional towers at each corner and flanking the north and south entrances. When it was built, the structure was equipped with the latest conveniences of the day, including electricity. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976

Location:  In Lockhart on the Courthouse Square

Organized in 1848, Caldwell County lost its original log jail in an 1858 fire, then kept prisoners in the Courthouse basement until 1873, when outlaws' activities called for a strong stone prison. In 1908 Caldwell countains voted 725 to 311 for a $25,000.00 bond issue to erect this castellated brick structure. The jailer's quarters occupy the ground floor, over a storage area in the basement. The upper floors contain fifteen cells of concrete and steel, with one cell rising from the center of the building. Gallows are said to have been removed from this jail in the 1930s. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1977

Location:  In Lockhart on the corner of Brazos and Market St.

John Madison Cardwell (1838-1917) moved to Caldwell county at the age of eighteen. After serving in the Civil War, he returned to Lockhart and opened a mercantile store on the Courthouse Square. He had this home built in 1917, but died before its completion. His wife Martha (Withers) lived here until her death in 1944. An example of the classical revival style, the frame residence has a two-story gallery and eleven-foot ceilings. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980 Incise in base: Restored by Charles and Carol Haynes - 1979

Location:  In Lockhart

Also known as the Mexican Cemetery, this burial ground has served the Mexican-American community of Lockhart since around 1900.  The earliest dated burial here, of area settler Severiano Sanchez, dated to 1901.  Since that time, the cemetery has served primarily Hispanic and Roman Catholic residents.  

A number of community leaders are interred here.  Others, including business owners, farmers, laborers, ranchers, teachers, and veterans of foreign conflicts dating to World War I, are also buried here.  Several graves are marked by Woodmen of the World monuments, which led to the burial ground also being known as the Woodmen of the World Cemetery or Paneon de los Hacheros.  Other features in the cemetery include vertical stones, plot curbing and grave slabs. 

In 2005, descendants of the interred formed the Cemeterio Navarro Association to restore and maintain the burial ground.  The association named this tie Cemeterio Navarro Historico after the noted Tejano statesman and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Jose Antonio Navarro.  The cemetery is also near the site of the old Navarro Elementary School, which was known historically as the Mexican school.  Today, Cemeterio Navarro Historico continues to serve descendants of those buried here.  It remains a chronicle of the Mexican-American pioneers of Caldwell County and a testament to the difficult and laborious circumstances under which they settled and thrived.  

Location:  Around the 100 block of Mulberry St. in Lockhart 

Clark Cemetery James E. Clark was born in North Carolina in 1826. He later moved to Texas, marrying Mary E. Roberts in Bastrop County in 1860. In January 1881, he bought land in this area. Here, he and Mary reared nine children. In 1884, James set aside land for a school and a family cemetery. He was buried here in 1898, and his grave is the first marked in the cemetery. The most recent burial dates to the 1950s. Today the family cemetery is adjacent to a community center established at the site of the former school. Both serve as reminders of the Clark family and their contributions to area history and growth. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2002

Location:  From Lockhart go 8.9 mi. E of US 183 and FM 20 intersection, then S 3.8 mi. on CR 158

Built in 1899 and dedicated on July 6, 1900, this library was financed with funds bequeathed by Dr. Clark, who was a prominent physician of Lockhart and San Antonio. A native of New Orleans, he was a graduate of Tulane Medical School and studied in Vienna, Austria. He was an eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist. He died, while still a young man, in New York City in 1897. The building, an outstanding example of French renaissance style, was designed and built by T. S. Hodges. When erected, it stood near the opera house, in the cultural center of Lockhart.

Location:  In Lockhart on the corner of S. Main St. and E. Prairie Lea St.

Location:   behind the Clearfork Baptist Church at 461 Clearfork Rd, Lockhart, TX, off of FM 86

A one-story residence stood on this lot when businessman James G. Blanks (1862-1927) purchased the property in 1896. He added another floor and completed the house in the classical revival style popular at the time. In 1908 Blanks sold the structure to Dr. Thomas Benton Coopwood (1860-1932), a noted Lockhart physician who served as Caldwell County health officer for over 30 years. Members of the Coopwood family occupied the home until 1970. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1979

Location:  In Lockhart

(Feb. 2, 1872 - Oct. 14, 1951) One of the great benefactors of Texas. Born in Brockton, Mass. Had business careers in shoe manufacture and rubber planting. On retirement, came here and in wildcat operation brought in Luling Oil Field, 1922. By 1926 had 215 producing wells. Gave employees $2,500,000 in bonuses, then endowed Luling Foundation, for advancement of agriculture and human opportunity in area. Result has been conservation of land, upbreeding of crops and livestock and introduction and marketing of superior products. Davis remained in this area and is buried near Luling.

Location:  Corner of Austin and Magnolia st. (US Hwy. 183) in Luling.

The earliest known permanent settlers in this area were Orrin L. and Susannah Winters and their extended family. By 1873, enough of a settlement existed to make application for a U. S. Post Office. Postal officials rejected the first name selected for the community, Iron Mountain, but accepted the second name, Delhi. According to local tradition, Delhi was the name of a traveling salesman who stayed in the area for a time dispensing patent medicines and providing entertainment for the settlers. John P. Reid served as first postmaster. The first store in Delhi was in operation by the early 1870s in the home of Daniel t. Winters. The Delhi community experienced some growth in the 1880s with the founding of two churches, a school, and two cotton gins. Over the years, additional businesses, including a blacksmith shop, casket shop, and a syrup mill have served the community. Although the post office closed in 1929 and the public school consolidated with the McMahan district in 1947, Delhi remains a strong rural community in eastern Caldwell county. Many of its residents are descendants of the town's pioneer families.

Location:  from McMahan go 8 mi. east on FM 713, then .4 mi. south on SH 304 (at Delhi Community Center)

In 1885 the Rev. C. Kreuzenstein conducted the first formal German Lutheran worship service in this area. On June 3, 1886, a congregation was organized with 20 charter families. In 1924, during the pastorate of the Rev. Hans Erich Krause (1887-1942), this Gothic Revival building was constructed. Designed by San Antonio architect Leo Dielmann, the basilica-plan brick church features a tower with Romantic German Gothic details. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986

Location 291 Church St. in Maxwell

Organized in 1853 by the Rev. Joseph wood Dunn, this parish erected its own church building in 1855-56. Bishop G. w. Freeman, who dedicated the edifice in 1857, noted its fine acoustics. It was built of an early type of concrete fashioned from caliche, gravel, and sand. The belfry was damaged by an 1879 tornado and removed, but the original stone floor remains. Stained glass windows enhance the Gothic detailing. The structure was restored in 1976. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1962

Location:  corner of N. Church St. and W. Walnut St. in Lockhart

Luling's first church building. The Rt. Rev. Robert W. B. Elliott (1840-87), first bishop, missionary district of western Texas, enroute to his see city, held his original service in the district in a Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway passenger car in Luling on Dec. 20, 1874, eight months after town's founding. Early in 1875, the Rev. Wallace Carnahan preached here. The rev. Nelson Ayres arrived as vicar in Feb. 1876 and began to build this chapel with his own hands, conducting first service in it on April 15, 1877. Church was remodeled in 1938 and 1965.

Location:  Corner of Walnut and Bowie St. in Luling

On October 15, 1905, under the leadership of the Rev. V.G. Thomas, 18 men and women organized the Fentress Methodist Church under the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Members initially held services in the local Cumberland Presbyterian Church building until completing their first sanctuary in 1909 near the Fentress post office. In 1924, the congregation moved to this location. Ten years later, members added Sunday School rooms, and over the past several decades, other additions and changes have been made. For 100 years the church has offered worship, music and educational programs in the church traditions begun by the founding members. (2005)

Location:  FM 20 and Barber St. in Fentress

Location:  In Prairie Lea Masonic Cemetery

Founded when Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railroad line intersected a main wagon road from South Texas to Austin.  Many families of the Atlanta community (3 mi. SE) relocated here.  Plum Creek Post Office, opened nearby in 1848, also moved here and was renamed Luling.  The city was chartered Sept. 19, 1874.  Original mayor was W.H. McClelland.  The first aldermen were Jesse R. Bond, L.C. Cunningham, J.N. Stagner, Mike Tierney, and L.C. Wilder.  Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio locator James Converse platted the townsite on Oct. 15, 1874.  The G.H, & S.A. gave land for four public parks, and its president, T.W, Peirce willed $2,000.00 to the town.  Terminus of the railroad until mid-1875, Luling had heavy shipping and trade in its infancy.  In late 1874 the population was 800 to 1,000, including drifters who gave the place an early reputation as a tough town.  The law-abiding, however, established churches, schools, and stability, and within a few years the railroad boom town was only a legend.  An oil boom began in 1922, and 125 producing wells have now been drilled within the city limits.  Three major oil fields surround the town, which in later years has become also an agribusiness center.  

Location:  In the park at the 500 block of E. Davis St. in Luling

This community began in the early 1870s, when a group of freedmen and their families, led by the Rev. John Henry Winn, relocated here from Webberville (approx. 20 mi. N). The original fourteen families purchased about 2,000 acres of land to establish a town and family farms. Originally named Winn's Colony in honor of John H. Winn, the community name was changed to Saint John Colony after Winn organized Saint John Missionary Baptist Church in 1873.

The community grew steadily and at its peak included homes of about 100 families, farms, stores, a school, cotton gin, and grist mill. A post office, under the name Mackiesville, opened in 1890 with Lewis Mackey as Postmaster. Churches, in addition to Saint John Missionary Baptist, included Zion Union Missionary Baptist and Landmark Missionary Baptist. The boundaries of the colony extended into Bastrop County.

The post office was closed in the 1920s, and the school was consolidated with Lockhart schools in 1966. The churches remain active, and the community graveyard, known as Saint John Cemetery, or Zion Cemetery, contains the graves of many of the area's pioneers. Descendants of some of the founding families still reside in Saint John Colony. (1990