Historical photographs can say a thousand
words, but a mural tells the whole story. The Williamson County
Historical Museum, located in the heart of historic Georgetown, unveiled
the first phase of its Museum Works Project
(MWP) in May 2007. Each mural, based on an
historical event, industry, or individual that contributed to the
history of Williamson County, now adorns the upper panels of the
Museum’s exhibit gallery. In Your Space artists and the Williamson
County Historical Museum collaborated on the project to create seven
original, hand-painted murals on 8’ X 12’ and 8’ X 10’ canvases that are
now on exhibit at WCHM.
The murals created
through the MWP are based on the murals of the 1930s and 40s
created through President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Public Works of Art
Project (PWAP), a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
This project was designed to provide economic relief to Americans who
were suffering during the Great Depression. The PWAP and subsequent Fine
Arts Project (FAP) resulted in the production of almost 250,000 original
works of art for the American public and the creation of over 5,000 jobs
for American artists. Many of these murals still exist in public
buildings and historic post offices throughout the state of Texas and
across the United States.
With this project, the
museum captures the spirit, nostalgia, and beauty of the 1930s and 40s
public art style with seven stunning history-themed murals. Significant
historical events and individuals were common themes of the original
PWAP, and the Museum will continue in this tradition with the creation
of the Phase I murals:
This exhibit was made possible by
Carolyn and Al
Endsley
In Your Space,
Inc.
Mary and Uwe
E. Lemke
Barbara and
Jean Neal
The Amor
“Red” Olander Family
Mickie and
Dale Ross
The Seton
Family of Hospitals
David Story
Cheryl & Frank Lanfear
Down the Alley Bistro
Bliss Cupcakery
Wildfire
I.
Williamson
County’s Earliest Inhabitants
Artists: In Your Space Studios
Early Inhabitants of
Williamson County
Paleo-Indians arrived in the San Gabriel
River area at least 10,000 years ago. These early people lived by
hunting animals and gathering plants. They traveled in small family
groups, but had no permanent homes and few personal possessions.
Around 8,000 years ago, a warming trend
changed the Texas climate and people changed their way of life. They
followed streams looking for deer and smaller animals, collecting a
variety of plants, and hunting bison. People began to use seasonal base
camps. They cooked in earth ovens lined with rock.
Around 1,400 years ago, people developed
an important technology: the bow and arrow. People replaced the larger
projectile points, like the spear and atlatl, with the bow and arrow,
which was more accurate for hunting and easier to carry. These people
lived on river terraces and in rock shelters.
Before Europeans moved into the area
over 300 years ago, the Tonkawa lived here. The Tonkawa, meaning “they
all stay together,” consisted of a number of semi-nomadic groups who
shared a common language. The people depended on deer and bison. Their
diet also included rabbits, squirrels, skunks, rats, fish, acorns,
pecans, and edible roots.
II. Founding of
Our County Seat
Artists: In Your Space Studios
The Founding of Our County Seat
In
May 1848, five men met under a large live oak tree a few blocks south of
the two forks of the San Gabriel River with the purpose of establishing
a new seat of government for Williamson County. As the commissioners
discussed their options, George Washington Glasscock rode up on a white
steed. He presented the men with an offer: if the commissioners
chose this site and named the town Georgetown, he would donate the land
for the county seat.
The commissioners
accepted the generous offer, and Glasscock donated an area of about 173
acres. The pie-shaped area included all the land from the live oak tree
where they met, north to the South San Gabriel River, and from the tree
west to the same river.
The land was surveyed
into lots, and on July 4, 1848, a public sale of property was held. At
an election held on August 7, 1848, the following officials were
chosen: Greenleaf Fisk, Chief Justice; Whitfield Chalk, Sheriff; George
T. Williams, County Clerk; Ira E. Chalk, District Clerk; John Gooch,
County Treasurer; and Jacob M. Harrell, W.I. Anderson, D.H. McFadin, and
Richard Tankersley, County Commissioners.
III. Longhorns
Crossing the San Gabriel
Artists: In Your Space Studios
Stampede on the Chisholm
The heyday of the
Texas cattle drive started immediately after the Civil War and lasted
until 1885. Adventurous young men, usually in their teens and early
twenties, set off every spring for northern railheads with herds of
Texas beef— some herds were as large as 1,400 head of cattle. In less
than 20 years, cowboys moved more than five million cattle and one
million horses up the trail from Texas, making it the largest known
migration of livestock in world history. Averaging eight to ten miles
per day, destinations as far away as Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and
Montana often took as long as four months to reach.
The work was grueling
and dangerous, the weather was harsh, the hours were long, but an
American icon—the Texas cowboy—was born.
IV. The Dickey Clinic, Taylor
Artists: In Your Space Studios
The Dickey Clinic, Taylor
The tireless efforts
of Dr. James Lee Dickey, the first African-American doctor in Williamson
County, significantly impacted the citizens of Taylor, Williamson
County, and Texas.
Dickey was born in
central Texas, near Waco, in 1893. He attended Waco public schools and
later graduated from Tillotson College in Austin. In 1921, Dr. Dickey
graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. After
his father’s death, Dr. Dickey and his wife, Magnolia, traveled to
Taylor, Texas, to help take care of his mother and eight siblings.
In the 1930s, Dr.
Dickey helped stop a typhoid epidemic ravaging the black population by
administering shots. Through his work with community leaders, Dr. Dickey
helped supply clean drinking water to underprivileged citizens and
developed recreational facilities for the youth of Taylor.
In 1953, during a
time of racial segregation, Dr. Dickey was honored as Taylor’s Citizen
of the Year for his accomplishments.
Dickey later said,
“The hand of destiny guided me to Taylor; I came to stay a few years; I
remained to do my life’s work.”
V. The Agriculture
in Eastern Williamson County
Artists: In Your Space
Studios
Agriculture in Eastern Williamson County
Farmers cultivated
the rich blackland soil of eastern Williamson County to grow wheat and
corn. Cotton was introduced in the 1850s, and production continued to
rise in the following decades.
Improved
communications in the late 1800s aided the cotton boom. The
International and Great Northern Railroad was constructed in 1876, which
led to the founding of Taylor and Hutto and the relocation of Round
Rock. It also opened up large areas in the eastern portion of the County
to commercial farming.
From 1900 to 1901,
Williamson County was second only to Ellis County in ginned cotton. In
terms of cropland, cotton production was at its peak. However, the
cotton industry was on a downswing. The effects of soil depletion,
overproduction, and the influx of the boll weevil damaged the industry
by the late 1920s. The depression further worsened the cotton growers’
situation, especially the county’s black population.
The depression
encouraged diversification and a shift away from staple crops to
livestock. Between 1930 and 1940 the number of acres used for growing
cotton fell by almost half, and cropland used for corn production
increased over the same period by about one half. While cotton continued
to be an important crop in eastern part of the county, farmers turned to
other crops like sorghum and wheat and raising livestock in the later
1900s.
VI. You Did It,
Dan Moody!
Artists: In Your Space Studios
You Did It, Dan Moody!
Dan Moody, one of the
youngest governors in Texas history, was born in Taylor, Texas, in 1893.
Moody graduated from Taylor High School and took law courses at the
University of Texas. Moody was admitted to the bar in 1914 and began a
private practice in Taylor.
From 1922 to 1925,
Moody served as district attorney of the Twenty-sixth Judicial District,
which included Williamson and Travis counties. During his term, Moody
successfully prosecuted a group of men for criminal activities allegedly
connected with the Ku Klux Klan. With this trial, he became the first
prosecuting attorney in the United States to win a legal battle against
members of the Ku Klux Klan.
He achieved
state-wide recognition for the prosecution and was elected attorney
general at the beginning of Governor Miriam A. Ferguson’s first
administration. Subsequently, the citizens of Texas elected Dan Moody
governor of the state for two terms (1927-1931). After he completed his
terms as governor, Moody returned to private law practice in Austin.
VII. Education and
Transportation in Williamson County
Artists: In Your Space Studios
Education and Transportation
Williamson County takes pride in its
education and transportation history. The county organized its public
school system in the 1860s and by 1873 had 31 schools, 36 teachers, and
1,408 students. Today, Williamson County is home to Southwestern
University and Round Rock Higher Education Center. However, early
education can be traced back to institutions such as the Liberty Normal
and Business College and educators like Annie Purl.
The Liberty Normal and Business College,
depicted here, opened in 1885 and claimed to be the most progressive
Normal school in Texas. The first graduating class (1887) included
students from Georgetown and Liberty Hill. The original building burned
in 1903 and was rebuilt. The last class graduated in 1910, and the
facility was converted into a public school, which was needed for the
growing population spurred by railroads.
The county had five rail lines by 1900.
Railroads brought change including new population centers, the decline
of towns bypassed, and the creation of new towns. They spurred the
development of the frontier and opened the county to industrial growth.
For the first time, county businesses could export goods quickly.
In the 1880s, the Austin and
Northwestern Railroad transported granite for the new state capitol in
Austin. The tracks passed over the trestle at Brushy Creek in Cedar
Park. In one incident, the entire load of granite derailed, and the
stones fell in the creek where they remain today.
Continuing the proud tradition of
education and transportation, Southwestern University established the
first airport with aviation training in Georgetown in 1941. Upon
completion of the course, students qualified for military service, which
helped prepare the nation for entry in World War II.
The Williamson County
Historical Museum (WCHM) is a non-profit corporation established to
collect, preserve and exhibit documents and material objects relating to
the history of Williamson County and help to preserve the unique stories
of the county for both present and future generations. In addition,
through exhibits and the archived files of Williamson County, the WCHM
will provide insight, information and relevant material about life in
Williamson County in a variety of areas. This focus allows the WCHM to
educate, inform, and entertain the public. For more information,
contact
Lisa E. Worley—Museum
Curator:
lworley@wilco.org
The In Your Space team collaborated closely with WCHM to create the
historically-themed MWP murals. For weeks, artists from In Your Space
volunteered time to paint each of the murals, taking into consideration
color, materials, composition, and historical accuracy. The result are
unique murals that are educational, exciting, and breathtaking.
