Name: Hico, Texas
Address: Hico, TX

Hamilton, TX RoadyGoat

Hamilton is more than just a blip on the map between bigger cities. You see the rolling hills rise up to just over a thousand feet, and you understand why folks settled here. It’s a place where the Leon River provides, and Texas live oaks offer shade from the hot sun. Of course, it became the county seat after a bit of a fight back in 1858, and that Leon River crossing has always been strategically important. Ranching and farming still fuel the town, just like they always have. It's a good, solid place. And despite its tranquil feel, Hamilton has turned out some interesting people. Maybe it's the water, or maybe it's the air, but talent sprouts here. The Hamilton High School football team has brought home plenty of district titles, and those Friday night lights mean something in a town like this. But it’s not all sports.

19.9 mi away

Hamilton, TX RoadyGoat

Hamilton, Texas, is more than just a dot on the map. It's a place carved out of the rolling hills along the Leon River, a strategic spot that gave it early importance. Imagine back in 1858, the year it was officially established and named for Governor James Hamilton Jr. The election to make it the county seat was hard-fought, a real testament to the community's ambition. Folks were drawn here by the promise of fertile land and the open range, and agriculture—ranching and farming—became the lifeblood of the place, a tradition that continues to this day. They say a stagecoach carrying gold was robbed somewhere nearby, its treasure still hidden in these hills, a whisper of adventure in the wind. Even now, you see that history etched in the landscape. The Texas live oaks, sturdy and deep-rooted, stand as silent witnesses to generations past. The Leon River still flows, marking the spot that made this place strategically important. And although it's a tranquil town, it's got a spirit that's evident in the Friday night lights. Hamilton High School's football team, with its district championships, is something the whole town rallies around.

19.9 mi away

Hamilton, TX RoadyGoat

Hamilton became Hamilton because of a river and a fight. That Leon River crossing was crucial in the mid-19th century, a natural place for travelers and ranchers to converge. The gentle hills offered grazing, and the live oaks provided shade, so people settled in, but getting named the county seat in 1858? That was a battle. Accounts say it was a hard-fought election, and securing that designation solidified Hamilton's place as the center of activity for the whole region. While agriculture still drives much of the economy, and Friday night lights shine bright on the Hamilton High School football field—they’ve got quite the legacy—what draws folks in today is often that same tranquility that brought the first settlers. It's a place to slow down. Some come hoping to stumble across that legendary stagecoach gold rumored to be buried somewhere nearby. But ask any local, and they'll tell you people really stay because of the people. There's a deep sense of community here, a feeling of belonging that's hard to find anywhere else.

19.9 mi away

Don Edwards — Hico, Texas

1939

Donald Edward Hezlitt (March 20, 1939 – October 23, 2022) was an American country and western singer, born in Boonton, New Jersey. Left home at 16 for the Texas oil fields. Pro debut 1961 as a singer/actor/stuntman at newly opened Six Flags Over Texas; spent 5 years there before moving to Nashville. Inducted into Western Music Association Hall of Fame, 2005. Died in Hico, Texas, aged 83.

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Old Hico

1856

This site on Honey Creek marks the beginning in 1856 of the settlement of Hico. Earliest families to locate here were those of John Q. Anderson, M. A. Fuller, J. G. Barbee, James R. and Henry Fuller, Isaac Steen, Isaac and Thomas Malone. In 1860 John R. Alford, a merchant, became the first postmaster. Rocks from ruins of the old mill were used in the erection of this memorial.

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Hico, TX

1855

Hico, at the junction of U.S. Highway 281 and State highways 6 and 220, in northeastern Hamilton County, was named by its founder, Dr. John R. Alford, for his hometown in Kentucky. The original site in the mid-1850s was on Honey Creek. A post office was established in 1860, closed in 1867, and reopened in 1871. By 1874 the town had eight businesses, including a cotton gin, although most residents raised cattle and horses. Construction of the Texas Central Railroad in 1880 prompted the citizens to move 2½ miles to the line. Hico was incorporated in 1883 and became the county's shipping center. In 1882 an Old Settlers' Reunion was established in the community. The population was 1,480 in 1890, when a fire destroyed business houses on the east side of Pecan Street. A few weeks later another fire ravaged the west side. Rebuilding in stone ended the fire menace, but periodic overflows of the Bosque River have remained a threat to low-lying areas. Over the years Hico has prospered as a cotton and cattle market center. In 1940, although its population had declined to 1,242, the town was incorporated and had a post office, a bank, and fifty businesses. Hico had a population low of 925 in 1970, but by 1980 it had rebounded to 1,375. At that time the town had a post office, at least one bank, and thirty-five businesses. In 1990 the population was 1,342, and in 2000 it was 1,341.

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Hudspeth, Frances B. Hellums

1958

Frances B. Hellums Hudspeth, museum administrator, curator, and librarian, was born on November 4, 1907, in Hico, Texas, the daughter of William E. and B. (Morgan) Hellums. While growing up she lived in several Texas cities, but by 1924 the family had settled in Austin. Frances Hellums graduated from Austin High School and subsequently taught in the high schools of Lamesa and Rising Star. She received a B.A. degree with honors from the University of Texas in 1933 and taught science in the Austin public schools from 1930 to 1939. She married Jack Chever Hudspeth on June 1, 1934. She began her association with the University of Texas in 1940 as an attendance clerk and continued as statistical clerk, administrative secretary, and executive assistant in the office of the dean of arts and sciences. During most of her university career she worked closely with Harry H. Ransom and served in his succession of offices. Ransom referred to her appreciatively as "the Colonel." In 1958 she began her official association with the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center and the publication of the Texas Quarterly , of which she was managing editor from 1958 until her death. She handled a vast range of responsibilities for the growing Humanities Research Center, working on acquisitions with donors, estates, and dealers, and on the housing, sorting, and exhibiting of collections at a time when the HRC did not have a permanent home. Hudspeth's wide experience helped her to bring her talents and energy to bear on her most important project, the task of putting together a central repository for the HRC. She and Ransom had unique insights into the needs of the center and on a daily basis attended to the work of architects, engineers, builders, furnishers, and staff members in every phase of construction. With Ransom she shared a remarkable knowledge not only of the holdings of the HRC in its formative years but of the many special collections such as the Cora Maud O'neal collection of French decorative arts, the library and study from the home of John Foster Dulles, and the Willoughby-Blake silver collection. She and Ransom planned the HRC building to house collections in rare books and manuscripts, theater arts, photography, and the history of science, as well as reading rooms, study rooms, a conservation lab, offices, and carrels for graduate students. Frances Hudspeth had a special interest in the first two floors, which house the James A. Michener Collection of Twentieth Century American Paintings. She was working on this part of the center at the time of her death in an Austin hospital on January 29, 1972. She was a self-effacing woman who shunned credit for her work. She lived a life of devotion to her family, the university, and books. She is buried beside the grave of her mother in Hico, Texas.

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Cole House

1901

This home was built by real estate investor J. Van Steenwyck in 1901-1902. It was purchased by John Baldwin Cole (1860-1924) and his wife, the former Minnie Victoria Grace, in 1907. A druggist, Cole operated the Cole and Grace Drugstore in partnership with his father-in-law, Dr. J. W. Grace. The two-story wooden home features an offset gable front, one-story wraparound porch with a Chippendale screen, and a steep-pitch hipped roof. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988

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Millerville Cemetery

1877

Henry and Lourilla Osborn Miller, immigrants from Missouri who settled in Cooke County, Texas, during the 1860s, bought land in this area about 1876 which they subdivided into small farm tracts and sold. Settlers who purchased the farms organized a Church of Christ and in 1877 Rufus and Ann Green Ascue Birdsell donated one acre of land a short distance north of this site for school purposes. By 1881 much of the Miller's original land holdings had been sold and a community by the name of Millerville had been established. Although local tradition indicates earlier interments here, the first recorded burial was that of Joseph Beaver, Sr., in 1877. Two acres were set aside for cemetery purposes in 1881 by Ebaline and Michael Ramfield. Ramfield descendants in the Giesecke family have continued a family tradition of land ownership in this area into the 1990s. Birdsell School, a general store, and the Millerville Church of Christ constituted the town center in the early 1900s. The cemetery served the community and contains the burial of many of the area's earliest settlers and their descendants. Maintained by an association since 1980, the cemetery represents the last physical reminder of the village of Millerville. (1995)

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Hico, Texas

Music in Hico

Songs About Hico

Artists From Hico

Rivers & Roads in Song near Hico

History of Hico

Hamilton, TX RoadyGoat

Hamilton, TX RoadyGoat

Hamilton, TX RoadyGoat

Don Edwards — Hico, Texas

Old Hico

Hico, TX

Hudspeth, Frances B. Hellums

Cole House

Millerville Cemetery

Things to Do in Hico

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