West, TX RoadyGoat

West, Texas, isn’t just another dot on the I-35 map, though that interstate is undeniably key to its story. The town sits on a slight rise, a little bump in the Blackland Prairie, high enough that you notice the change from the pancake-flat fields surrounding it. That little bit of elevation made it a good spot for a railroad stop back in the late 19th century, and when the tracks went in, a town named for surveyor T.M. West sprang up around it. But what really makes West special is what the Czech immigrants brought with them. They came for the promise of fertile land, watered by aquifers like the Woodbine beneath their feet, and they built a community around agriculture. They also brought their traditions, and none is more famous than the kolache. It's more than just a pastry here; it's a symbol of heritage, a taste of home. You can find kolaches all over Texas now, but folks will tell you the ones in West are the real deal. People stop for the kolaches, sure, but they stay because West feels like a place where time moves a little slower, where community still matters, and where the past is always present, even in the face of tragedy like the fertilizer plant explosion a decade ago.

14.6 mi away

West, TX RoadyGoat

West, Texas, might look like a blur to folks speeding down I-35, but there's a lot more to this place than meets the eye. It's a town built on hard work, where agriculture feeds families and the Woodbine Aquifer keeps the taps flowing. We're proud of our Czech heritage, and you can't visit without trying a kolache – it’s practically a requirement. But beyond the fields and bakeries, West has also nurtured some real talent.

14.6 mi away

West, TX RoadyGoat

West, Texas, wasn't always here, you know. It sprang up almost overnight when the railroad came through in 1892, named for T.M. West, who surveyed the land. Before that, this was just rolling prairie, dotted with post oak and blackjack oak, a part of the Blackland Prairie where the soil is rich and dark. The slight rise in elevation, six hundred and seventy-three feet above sea level, gave it an advantage, a little bit of breathing room above the flatlands. The Woodbine Aquifer runs beneath it all, a life-giving source that made farming possible. For decades, West has been a crossroads, a place where Czech heritage meets classic Texas. You can taste it in the kolaches, a culinary tradition that runs deep. Interstate 35, that ribbon of concrete, now slices through, bringing travelers and commerce. But West is more than just a stop on the highway. The fertilizer plant explosion in 2013 was a tragedy that shook the town to its core, a scar that will never fully heal. Still, the community endures, rooted in the land and its history, a testament to the resilience of small-town Texas.

14.6 mi away

Harris, James L.

1944

James L. Harris, Medal of Honor recipient, was born to Albert Lee and Bessie Harris at Hillsboro, Texas, in 1916. He attended Bynum High School through the tenth grade and was drafted into military service at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in late 1941. He was assigned to the 756th Tank Battalion and trained with it at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Fort Lewis, Washington, Fort Ord, California, and Camp Pickett, Virginia. After fighting through North Africa he earned a battlefield commission on March 26, 1944, as second lieutenant, at the battle of Cassino in southern Italy. On the night of October 7, 1944, near the village of Vagney, France, his tank command was attacked by a German tank and two platoons of infantry. While leading his tanks on foot, he was wounded. From the ground in front of his tank he ordered it to open fire on the Germans, whose progress was halted until more tanks arrived and forced them to withdraw. Subsequently, Harris's leg was shot off at the hip. He refused to be evacuated until other wounded members of his crew were removed. He died before he could be given medical attention. Harris was buried at Vagney, France, until 1951, when he was reinterred at Ridge Park Cemetery, Hillsboro.

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Philpott, Margaret

1943

Margaret Philpott [pseud. Madge Bellamy], motion picture and stage actress, was born in Hillsboro, Texas, on June 30, 1903, to Annie Derden and William Bledsoe Philpott. After her stage debut at age five, her family moved to Denver, and then to San Antonio, where she was educated at St. Mary's Hall . She subsequently pursued an acting career, appeared in New York productions, and attracted national attention in the title role in the road show Pollyanna . She made her screen debut in The Riddle: Woman for Pathé in 1920. In a motion-picture career spanning twenty-six years, she performed in some sixty features and one serial. Though primarily a lead in light drama and comedies, she was no stranger to horror and western films. Among the titles most associated with her are King Vidor 's Love Never Dies (1921), Lorna Doone (1922), John Ford's western The Iron Horse (1924), and the horror classic White Zombie (1932). Although Madge Bellamy's successes were mostly in the silent era of the 1920s, she proved able to continue into the early sound period, as evidenced in Tonight at Twelve (1929) and White Zombie . After partially retiring in 1935, she appeared in several small roles. She was married in 1928 in Tijuana, Baja California, to bond broker Logan Metcalf, but filed for divorce four days later. In 1943 she was convicted of firearms violations after taking three failed shots at an alleged lover, lumberman Albert Stanwood Murphy. The following year, in a court case over a contested "mutual agreement" with Murphy, Bellamy received a multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlement. She spent her later years as a recluse in several residences in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where she worked on an unfinished autobiography, I Was Madge Bellamy . She made her last public appearance in November 1989 at a screening of The Iron Horse at the Western Heritage Museum in Los Angeles. After several weeks' hospitalization for cardiac problems, Madge Bellamy died on January 24, 1990, in Upland, California.

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McMullan, Francis

1865

Francis McMullan, the leader of a group of Texans who moved to Brazil rather than remain under a Reconstruction government, the son of Hugh Milton and Nancy (Dyer) McMullan, was born in Walker County, Georgia, in 1835. His father was an early landowner, lawyer, and stockman in Hill County, Texas. Frank attended McKenzie College in Clarksville from 1858 to 1860. He was described by a contemporary as "a man of cool courage...and undaunted resolution" who served as an officer under William Walker in the unsuccessful 1857–58 campaign to capture Nicaragua. After serving the Confederacy in Mexico during the Civil War , McMullan joined William Bowen in a plan to take advantage of liberal Brazilian immigration terms and take a colony of 154 from north central Texas to South America. McMullan and Bowen left for Brazil in late 1865 to locate lands and decided on fifty square leagues on the headwaters of the São Lourenço River south of São Paulo. McMullan returned to Texas in June 1866. After harassment by port authorities in New Orleans and Galveston, the colonists sailed on the brig Derby on January 25, 1867. A mutiny occurred when it became known that the ship's captain had been a party to the delays in sailing and illegal fines of colony leaders. A tropical storm resulted in shipwreck on the coast of Cuba on February 9, 1867. McMullan subsequently led his charges to New York, where they boarded the steamer North America on April 22, then sailed for Rio de Janeiro. McMullan guided the emigrants to colony lands before becoming terminally ill with tuberculosis. His colony is credited with introducing the moldboard plow and modern agriculture to Brazil. In addition, colony members established a Baptist church there and made major contributions to Brazil's educational system. Frank McMullan was active in politics in Hill County before the Civil War and served as a delegate to the Texas Democratic convention in Galveston in 1860. He never married. He was a Mason and Methodist. He died at Iguape, Brazil, on September 29, 1867.

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Katy Depot

1881

This depot was built to serve the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (Katy) Rail Line, which reached Hillsboro in 1881. Completed in 1902, the station features elements of the Eastlake, Victorian, and Prairie styles. Early MKT trains carried materials for the growing town and brought early residents and such notables as presidents Woodrow Wilson, William Taft, Calvin Coolidge, and Harry Truman. The building was moved here from the original site in 1978. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980

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Peabody School

1885

In 1885, a bond was issued for the construction of an African American School, which was built soon afterwards. The school, named for George Peabody, a banker who distributed funds to the southern states following the Civil War, educated students in the African-American neighborhood in Hillsboro known as Freetown. A brick building replaced the original frame structure in 1919, and was used until the school moved to here in 1950. Peabody School's last graduating class was in 1966, with primary level classes held on the campus for several more years until full integration occurred. Although the building burned down in 2005, Peabody School remains a source of pride for Hillsboro residents. (2008)

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Freeland, J. W.

1895

Served as city marshal of Hubbard 1895-1907, a period of local option prohibition and great lawlessness. Moved to Hillsboro and became superintendent of county poor farm. Elected sheriff 1910. After serving 2 terms, was elected mayor. Elected sheriff a second time in 1928; served until 1933. In 1933, he tracked down and arrested notorious Raymond Hamilton, member of the famous Clyde Barrow Gang. Recorded, 1968

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Hillsboro, Texas

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West, TX RoadyGoat

West, TX RoadyGoat

West, TX RoadyGoat

Harris, James L.

Philpott, Margaret

McMullan, Francis

Katy Depot

Peabody School

Freeland, J. W.

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