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History of Smithville

In 1691 missionaries on the expedition of Don Domingo Teran De Los Rios sighted a lagoon which the Indians called Nenocadda.  The lagoon, known today as Shipp's Lake, is on the southern edge of present Smithville.  Frederick W. Grasmeyer operated a ferry here on the Colorado River in 1836. Steamboats plied the river from 1845 to about 1865.

The village of "old Smithville" was laid out on 640 acres of land granted to Thomas J. Gazley and Lewis Lomas. The town was located on the Colorado River in the northeast section of present Smithville. There were mercantile stores, dry goods shops and a Masonic Lodge. In 1876, the first post office was established with John Pride Jones as postmaster.

The Taylor, Bastrop and Houston Railroad, later a part of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas system [MKT, "Katy"] arrived in 1886 and the town relocated along the tracks.

Legend has it that a coin was tossed to decide if the name would be changed to Burlesonville for Murray Burleson, who gave the land for the railroad depot. The coin toss resulted in "Smithville" being retained as the name, apparently in honor of pioneer settler William Smith.

The town was incorporated in 1895, and T.C.Collins served as the first mayor . Today, Smithville is a municipality with approximately 3.5 square miles inside the city limits.

Article on Smithville - Texas Escapes.com

Article on Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia - Wikipedia.org

Article on early Smithville area heroes -fourhorsemenofthetexasapocalypse.com

VFW HelicopterThe Smithville Times | Sunday, May 27, 2012 | Denis McGinness

Chopper’s history takes flight at VFW Hall

When people visit Smithville one of the first sights they see as they cross the Colorado River Bridge is a medevac helicopter in proud static display at VFW Post 1309. For one recent visitor, the reason he came to Smithville was to see the old chopper, an aircraft that held strong memories of his service during Operation Desert Storm.  READ MORE

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