Cleburne Town Square

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and friend, it's a story worth telling. Picture this: the year is 1854, and somebody picks a spot near a good spring out in Johnson County and sets down the first house, a log cabin. That's it.

That's the whole town. A spring and some logs. But a spring is no small thing in Texas, and this one had a way of drawing people in.

Fast forward to 1867, and the county seat itself gets picked up, bodily moved by wagon, and planted right here on this ground. They were calling the place Camp Henderson at that point, but not for long. The town was renamed to honor Patrick Cleburne, a Confederate general under whom many local Civil War veterans had served.

So those men came home, looked around at their new county seat, and saw a name they knew. Now, from 1876 on, Cleburne's growth was rapid, particularly in commerce, and the town was building toward something bigger. Then 1881 rolls around, and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad comes barreling through on its line from Galveston to Fort Worth.

That's the kind of thing that changes a place. A short time later, new branches connected Cleburne with Dallas and Weatherford, and suddenly this town wasn't just on the map; it was a crossroads. The railroad didn't stop there, either.

In 1898, the railroad's workshops were located here, and that's when Cleburne began its life as a genuine industrial center. By 1950, you want to know what this town had? A steel foundry.

Milk processing plants. A ladies' garment factory. A lime plant.

A chair factory. A battery plant. And (here's the one that makes you sit up) the state's largest railroad construction and repair shops.

The state's largest. All of it rooted in that one good spring. But growth has a funny shadow side, and Cleburne found it the same way every American town does: the center starts to hollow out while the edges fill in, and before long the original business district takes on a neglected appearance.

By 1968, enough people had noticed. A group called Our Town, Inc. got concerned about the deterioration and enlisted citizens to help reverse the trend and restore the downtown district. Not a government agency, not a railroad company, just neighbors who decided the square was worth saving.

That first log cabin near the spring started something in 1854 that folks in 1968 weren't ready to let go of. And honestly, that's the whole story right there.

What the marker says

Traces its beginning to 1854 when first house, a log cabin, was built here near a good spring. County seat was bodily moved by wagon to this place (then called Camp Henderson) in 1867, and renamed to honor Patrick Cleburne, a Confederate general under whom many local Civil War veterans had served. Cleburne's growth has been rapid, particularly in the field of commerce, since 1876. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad line from Galveston to Fort Worth passed through Cleburne in 1881. A short time later, new branches connected the town with Dallas and Weatherford. In 1898, the railroad's workshops were located here and development of Cleburne as an industrial center began. By 1950, Cleburne boasted a steel foundry, milk processing plants, ladies' garment factory, lime plant, chair factory, battery plant and the state's largest railroad construction and repair shops. Typical of other American towns, outward expansion found the original business district taking on a neglected appearance. In 1968, a group called "Our Town, Inc." became concerned with this deterioration and enlisted citizens' aid to help reverse the trend and restore the downtown district. (1970)