Reading Wood Black

Duane's take

The way the official marker tells it, here's the story of Reading Wood Black. Now that name alone ought to stop you a minute. Reading Wood Black.

You don't forget a name like that, and if the town of Uvalde has anything to say about it, you don't forget the man either. Born in 1830, all the way up in New Jersey, he somehow found his way down to the edge of Texas, and in 1853 he put down roots near the Leona River. That's a long way from New Jersey, friend.

A long, long way. But Reading Wood Black had a knack for landing in the right place and making something of it. He got into business ventures, plural, and he was successful at them.

The marker doesn't say which ones he chose first or which one made his name, just that he was successful in many. That kind of quiet confidence has a way of speaking for itself. Then came the thing that would outlast everything else he built.

He founded the town of Uvalde. Founded it. And if that weren't enough, he gave land for a public school, because a man who builds a town and doesn't build a future for its children hasn't really built much at all.

The people around him took notice. In 1856, they elected him County Commissioner. Ten years later, in 1866, he was elected State Representative.

That is a man moving with purpose. This site, right here, is where his home stood. Where his trading post stood.

The whole enterprise of a life, rooted right here near the Leona River. Reading Wood Black died in 1867, the very year this county was watching him climb. Sometimes a story doesn't get the ending it deserves.

But the town is still here, and so is his name.

What the marker says

(1830-1867) On this site stood home and trading post of Reading Wood Black. Native of New Jersey, he settled in Texas, 1853, near Leona River where he was successful in many business ventures. Founded town of Uvalde; gave land for public school. Elected County Commissioner, 1856; State Representative, 1866. (1967)