Stringtown

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Stringtown, out in Hays County. Now, some stories start on solid ground. This one starts on the water.

John Drayton Pitts — born 1798, died 1861 — came into this world, according to family lore, on a ship, somewhere out on the Atlantic, as his parents sailed to America. You can't plan a beginning like that. The man hadn't even set foot on dry land yet, and already he was in motion.

He grew up to be a civil engineer, which is a man who looks at raw land and sees what it could become. That habit of mind served him well. By 1841, he'd moved into politics and taken a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives.

But Georgia, it seems, could only hold him so long. The very next year, Pitts and his brother-in-law James Vickers took a trip to Texas. And whatever they saw out here, they liked it well enough to go back and start talking.

Family and friends listened. Eleven families made the move — including the families of John's brothers, William and Edward — and they put down roots in Grimes County. John D.

Pitts himself rose to become an influential politician. He lived in Austin while serving as adjutant general. A man with range, you might say — engineer, legislator, general's office.

He was building something, even when he didn't know yet exactly where. Then came 1847, and a ride that changed the shape of things. Pitts and his friend General Edward Burleson went out to visit land that Burleson had acquired after the Battle of San Jacinto.

Six miles southwest of San Marcos Springs. And when Pitts laid eyes on the place — the marker calls it an idyllic setting, and whoever wrote that wasn't exaggerating — he didn't hesitate. He bought all 640 acres from Burleson on the spot.

What followed was one of the earliest organized colonies in Hays County. Pitts pulled in family and friends, the kind of people he trusted, and they built farms. Now, here's the detail that gives this place its whole identity: those farmhouses were strung out at half-mile intervals along the Austin-San Antonio Road.

One after another after another, like beads on a string. And so folks started calling it Stringtown. They were model farms, people called them.

And they had to be tough, because early Texas didn't hand anything to anybody easy. There were hardships right from the start, and then came the drought of 1857, which tested everyone. But the farms survived.

Stringtown was never an official town — never incorporated, never platted out on a government map — and yet it grew until it rivaled San Marcos itself in population. Think about that for a moment. A string of farmhouses along a road, going toe-to-toe with a proper town.

John D. Pitts donated land near his home for a church and a school. He was putting down roots deep enough for the next generation.

Then the Civil War came and went, and the world it left behind was different. After emancipation, the crops on those Stringtown farms were divided evenly with the formerly enslaved people who had worked the land. And more than that — many were given land outright.

The community reshaped itself. The labor void that followed was filled by Mexican farmers, who brought their vibrant culture into the area and wove it into everything Stringtown was becoming. Pitts Cemetery, located nearby, was established in 1851.

It's still there. Marker says it serves as a reminder of the determined pioneers who settled the area and braved the hardships of early Texas. A man born on a ship, who bought 640 acres on instinct, and built something that outlasted him by more than a century and a half.

The cemetery remembers. The road remembers. And out along that old Austin-San Antonio Road, if you know what you're lookin' for, Stringtown is still there — strung out, quiet, and entirely itself.

What the marker says

John Drayton Pitts (1798-1861) was born, according to family lore, on a ship as his parents sailed to America. A civil engineer by profession, Pitts became interested in politics and in 1841 became a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. The next year, Pitts and his brother-in-law, James Vickers, took a trip to Texas and encouraged family and friends to follow. Eleven families, including those of John’s brothers, William and Edward, settled in Grimes County. John D. Pitts became an influential politician, living in Austin while serving as adjutant general. In 1847, Pitts and his friend, General Edward Burleson, visited the land Burleson acquired after the Battle of San Jacinto, located six miles southwest of San Marcos Springs. Impressed by the idyllic setting, Pitts purchased the 640 acres from Burleson. This early organized colony in Hays County consisted of family and friends of John D. Pitts. Their farmhouses, strung out at half-mile intervals along the Austin-San Antonio Road, led to the name Stringtown. The farms, often referred to as model farms, survived early hardships and the 1857 drought. Although not a town, Stringtown soon rivaled San Marcos in population. Pitts donated land near his home for a church and school. Following the Civil War and emancipation, crops were divided evenly with former slaves, and many were given land. The labor void was filled by Mexican farmers who brought their vibrant culture to the area. Pitts Cemetery, located nearby, was established in 1851. It serves as a reminder of the determined pioneers who settled the area and braved the hardships of early Texas. (2017)