Town of Chriesman

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the town of Chriesman. Half a mile east of where you're standing right now, there was once a settlement called Yellow Prairie. That's where it all began.

The man who put down roots there was Alexander Thomson, Jr., early Texas patriot and partner of the colonizer Sterling C. Robertson. That's pretty solid company to be keeping on the Texas frontier.

Thomson and his neighbors built something out there on the open grass, and for a time, Yellow Prairie was the address. Then the railroad came through in 1880, and well, you know how that goes. When the iron rails arrive, the people follow.

The settlers picked up and moved themselves right to the tracks, the way settlers do when the future shows up and points in a direction. The community kept on living, just in a new spot. Then came 1884, and a renaming.

The town took the name Chriesman, after Captain H.C. Chriesman, surveyor for Stephen F. Austin himself.

A man who helped lay out the lines of early Texas, honored now by a town that carries his name down every road sign in Burleson County. Yellow Prairie is a memory half a mile back. Chriesman is what stayed.

And today, the town does what small Texas towns do best. It serves the surrounding ranches, steady and quiet, like it's been doing all along.

What the marker says

(Originally "Yellow Prairie" 0.5 mi. E) Settled by Alexander Thomson, Jr., early Texas patriot and partner of the colonizer Sterling C. Robertson. When railroad came through in 1880, the settlers moved to tracks. Renamed, 1884, after Capt. H.C. Chriesman, surveyor for Stephen F. Austin. Now serves surrounding ranches. (1968)