Webberville

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. The community of Webberville, sitting out here in Travis County, carries a name that goes back to one man: John F. Webber, born in 1793, died in 1882, a man who received a land grant in 1827 and settled himself right here in this area.

And he didn't settle alone. He came with his African American wife and their children, put down roots, and this stretch of Texas ground became his. That took a particular kind of nerve in that era, and the land remembered him for it.

A post office came along in 1846, serving a place then called Webber's Prairie. By 1853, the name had shifted to Webberville, and the town started filling itself out the way Texas towns do, one enterprise at a time. Cotton was the engine.

Grist mills followed. Cotton mills. General stores.

Schools and churches rose up, and eventually a cemetery, because every town that intends to last makes room for the ones who came first. For a good while, Webberville hummed along. But things have a way of winding down quiet as they wound up.

The post office, which had been running since 1846, was discontinued in 1903. And out on the Colorado River, a ferry crossing that had carried folks back and forth across that water finally ceased operation in the 1920s. What's left is the name itself, John F.

Webber's name, still on the map, still on the marker, still out here on the road where you're drivin' right now.

What the marker says

This community was named for John F. Webber (1793-1882) who received a land grant in 1827 and settled in this area with his African American wife and children. A post office was established in 1846 for Webber's Prairie, and by 1853 the name was changed to Webberville. Based on a cotton farming economy, the town later included grist mills, cotton mills, general stores, schools, churches, and a cemetery. The post office was discontinued in 1903. A ferry crossing on the Colorado River ceased operation in the 1920s. (1997)