Youngsport

Duane's take

The official marker's the source here, and I'm just the one bringin' it to life for you. Now, every community's got a beginning, and Youngsport's begins in January of 1846, when a man named Francis L. Mudd received one-third of a league of land along the Lampasas River.

That's a solid piece of ground. Four years later, that land found itself inside a brand-new Bell County, carved fresh out of Milam County. The map was still warm, you might say.

Then came Michael Young. He purchased a parcel of Mudd's land and settled his family here — but the circumstances that brought him to stay, well, those are the kind that leave a mark on a man forever. According to the telling, the Young family had been traveling when they stopped to care for a sick daughter.

She did not survive. They buried her in what would become known as Live Oak Cemetery, and they stayed. Now here's the part that carries its own quiet weight.

Michael Young had been a ship captain before all this. And allegedly, he looked at this stretch of Texas land along the Lampasas and named the place Young's Port — because, as the story goes, he had finally found his port. A sailor who came to rest in the middle of the Hill Country.

That's a long way from any ocean. Other early souls took root here too — Anderson Young and P.C. Mitchell among them.

The settlement was growin'. In 1871 — and pay attention to that date, because it matters — Youngsport's post office opened. That was eleven years before the city of Killeen was even established.

Youngsport was here first, humming along, tending to its own. By the turn of the twentieth century, this little community was doing real business. A general store, a barbershop, a drugstore, a physician's office, a blacksmith — the full run of what a settlement needs to feel like something.

The Live Oak Baptist and Church of Christ congregations served the people of the area, and local children attended a schoolhouse that had been moved to the community around 1886. Youngsport had a heartbeat. For many years, residents looked to Killeen for products and services.

And eventually, the tide began to turn. By 1930, the post office closed. In its years of operation, three men and one woman had served the community as postmaster.

Eight years after that, the school — which had accommodated grades one through eight — closed as well, and the students transferred into the Killeen district. By 2005, what remained were three cemeteries and the Church of Christ, standing as the living links to everything that came before — a dispersed agricultural settlement that once had a post office before Killeen had a name. A ship captain found his port in the middle of Texas.

And the port is still there, if you know where to look.

What the marker says

In January 1846, Francis L. Mudd received one-third of a league of land in this area along the Lampasas River. Four years later, the property became part of the newly created Bell County, carved out of Milam County. The next year, Michael Young purchased a parcel of Mudd's land and settled here with his family, reportedly because they had stopped while traveling to care for a sick daughter who did not survive. They buried her in what would become known as Live Oak Cemetery. A ship captain before moving to this area, Young allegedly named the community Young's Port, because he had finally found his port. Other early landowners and settlers included Anderson Young and P.C. Mitchell. In 1871, eleven years before the city of Killeen was established, Youngsport's post office opened. At the turn of the 20th century, the settlement supported several businesses, including a general store, barbership, drugstore, physician's office and blacksmith. The Live Oak Baptist and Church of Christ congregations served area residents, and local children attended a schoolhouse that was moved to the community around 1886. For many years, Youngsport residents received products and services from Killeen. By 1930, when the post office closed, three men and one woman served the community as postmaster. Eight years later, the school, which accommodated grades one through eight, closed, and students transferred into the Killeen district. By 2005, three cemeteries and the Church of Christ served as links to the early years of the dispersed agricultural settlement. (2006)