Houston County natives Francis Albert (1875-1949) and James Henry (Jim) Smith formed a business partnership in 1904 called Smith Brothers. Among their early business enterprises were a livery stable, family farms, and real estate. Following the advent of the automobile industry, they also sold cars and became interested in road construction.

Using their own funds, the Smith Brothers constructed a 6.9 mile section of Old State Highway 21 West of Crockett in 1923. It was the first paved highway in the area. The company also paved roads in the city, including brick paving on the courthouse square.

The brothers' business grew to include projects in California, Kansas, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee, and New Mexico. Other Smith Brothers companies, formed in Dallas and San Antonio, included contracting and cement operations, as well as real estate development and investments in hotels in San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Crockett. They also owned ranches in Houston and Concho Counties.

Following Jim Smith's death in 1930, many of the company's assets were liquidated. The partnership was finally dissolved in 1937.

Area settlers in horse-drawn carriages used this gravel bed low water crossing of the San Antonio-Blanco Road to reach the German settlement of Spring Branch. Despite frequent floods, use of the crossing increased during the years (1875-1906). Spring Branch postmaster Hans (Von) Specht maintained the post office in his hilltop home overlooking the crossing. Thereafter known as Specht's Crossing, it was later used by automobile travelers until replaced by a low water bridge in 1920. In 1934 a new bridge was constructed by the Civil Works Administration.

Built in 1892, the Aransas Harbor Terminal Railroad ("Old Terminal Railroad") provided a means for transporting rock from mainland quarries to jetties under construction in the pass. In 1909 the Aransas Pass Channel and Dock Company was chartered to build a channel from the first south Texas deep water port at Harbor Island to Aransas Pass. As the channel was dredged, the displaced sediment was piled along one side and became the basis for a railroad bed. Opened in 1912, the new terminal railroad extended along the roadbed and a series of eight trestles. It connected with the San Antonio and Aransas Pass railroad in Aransas Pass, and was an important cotton shipping tool. Passenger service was inaugurated with the "Toonerville Trolley", passenger coaches pulled by a converted model T Ford truck, which transported workers from the mainland to a new shipyard on Harbor Island during World War I. After Corpus Christi was designated a deep water port in 1922, business declined for Harbor Island and the railroad. In 1931 the rail line was converted to a road for automobiles, which was in turn replaced by a new highway in 1960. Hurricanes in 1961 and 1970 left few visible remnants of the terminal railroad.

Built in 1908 by the Texas Traction Company (Texas Electric Railway after a merger in 1917), this station served passengers and freight customers of the company's North Texas routes. The wood frame passenger depot and the attached brick freight/electric transformer section remained in use until 1948, when the rail system declined in favor of automobile travel. It is one of the few reminders of Plano's early 20th-century transportation history.

Early 20th century Texas farmers demanded all-weather access to markets just as automobiles revolutionized transportation for all travelers. Good roads promoters envisioned a central state agency to organize safe, consistent routes. In 1916 the federal government offered matching funds to build a statewide highway system. In 1917, legislators created the Texas Highway Department, and Texans registered 195,000 automobiles. Agency employees worked in the Capitol, then the 1917 Land Office, and soon the agency opened district offices across the state. In 1921 federal officials approved a 2,900-mile Texas system, ensured by a one-cent-per-gallon state gas tax after 1923. During the Great Depression, federal relief funds stimulated massive road building. Engineers also promoted a new headquarters, and in 1933 completed this state highway building. From here, Dewitt Carlock Greer (1902-1986) served as state highway engineer, 1940-1967, and commissioner, 1969 to 1981, when legislators named the building for him. That year, as the agency's role expanded to public transportation, it managed 71,000 miles of highways for 12 million Texas vehicles.

Local businessman E.F. Boydston (1888-1945) purchased this site, a former feed lot, in 1927 for $400. Recognizing a potential business opportunity in offering services to the traveling public, he built a wooden shed and gas station in 1927. Travelers were allowed to build campfires during overnight stays, and by 1931 Boydston added three wooden cabins with garages to the camp complex. The buildings later were faced with rock, and more cabins and garages were added in 1935. The original wooden gas station was covered with petrified wood in 1935 when the highway was widened and remained in operation by the Boydston family until 1988. The Texas Lunchroom, a one-room frame building, was built in 1929. Renamed the Texas Cafe in 1935 and faced with stone to match other buildings in the complex, it was enlarged to provide second-floor living quarters. Popular with local high school and college students, as well as families and the traveling public, it was closed in the 1960s after a highway bypass built west of town diverted traffic from this area. The cafe reopened in 1993. One of the few intact examples of tourist camps built throughout Texas in the mid-20th century, this property is significant for its association with the early development of automobile tourism.

Built in 1870s by a key man in the activities and ideology that gave the town of Cuero its economic leadership role in late 19th century south Texas.

Edward Mugge (1839-97), a native of Germany, arrived in the now-extinct seaport of Indianola (80 miles southeast) on Aug. 20, 1854. Seizing opportunities to rise through hard work and resourcefulness, he attained in two decades the eminence of partnership in the pioneer banking firm of H. Runge and Company. In his diverse enterprises he offered many other young men -- particularly those of similar Teutonic - American heritage -- chances to invest work and skill in development of this area.

Beginning this house as a typical comfortable home of the region, he originally built seven rooms -- three of these milled in Saint Louis and assembled here. Over ensuing years he made additions as surprise gifts to his wife (Nee Pauline Blumenthal) and six children: Edward, Lilly, Anna, Henry, Oscar, and Fred. The house grew to 15 rooms, five halls, three porches. On grounds were a summerhouse, greenhouse, bath house, wash house, smokehouse, huge cistern (still existent), and stables (which later became a garage for some of the first automobiles in Cuero). The Mugge house illustrates the history of its builder and period.

Established as Anderson County seat in 1846 by the Texas Legislature, Palestine grew steadily throughout the remaining 19th century, nearing 9,000 residents by 1900. The town first centered on trade facilitated by the Trinity River, with frequent steamboats bringing in staples in exchange for local and East Texas products. The river, however, was only navigable for half of each year, leaving residents to rely on ox-drawn wagons at other times.

Realizing the potential of the railroad, local leaders John H. Reagan and George A. Wright garnered wide support to offer county money to the Houston and Great Northern Railroad, later consolidated into the International and Great Northern Railroad, which reached Palestine in 1872. Between 1874 and 1875, the railroad moved its headquarters, along with shops and a roundhouse, to the town and became a vital economic force.

From the time rail construction began until beyond 1900, the railroad was the biggest employer in Palestine. Many employees came from other parts of the state and nation, as well as from other countries. A county immigration society helped promote immigration efforts, and the local newspaper sent thousands of circulars recruiting newcomers. Many immigrant families lived in Palestine, creating an international community in East Texas.

In an effort to spare the courthouse and original town square the noise and traffic associated with a railroad, the line was routed west of what became known as Old Town, the town's original business district. New Town developed around the rail depot, however it was decades before the two sections blended together. Although the automobile lessened the reliance on rail travel and shipping, the impact of the railroad is still seen in Palestine today.

The town of Kilgore was platted by the International Railroad Company after it purchased land for a townsite from C.B. "Buck" Kilgore, who had donated a 200-foot railroad right-of-way in 1871. Kilgore, a resident of Danville (4 mi.E), recognizing the economic opportunities afforded by the railroad, soon built a new home near the station. Many other Danville citizens followed Kilgore's lead, and a community was established and named for him.

This railroad station was completed in 1872 to provide passenger and freight service and to serve as a communications center for this agricultural and lumbering area. In 1931 oil was discovered in what became known as the East Texas Oil field, and the volume of shipments from the Kilgore station increased dramatically. Later, World War II provided the depot with a steady stream of troop trains.

The rail line became known as the Missouri Pacific in 1956. As automobile, bus, and air travel became more popular, rail traffic decreased, and in 1977 the Kilgore station was closed. The depot stands today as a reminder of the significant role rail transportation played in the growth and development of Kilgore and East Texas.

Burleson County was established in 1846 with Caldwell as the county seat. By the late 1840s Caldwell had a population of about three hundred. Local Masons began organizing and in October 1848 nine Freemasons petitioned George M. Patrick, Grand Master of Texas to grant dispensation for a lodge in Caldwell. In 1849 these men met in the county courthouse as District Deputy Grand Master John Sayles installed the first officers of the new Burleson Lodge No. 59. Jesse G. Thomas, then serving as first Chief Justice of Burleson County, was Worshipful Master.

During 1849 the lodge initiated at least nine apprentice Masons including M.M. Hitchcock, future Sheriff; Spencer Rice, future contractor of the 1853 county courthouse; and George B. Erath, the surveyor who platted Caldwell, sponsored legislation creating Burleson County and later served in the Texas Senate.

The lodge was chartered in 1850 as Warren Lodge No. 56 though the reason for the name change is unknown, local lore states that the lodge was named for Dr. Joseph Warren, a well-known Freemason of Massachusetts.

The Masons built their own lodge in 1854. They leveled the cornerstone of the new courthouse in 1889 amid full Masonic ceremonies. In 1890 they established a Masonic cemetery open to the public south of town. The lodge met soon after the full moon each month until 1930, when automobiles made night travel more feasible and they began meeting the second Thursday of each month. The Masonic cemetery was deeded to a private cemetery association in 1950. Warren Lodge No. 56 continues to be active in Burleson County community service.