Virginia-born Samuel Erwin was married in 1819 in Tennessee to Sally Rodgers Crisp (1795-1860), in a ceremony performed by local magistrate David Crockett. First settler in the Honey Grove area, Erwin arrived here in 1837 and surveyed land grants for other pioneers. A surveyor by profession, he platted the townsite for his friend B.S. Walcott in 1848. He was the town's first postmaster and one of Fannin County's earliest Justices of the Peace.

Civil War veteran Samuel Fisher Tenney, a Georgia native, graduated from the University of Georgia and from a South Carolina Seminary in 1868. He moved to Crockett two years later, following a pastorate in Marshall, Texas. For 54 years Tenney served here as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. Instrumental in the development of area educational facilities for blacks, he also started a mission in 1880 for the Alabama-Coushatta Indians in Polk County.

Discovery well for Big Lake oil field. First gusher in Permian Basin; first University of Texas producer. On land once thought almost worthless. Fruit of the faith of Big Lake lawyer Rupert Ricker. Though in 1919 no oil had been found within 100 miles, Ricker got leases on 431,360 acres of University of Texas land in Crockett, Irion, Reagan and Upton counties. Soon working with him were P.G. Stokes, Big Spring; Frank Pickrell and Haymon Krupp, El Paso; and others.

Their wildcat well, 1/2 mile south of this site, on Ollie Parker's Ranch, was drilled by Carl Cromwell. Dee Locklin was tool dresser. Slow and hard drilling made crew name well for Santa Rita, Patronness of the Impossible. 4 years, 2 months and a day after permit was filled, and at 3,055 feet, well pressure tossed the rig's bucket high into the air. Santa Rita was a producer, the date was May 28, 1923.

This day the Permian Basin, since acclaimed one of the greatest oil regions in the world, had its first big find. Other spectacular fields were to follow.

Multi-millions in royalty dollars have since made the University of Texas one of the world's most heavily endowed schools. Original rig that brought in Santa Rita now is on the university campus.

Formed from Crockett County. Created April 1, 1887. Organized July 9, 1901. Named in honor of Gustav Schleicher, 1823-1879. Pioneer German settler, member of the Texas Legislature, member of the United States Congress. County seat, Eldorado. First bale of cotton, 1904.

A pioneer leader in Wichita County, Simon Peter Hawkins was born in Crockett County, Tenn. He married Sara A. Hardin (1852-1937)in 1869. They had eight children. With his brother-in-law John G. Hardin, Hawkins moved his family to Johnson County, Texas, in 1875. Seeking better land, the men found lush grass in present Wichita County and settled their families on the north side of Gilbert Creek. After fire destroyed the Hawkins' dugout home, the family moved about 1/4 mile. South of this site, Hawkins signed a petition for establishing Wichita County. He voted in the first county election and served on the first county grand jury. He helped organize the First Baptist Church, the first Masonic Lodge and the first school in this area. Hardin bought a store patronized by Indians and cowboys. The cowboys called the colony Nesterville. When the post office was established in 1882, it was renamed Gilbert. Hawkins served as mail carrier, making two trips weekly to Wichita Falls. After the railroad arrived, settlers in Gilbert moved about one mile to the new townsite of Burkburnett. When oil discoveries turned Burkburnett into a boomtown, Hawkins and his wife moved to Mineral Wells. He died there and was buried in the Burkburnett Cemetery.

Site of Confederate Arms Factory. Established by Joseph H. Sherrard, William L. Killem, Pleasant Taylor and John M. Crockett in 1862 to manufacture pistols for the State of Texas.

In 1839 or 1840 at the junction of the La Grange - La Bahia and Victoria - Gonzales Roads (.5 miles east), Daniel Boone Friar (1800-58) built a home and store that served as a social, political, transportation, and trade center for early DeWitt County. In 1841 the two-story frame structure became an overnight stop on stagecoach lines between San Antonio and coastal towns. It was designed as a temporary courthouse for the short-lived Judicial County of DeWitt in 1842. When the county was actually organized in 1846, the court met at Friar's place for several months. It was also the county's first post office, established on May 22, 1846, and named Cuero, with Friar as postmaster.

In 1849 Friar sold the building to Crockett Cardwell (1812-91), who continued to operate it as a stage stand, store, post office, and community meeting place. The county's first Masonic lodge, Cameron Lodge No.76, A.F.& A.M., was organized in an upstairs room in Nov. 1850 and met there until Jan. 1853. When the Gulf, Western Texas, and Pacific Railroad located the town of Cuero four miles south of the Cardwell stand in 1873, the post office was moved to that site. As the town along the railroad grew, other activities at the old stage stand ended. It was torn down in 1916.

John McConnell (1818-98) came to Crockett from Ireland in 1847 and opened a blacksmith shop at this site. Later, with his sons, he moved to another location and started a hardware business. An active civic leader, McConnell served as county treasurer and as city alderman. His son Robert Emmett McConnell (1867-1918), who built a home at this site in 1901, continued his father's business and also served prominently in local government. As a member of the city council in the early 1900s, he was an effective leader during a period of dramatic growth and change for Crockett.

James H. Collard, a surveyor, opened a general store on this site in 1837. Four years later he sold the business to Thomas Collins (1800-1869). Members of the Collins family ran the store until 1890 when William Berry (b.1856) constructed the Pickwick Hotel. Two brothers, F.A. and J.H. Smith, bought the building in 1921. It was reopened as the Davy Crockett Hotel in 1927. During construction of a new courthouse (1938-39), it housed county offices. The Crockett Hotel Co. purchased the business in 1939. Ray and Alta Cornelius served as managers until a fire destroyed it in 1972.