In 1898, the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad chartered a Young Men's Christian Association and, in 1899, erected a 3-story structure across the street from this site to furnish lodging and recreation for railway workers. The facility also served Temple citizens and pioneered in providing athletic activities for youth. The principal community leaders of the "Y" were W.S. Rowland (1866-1940), Dr. A.C. Scott (1865-1940), Dr. J.M. Woodson (1868-1930), Dr. R.T. Wilson (1884-1965), Walter R. Humphrey (1904-1971). The first Y.M.C.A. building burned in 1934 but was rebuilt the next year. In 1942, the facilities were given to the USO.

Settlement of this area began in the 1840s. A small community named Duck Creek was established and by 1846 a log cabin was serving as a community center, school, and Union Church. Early businesses included a general store, grist mill, and cotton gin. In 1886 The Gulf, Colorado, & Santa Fe Railroad built a line through Dallas County, passing about one mile east of Duck Creek. A new town, named Embree in honor of one of Duck Creek's early doctors, was laid out along the rail line. The Missouri, Kansas, & Texas Railroad built a second rail line north of the Santa Fe Tracks. The original Duck Creek settlement declined in favor of New Duck Creek on the MKT Rail Line. A U.S. Post Office was authorized for the area in 1887 and was positioned between the two towns. Named for U.S. Attorney General A.H. Garland, the site became a new town into which the earlier communities merged. The citizens voted to incorporate in 1891, and M. Davis Williams was elected first mayor. Garland flourished in the early 20th century and survived the Great Depression. Rapid transportation and industrial growth following World War II changed the city's economic base. Garland continues to be an important part of Dallas County history.

A native of Iowa, George Morgan Perry (1862-1944) moved to the Texas panhandle town of Ochiltree in 1886. Active in the formal organization of the county, he served as county clerk, district clerk, and county judge. A supporter of railroad building in the panhandle, he was honored by the Santa Fe Railroad when the town of Perrytown was established on the rail line and named for him in 1919. He served as first president of the Chamber of Commerce and continued to promote settlement and business development in the city until his death in 1944.

Laid out in 1894 as a sawmill town, Silsbee became a stop on the Santa Fe Railroad in 1902. By the end of that year a depot was built, and three years later a Harvey House Hotel opened. Named for entrepreneur Fred Harvey, Harvey House Hotels and restaurants were located along the Santa Fe lines from Chicago to California. Offering efficient and elegant service, Harvey Houses often were an important part of a town's cultural life. The Silsbee Harvey Hotel burned in 1906, but a new Harvey House Restaurant, completed in 1908, continued in operation until 1923.

A native of Virginia, Henry Ford (c.1845-1910) came to Texas in 1869 and worked as a cowboy on several central Texas ranches. He settled in Brownwood in 1876 and served several terms as county clerk and as a city councilman. A respected civic leader, he was influential in bringing the Santa Fe Railroad to Brownwood. He supported educational efforts in the city, and through his work as a banker and businessman was instrumental in Brownwood's growth. Three times married, he was the father of ten children, five of whom survived to adulthood.

Townsite surveyed 1907 by H.W. Harlin and R.C. Herm, on Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad. Post office, store and church moved here from Wheat, community to the northeast. In 1907 New Town--a trade center for livestock farmers--had 2 banks, a lumber yard, a newspaper; 2-story brick school was built 1909. Santa Fe Railroad came through in 1911. In 1918, a war hero was honored by town's name change to "Foch". Old name was reinstated 1921. Six miles east is Sand Stone Canyon, with Indian pictographs. Skeletons of extinct mammals have been excavated nearby.

According to local oral tradition, the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad (GCSF) gained a vital right-of-way through Emily Hitchcock's property in 1875 by agreeing to establish a depot named for her deceased husband, Lent Munson Hitchcock. GCSF platted the town of Hitchcock in 1891. The depot, built by 1893, became a social center as passengers, freight, and agricultural produce moved past its doors. This structure, the last of this area's GCSF depots still standing, was relocated here by the Santa Fe Area Historical Foundation in 1975 and converted for museum use in 1982.

Local legend tells of Dr. Asa Hoxey who, celebrating the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836, moved to change the name of Coles settlement to Independence. Actual county records show an 1835 origin for the town of Independence, with C. Baker, J.G.W. Pierson, A.F. Burchard, and R. Stevenson, proprietors. The still-strong Independence Baptist Church was established in 1839 with Pastor T.W. Cox. Local resident Sam Houston was baptized in Little Rocky Creek in 1854. The wealthiest town in Texas by 1845, Independence won the bid for Baylor University, newly chartered by the Republic of Texas. J.B. Root became its first U.S. Postmaster in 1846. By the 1850s Independence had a hotel, jail, stagecoach depot, Masonic lodge, cemetery, and small commercial district. Both the city leaders and Baylor administrators refused to grant right-of-way to the Santa Fe Railroad. By the 1880s, trade was going to competing towns and Independence began to decline. Baylor University moved its schools to Waco and Belton in 1886. By the 1990s, Independence was a rural community with a population of 140. Remaining attractions include the Baptist church and numerous historical sites in the area.

Influential Austin County resident John Bell Lewis (1845-1920) was born on a plantation near Coffeeville, Alabama. His grandmother Betty Washington Lewis was George Washington's sister. Lewis grew up near present Winedale, Texas, and served the Confederate Army in several major Civil War battles.

During Reconstruction Lewis served as Sheriff of Austin County and helped restore law and order to the area. While performing the Sheriff's duties as county tax collector, he saw the need for a local bank. He helped found Bellville First National Bank and Austin County State Bank. When Lewis heard that Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad planned to bypass Bellville, he persuaded landowners to donate right-of-way for the line and was instrumental in getting the railroad through Bellville.

Lewis acquired this property about 1874. The next year, architect J.J. Stopple built this home which displays a transitional style between the Greek Revival and the more ornate Victorian. Lewis shared the residence with his widowed sister and her son. In 1879 Lewis married Mollie Bell Ervin and their children grew up here. Lewis is buried in Oak Knoll Cemetery, Bellville.

Founded in 1880 by 26 charter members, this church was formed when the town of Kingston was created on the route of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. When the Gulf, Colorado, & Santa Fe Railroad built another line three miles north of here in 1886, growth in Kingston was halted. Many businesses moved to Celeste, the town formed at the new crossing. The church remained in Kingston, and built a second sanctuary in 1947. A new building was constructed in one week in 1985 by volunteers from Kingston area churches and East Mountain Baptist Church.