Incorporated Dec. 12, 1849. Resting place of many early Texas leaders and patriots: Edward Clark (1815-80), Governor of Texas, 1861; Colonel, C.S.A. Walter P. Lane (1817-92) veteran of Texas Revolution and Mexican war; Brigadier General, C.S.A. John T. Mills (1817-71), Associate Justice Supreme Court, Republic of Texas; District Judge in the state; a county is named for him. Horace Randal (1833-64), Brigadier General, C.S.A.; also honored by naming of county in his memory. Unknown soldiers who died in local hospitals, honored by an obelisk erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Rafael Mauthe (1802-79), A German stonemason built this house in 1877 on land purchased from the noted architect Abner Cook in 1856. Mauthe's wife Mary (d.1898) lived here after his death and manges the nearby family rental property. In 1898 the home was sold to Anne Katherine Brown Myrick (d.1947), The Daughter of Texas Supreme Court Justice T.J. Brown, who also lived here. The ornate porch, added in 1903-04, features detailing of the greek revival and classical styles.

When the 1875 Milam County Jailhouse grew too crowded in the 1890s, it was removed to make room for larger facilities. In March 1895, the Milam County Commissioners awarded a contract to the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, for the construction of a larger prison. The company furnished all supplies, including St. Louis pressed bricks. County Judge Sam Streetman, who later served on the Texas Supreme Court, approved the contract, although he had preferred the use of local building materials.

This structure, designed with Romanesque revival features and stone detailing above the windows, had three main floors and a "hanging tower" equipped with a trap door. The tower was never used for executions because most hangings took place outdoors. The first floor had ten rooms, three for storage and the remainder serving as a residence for the sheriff and his family. The second and third stories consisted of cell blocks for prisoners.

In 1975 a new county jail was constructed, and the Commissioners Court turned this facility over to the Milam County Historical Commission. After renovation, it was opened as a museum in 1978.

Established by law in 1850 as intersection of 100-degree longitude and 36-degree, 30' latitude, this point remained in dispute 79 years. Of some nine surveys made to locate corner on ground, almost none coincided. Even so, three blocks were annexed to Texas from Oklahoma (1903, 1929) - to confusion of landowners. One man claimed he went to bed in Oklahoma and awoke in Texas.

In 1929 U.S. Supreme Court had a final survey run. Some people with land formerly in Oklahoma could not afford to repurchase it in Texas, but exact site of corner was at last determined.

Originally called Lollar's Cemetery and later City Cemetery, this burial ground was located on land purchased by John Lollar in 1846. Five acres were reserved for cemetery use when Lollar sold his land to John Madison Patterson in 1849. Burials began in the 1840s, but many early gravestones have been lost. The oldest marked grave is that of four-year-old P.M. Scott, who died in 1852. The graves of numerous Confederate soldiers, who died in the Civil War (1861-1865), are situated in a raised section east of Central Drive. In another separate portion is the Jewish Beth-el Cemetery, where the oldest grave is that of 19-year-old Rachel Wolinsky, who died in 1884.

In 1903, additional land was acquired and the cemetery renamed Oakwood. City officials hired William A. Woldert (1885-1937) to map the grounds, locate old graves, and lay out more walkways. Further improvements were made by WPA labor in the 1930s, when Oakwood was again enlarged. By the 1970s, the burial ground contained 19.5 acres with over 2,000 marked graves.

Many of Tyler's most prominent citizens are buried here, including Judge Stockton P. Donley (1821-1871), Texas Supreme Court Justice; and Governor Richard B. Hubbard (1832-1901), who also served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan.

Named in honor of William Beck Ochiltree, 1811-1867, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Texas, 1842, Secretary of the Treasury, 1844, the last Attorney General of the Republic of Texas, member of the Texas Legislature, 1855; delegate to the Secession Convention of 1861, colonel in the Confederate army. County Seat Ochiltree, 1889 Perryton, since 1920.

A South Carolina-born Alabama legislator, Oran M. Roberts came to San Augustine, Texas in 1841. He served in district and state judicial positions, including the first district court in Canon in 1850, and was president of the Secession Convention in 1861. After service as a colonel in the 11th Regiment, Texas Infantry, his postwar career included a second turn as a state Supreme Court judge; he made the 1877 ruling that ended the Van Zandt County Seat War. Roberts was elected governor of Texas in 1878. He was a law professor at the new University of Texas until 1893. Roberts helped form the Texas State Historical Association in 1895.

(Front):
Virginia-born, came to Texas 1838. Aided 1839 removal Texas Shawness. Officer in Milam Guards, Texas Republic. Political, cultural leader in Houston, Republic, State, and Confederacy: he was District Attorney, Judge, Justice Texas Supreme Court, Legislator in Texas and C.S.A. Delegate to Texas Secession Convention that raised troops to seize U.S. forts, provided for Texas frontier defense, and ratified C.S.A. Constitution.

(Back):
Gray in 1864 became Treasury Agent for the "amputated" C.S.A. Sector West of the Mississippi River. There, in effect, he was Treasury Secretary for a land in chaos. Smuggled currency was scarce. Often it was hijacked. No western press could be found to print notes. Couriers and Pony Express were Gray's "wireless" to the Confederate capital. Ammunition, arms, medicines, factory goods vital to the war effort had to be imported for Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, as well as for Texas. Blockade-runners exported cotton via Havana to Europe. Cattle and cotton went to market in Mexico, as Gray served the gallant Confederacy.

Texas Statesman Price Daniel (1910-1988) was born in nearby Dayton, the son of M.P. and Nannie Partlow Daniel. His career in state and national politics spanned six decades and included service in all three branches of state government. After graduating from Baylor Law School, Price Daniel established his law practice in Liberty before taking his first public office in the Texas House of Representatives in 1939. His strong record led to his election as Speaker of the Texas House in 1943. Returning to public life after service in World War II, Daniel was Attorney General of Texas from 1947 until 1953. The young Attorney General vigorously defended Texas' ownership of its tidelands against Federal encroachment, an issue he took with him to the United States Senate upon his election to that body in 1952. Successful in sponsoring legislation to confirm Texas ownership of the tidelands, Daniel was elected Governor of Texas in 1956 and was re-elected in 1958 and 1960. Among his many accomplishments as Governor, he championed the preservation of historic state documents and construction of the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library building in Austin. During the next three decades, Price Daniel served as head of the Office of Emergency Preparedness under President Johnson, as an associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court and as a member of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. At the time of his death on August 25, 1988, Daniel had held more offices of public trust than any other individual in Texas history.

(front):
Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor 1791-1873. Founder of Baylor University under the Republic of Texas 1845, donor of the first thousand dollars to the institution; president of the first board of trustees. Professor in the first law faculty. He exemplified in his life the motto of Baylor University "Por Ecclesia Pro Texana."

(Right):
CONSTRUCTIVE STATESMAN-JUDGE BAYLOR. Was a member of the Kentucky legislature, congressman from Kentucky, congressman from Alabama, United States Senator from Alabama. He served five years as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas. Twenty years as district judge for the state courts. As commander of a company in the War of 1812 and as a soldier in the Creek and Indian war, Mexican War and the Texas-Indian War.

(Left):
RELIGIOUS LEADER-JUDGE BAYLOR. Organized the Union Association. The first Baptist organization in Texas. Presented the first report in behalf of Christian education in Texas. He was the first president of the Texas Educational Society, sponsor of a free public school system. Preacher and lawyer. He preached the first sermon and held the first court in Waco giving direction and destiny to Texas by upholding the law and proclaiming the Gospel.