In 1887 Joseph B. Leach and his brothers, John and Dee, immigrated to this area from Liberty, Kentucky. Joseph filed on a 160-acre homestead and built a half-dugout and sod house and a windmill. The Leach brothers often hauled freight for Plainview merchants. More families arrived in this five-mile square area. By 1892 there were enough children for a schoolhouse to be erected. Methodist and Baptist services and community activities were held in the building. The settlement was called "Liberty" for Joseph Leach's Kentucky home. William R. Finney and his family settled nearby in the early 1900s. When the Santa Fe Railroad from Amarillo to Plainview located a switch in 1906 on Finney's land, the site became "Finney Switch".

Soon irrigation wells improved agriculture and dairy farming began. Liberty Schoolhouse was moved in 1912 and in 1920 a four-room brick building was erected south of Finney. About 1925 the first business, a store, opened. The Baptist and Methodist congregations built sanctuaries by 1940. With the consolidation of the Liberty and Plainview Schools in 1948 and changes in farming, the population decreased.

Co-founder of Scott and White Memorial Hospital, Dr. Scott used this cabin from 1920s to 1940 as a private study and retreat. In these rooms (originally two small log "corn cribs" moved here and attached) he studied, wrote, and entertained guests. Fireplace is built of unusual stones brought by friends, who knew he was a rock enthusiast. For years the cabin stood in an oak grove on hospital dairy farm (2.6 mi.NW) surrounded by masses of yellow jasmine and petunias. Dr. Scott never allowed a telephone, so a bell on the farm was rung to call him in case of an emergency. Reared in Gainesville, Scott earned M.D. degree at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, 1886. In 1892 he became Chief Surgeon of Santa Fe Railway Hospital, Temple; in 1897, began private practice with another Santa Fe surgeon, Dr. R.R. White (1871-1917). The partners in 1904 founded Temple Sanitarium -- progenitor of Scott and White Hospital, one of the nation's foremost diagnostic and treatment centers, attracting tens of thousands of patients annually. For years expansion was met with temporary quarters until, by 1960, hospital occupied 31 buildings. In 1963 a new $10 million hospital complex opened; in 1972 cabin was moved here and dedicated as a museum.

A native of Hanover, Germany, John Henry Lohmans emigrated to Texas in 1842. He settled in Austin where he opened a large dairy farm. In 1867 he moved into this area west of Austin and cleared a farm out of the abundant timberland. Lohmans worked on several road construction projects in the area and privately financed the building of Lohmans Ford Road. Lohmans Crossing Road (.5 mi.W) follows the general path of the early route. Lohmans Ford Road, along with others in the area, was significant in the formation of an early Colorado River crossing network.

Built before 1897, this Victorian house was designed by German-born John Tollouch and occupied by hardware merchant George E. Hardwicke (1855-1923) until 1899. The property was purchased in 1902 by Dupont Lyon (1876-1946), then an officer in the U.S. Army. He became a dairy farmer and lumberman after settling here, and served as Mayor of Sherman (1913-15). Lyon joined the Army again in World War I and attained the rank of Major before retiring in 1932. In the 1930s, Lyon made minor repairs and additions to the house. It was purchased and restored in 1974 by Robert J. Tate.

In 1931-32 Edith L. Moore and her husband built this house of pine logs they cut from their land. The stone fireplace and chimney were built of sandstone curbstones salvaged from downtown Houston. Dairy farming and logging provided their livelihood. To safeguard this homesite along Rummel Creek as a nature sanctuary, she willed the log house and 17.5 acres to the Houston Audubon Society in 1975.

In 1889 brothers Anton, August, and Emil Flusche contracted to sell 22,000 acres of this land along the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad. Jot Gunter gave 25 acres for a school, church, cemetery, and park. The first Mass, celebrated Dec. 8, 1889, marked the official beginning of this German Catholic town. Despite drought, typhoid fever, and tornadoes destroying the first two church buildings, the area grew and farming and dairy business increased. Farmers established an insurance company and a marketing group for buying products in bulk. An oil boom in 1926 added to the prosperity.

In 1885 the Grand Lodge of Texas, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, founded the I.O.O.F. Widows and Orphans Home, one of the first fraternal orphanages in the state. Corsicana Lodge No. 63 and other local citizens gave 200 acres as a site for the facility. On April 26, 1886, the cornerstone for the first permanent building was laid. Only one child was residing here in 1891, but enrollment and financial support soon increased.

The home became a self-contained community with its own independent school district, farm and dairy, power plant, and water supply. Abel Rice Auditorium, built in 1911 when enrollment was over 300, contained a swimming pool and gym, and housed the fine arts department sponsored by the Rebekah lodges. This institution also served as a home for the aged from 1905 until a separate facility opened in Ennis in 1928. After peaking at nearly 400 in the 1920s, enrollment dropped sharply in the 1930s and 1940s. The school closed in 1943, and students began attending Corsicana public schools. Campus buildings were modernized in a 1945 "reconversion program." Renamed in 1948, the Odd Fellow and Rebekah Children's Home has provided care for over 5500 persons.

Pioneer ranchers began to settle Hale County in the early 1880s. Land was plentiful and cheap, but life was hard. Many settlers lived in dugouts. Supplies were freighted from Colorado City until the railroad reached Amarillo. Cattle roamed the free grazing land until round-up time, when they were separated according to brands. Ranchers earned extra income by selling buffalo bones for fertilizer, working on the railroad, or hiring out to larger ranches. Many worked at the Circle Ranch of Col. C.C. Slaughter, which covered land in four counties. Other significant ranches included the Callahan, Barton, and Norfleet ranches. When the public land was gone and free grazing ended, the larger ranches were divided into smaller tracts. The transition from ranching to farming was difficult.

By the early 20th century, wheat farming and dairy production began to replace ranching operations. The Dust Bowl and Depression of the 1930s brought new hardships. Soon after World War II, however, a high percentage of the cultivated acreage in Hale County was under irrigation. This allowed for crop diversification with high yields of grain sorghum, corn, soybeans, wheat, vegetables, and livestock production. Cotton has become the leading cash crop.

Part of Spain's 1777 La Feria Grant (12.5 leagues), partitioned into 6 units 1843. Here in 1850's was a sub-post of Fort Brown (28 mi.SE) and Fort Ringgold (65 mi.NW). This was proposed site in 1860's for "Homeville", this locality's first small-acreage promotion. Present compound, built 1870 by L.J. Hynes, has buildings for dairy, kitchen, ammunition. Hynes, first Postmaster (1876), had stage depot, general store, telegraph office, shipping wharf on river. Chapel was built 1880. In 1892, Frank Rabb bought the ranch. In 1916 border troubles, U.S. Army established headquarters here.

Located in an area of Johnson County's earliest settlement, Rio Vista was founded on the railroad in 1885. The townsite, which affords views of both Nolan River and Mustang Creek, was given the Spanish name for "River View". The post office that was established in Rio Vista in 1885 was discontinued in 1889, but was reinstated in 1890. By 1896, the community boasted 175 residents, eight stores, a lumber yard, steam gin, and a steam corn sheller. Rio Vista's public school system also began that year. Telephone lines were installed during the early years of the 20th century, when three passenger trains were arriving daily at the depot. The thriving economy was shattered, however, by a fire in 1914 that destroyed 24 buildings. Many of the businesses were hurt, and the rebuilding process was slow. Cotton sustained the economy during that time, and dairy farming later became important. Just as the coming of the railroad had initiated growth in Rio Vista during the 1880s, the building of State Highway 174 through town in the 1950s brought a boost to the economy. From its beginnings as a railroad community, Rio Vista has been an important part of Johnson County history.