The U.S. Congress chartered the Boy Scouts of America organization in 1910. Just two years later, three Van Alstyne boys, Rowland Barnett, Otis White and Rae Nunnallee, received a Boy Scout storybook. Barnett made a Christmas wish and, in March 1913, the Van Alstyne troop received its charter--one of the first in the state. W.F. Barnett, Rowland's father and Van Alstyne school superintendent, became the troop's first scoutmaster. Within a few years, Troop 1, as it was known then, helped establish other boy scout troops in the area, beginning with the communities of Anna and Elmont.

The Van Alstyne troop worked from its founding date to serve its community. Through the 1920s, the troop helped in a citywide cleanup to control disease and insect population. In the 1940s, the troop's number changed to 44, and in 1948, the city donated land for a scout hut, which has since been used for meetings. In 1959, the troop took part in the relay of the Pan American Games torch as it traveled from Mexico City to Chicago. The Van Alstyne troop also became the first integrated troop in the Texoma Valley Council.

Beginning in 1917, Van Alstyne's First United Methodist Church became an official sponsor of the troop, which has since been sponsored by other local organizations and churches, as well as being continuously supported by the Methodist church. Scout leaders have included many men and women from the community, including one whose interest was piqued in 1912 by the storybook. Rae Nunnallee was an active troop member for 70 years, joining as a boy and later serving in a number of key roles, both locally and nationally. For his dedication and service, the chapel at nearby Camp Grayson was named in his honor. Setting an example others in the community have followed, Nunnallee generously gave his time, labor and care for the boy scouts in Van Alstyne.

Built 1894 of handcut stone hauled here by horse-drawn wagons from Tule Canyon. Early day Sheriff's families rented it as residence. Lower floor was used by Red Cross workers, for sewing, during World War I. This jail stands as the lasting reminder of what courage and dedication mean in preserving law, order and integrity in Briscoe County.

School classes for the children of German immigrants in the Cherry Spring community were held in homes until 1885, when this limestone schoolhouse was completed on land donated by H. Bratherich. On dedication day, students formed a parade to the new building. The Cherry Spring Schoolhouse served the nearby residents until 1962, when it was consolidated with Fredericksburg. Today it is a landmark of early education in Gillespie County.

Pioneer settler C.A. McMillen established the Corinth Society Church of August 2, 1846. Thought to be the oldest continuing church congregation in Collin County, its charter members included the Murphy, Wilkins, and Maxwell families. The church served as both a Presbyterian and a community church. The congregation first met east of Murphy in the Maxwell schoolhouse. After the Civil War, the church members met in the McMillen home, and later at the Wilkins schoolhouse. Several years later, the congregation constructed its first church building at the corner of Grey Lane and Gregory Lane. In the early 1920s Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Gregory donated more than two acres on Parker Road to the church. A new sanctuary was completed in 1923, and the congregation commemorated its dedication with day-long events at the new structure. The church building was refurbished in the 1980s, and a bell steeple was added. The church continues to serve the needs of its members, participates in community activities, and supports outreach programs in the area. Corinth Presbyterian Church has been an integral part of the Parker area for more than 150 years.

Dallas Scottish Rite Temple. Samuel P. Cochran (1855 - 1936), a prominent Mason and community leader, headed the committee that initiated plans for this building in 1902. Masonic officials assembled for the cornerstone laying in March 1907 and for the dedication ceremony in April 1913. Herb Miller Greene and J.B. Hubble, both Lodge members, designed the Neo-classical structure. A Dallas landmark, it is a showcase of fine materials and craftsmanship.

This bandstand, successor to earlier ones in Cuero, is a replica of the first one erected in this park -- used for concerts, patriotic meetings, bazaars, ice cream socials, political rallies, street dances. Cuero musicians won renown as official band for the internationally famed "Turkey Trot," founded 1912 and opened that year with a parade led by Governor Oscar B. Colquitt. The trot, a showing of Thanksgiving birds prior to shipment, used music on its programs.

Before Anglo-American colonization, Spanish troops at various presidios had marching bands. But on the frontier, most music was for dancing, and was played on violins, guitars, or some improvised instrument such as a plow point. Settlers loved their "tunes." When the Texan Army went into battle at San Jacinto, April 21, 1836, it moved to the music of "Will You Come to the Bower?" -- played on a drum and fife.

In the 1840s when instruments arrived with the household goods of hundreds of European settlers, excellent bands were organized, and bandstands were erected for their performances. More than 200 local bands originated in Texas in the 19th century.

At dedication of the new state Capitol in Austin, 1888, many city bands played for the celebration.

Organized Oct. 26, 1884, by 18 members who met at nearby school to found a missionary Baptist Church. T.P. Reece was the first of 25 pastors here. The Sunday School was founded Feb. 22, 1885. Dedication of present church was July 16, 1911.

The first Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Texas was organized in 1851 by eight pastors who would gather fellow-immigrants from Europe in congregations. Synod bought an existing campus at Rutersville in 1872 and operated her German-American College there until 1881 with Pastor H. Merz as president. In 1891 the Synod acquired a school plant on this site and established her Evangelical Lutheran College here. The courses were preparatory, commercial, teacher training, and classical. A dormitory for boys stood at Pecan and Clinton. Successive administrators were Pastors G. Langner, O. Hartmann, J.H. Romberg, E. Gerfen, F. Zimmermann. Synod closed the college in 1906, then founded an Evangelical Lutheran Pro-seminar on this campus to specialize in training students for entrance to a theological seminary. Launched Sept. 18, 1906, it prospered for six years under leadership of Pastor C. Weeber. Synod's fourth venture in field of higher education blossomed on Sept. 10, 1912, at Seguin, with the dedication of a new institution known later as Texas Lutheran College. Pastor C. Weeber, first president, served until 1929, raising its status to the rank of a junior college.

Originally a small congregation in a rural setting, this church has evolved through a continuous succession of expansions into a leading suburban church serving southwestern Tarrant County. The earliest record mentioning the church dates to 1896, the year of its establishment and admission into the Tarrant County Baptist Association. The Rev. G.W. Green served as pastor of the original 27-member congregation.

In 1899 the church began services in a newly erected auditorium, built on a town lot on Tarrant Street purchased two years earlier. Expansion needs caused by steady growth in the Sunday School program were satisfied temporarily with the interior remodeling of an army barrack donated to the church in 1947 and the erection of a new sanctuary in 1951.

The lack of room for additional facilities at its original Tarrant Street location resulted in the acquisition of this 9.3-acre site in 1974 and dedication of a new sanctuary four years later. The church undertook a much publicized relocation of its 2-story education building, constructed in 1966, from Tarrant Street to this location in 1980. In 1991 the congregation, which numbered more than one thousand members, celebrated its 95th Anniversary.

In 1893, an early year in the community's history, a small group of seven organized the Missionary Baptist Church of Christ at Rocksprings. The church disbanded after a few years, but was reborn as Rocksprings Baptist Church in 1898. Seventeen members called the Rev. Dan W. Matthews as their first pastor in that year. The Ladies' Aid Society began in 1900 under Mrs. Matthews. A frame building was erected in 1904; a parsonage followed in 1909. The small church, through the dedication of its members, prospered until 1927, when a tornado devastated the town of Rocksprings. Texans came from far and wide to repair the community and rebuild the Baptist building.

The church continued to thrive through the Depression and war years. By 1932 a Mexican American mission sponsored by the Baptists became a full Sunday School; in 1936 the membership of the Baptist church was 157 and in 1949 it was 207. The congregation was active in support of Baptist organizations. Modern brick facilities were dedicated on this site in 1966.

In missionary service, community outreach, and devotion to worship, the First Baptist Church of Rocksprings continues to uphold the values and traditions of its pioneer founders.