Taylor, Texas History - - est. 1876

Courtesy of Taylor, Texas Public Library
Courtesy of Taylor, Texas Public Library

Taylor Texas History -
Williamson County

Downtown Taylor, Texas in 1906, looking south. Taylor is the birthplace of several noted men including Bill Pickett, the black cowboy who invented bulldogging. Governor Dan Moody, also born in Taylor in 1893, first gained statewide recognition when he successfully prosecuted the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Elmer “Pet” Brown, the 1914 middleweight champion of the world was also a native of Taylor.

Local-History

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William Henry Pumphrey of Taylor attended the prestigious Peacock Military Institute about 1925. Pumphrey was a lifelong resident of Taylor.
1930's Parade in Downtown Taylor, Texas
Ross Wilder & Family after returning from Doolittle Raid 1942
Daniel J. Moody 1834-1910, father of Dan Moody Jr., Taylor, Texas. Commonly referred to as Judge Dan'l because of his position of Justice of the Peace. Moody had come to Taylor as a railroad agent to sell lots and start the town in 1876. He became its first Mayor and after holding an election, started Taylor's public school and served as Chairman of the School Board. In 1890 he married Nancy Elizabeth Robertson a Math teacher at the school. He enlarged the house her family had built 3 years before. Judge Moody lost all his money when the business in which he had invested went broke, so he started a dairy at their home in which his son, Dan, began working when he was 8 years old. They rented rooms to Taylor teachers and several times shared their home with family members who were recently married and would come and live with the Moodys for a few years. Judge Dan died in 1915, the year Dan, Jr. graduated from high school.
Birdseye view of Taylor, Texas ca.1878, taken from water tower on Main St. looking West. rt. front: Raven Home, middle front: Negro House, left front: Jim Threadgill Home [corner of 6th and Main], left center: Professor McMurrray's School and Sunday School [building with 5 windows]
Taylor Flyers In WW II
Taylor Parade, Fireman Racing Team from Granger, July 4, 1922
Taylor Fire Trucks
Thompson Children on Hoxie Bridge
Pet Brown 1888-1923, World Middleweight Wrestling Champion
Flood of 1921, Looking South on Washburn St. Taylor Texas
Johns B. Pumphrey
Raymond Garrett, DVM in Taylor in 1964
Flood of 1921, Looking West on Austin-Hutto Road, Taylor, Texas
Kautz Store, Taylor, Festival ca. 1910's
Political Post with LBJ Signature Dated 1971
4th of July Parade -Main Street in Taylor, Texas
A beautiful young Mexican American girl, Lorraine Castro was Queen of the Taylor DIEZ Y Seis Celebration in the 1930’s. In 1940 she married Daniel Camacho in Taylor, Texas
Daniel Camacho & Lorraine Castro Wedding, Taylor, Texas, ca.1940
Street Scene
Dr. J. L. Dickey,
Dr. J. L. Dickey & wife, Magnolia & son James
Francisco Castro driving his mule drawn trash wagon in downtown Taylor in the 1940’s. One of Taylor’s most popular businessmen, when he had to convert to tractor power, he did so reluctantly. He and his wife Helen Fuentes Castro raised five children in Taylor. Mr. Castro was the only trash collector for businesses in Taylor from 1935-1952.
Barnstormer airplane at Gunnar Rydell Farm, NW of Taylor , Texas
Wife of Dr. Dickey
Trade Days in Taylor, Texas, street scene w/ many cars, ca. 1920's
Youth Group Hayride w/ Horse Drawn Wagon, Taylor, Texas, ca. 1910's
Dickey Medical Clinic, Taylor, Texas, ca. 1955, Founded by Dr. James Lee Dickey [1893-1959] who was Taylor's Outstanding Citizen in 1952 and on Time Magazine Cover, Jan 1953
John & Fannie Robinson, Founder Members of AME Church, with the help of Rev. Atchelee.
Dry Goods Store
Two Ladies in Old Car
Catholic Daughters of America in Parade in Imagekup, Taylor, Texas.
Taylor 1950's Parade 2077 Horses & Carriage in Parade. Taylor, Texas, ca. 1910's
Girl Scout Troop on Float in Christmas Parade, Taylor, Texas ca. 1955
Old Car Decorated for Parade, July 4, 1909, Louise Grace, little girl in back seat, photo at 505 Washburn St., Taylor, Texas
" The 9 Vagabons Band" Taylor, Texas, ca. 1934, photo was taken for the dedication of "Longhorn Cavern". Carman Yanero-sax, Walter Beck-sax, Allen Klaus-trumpet, Bob Kautz-tenor sax/clarinet [was manager/director], Bob Hays-guitar, Walter Klaus-trombone, Carl Graupiano, Bill Frisch-drums, and Frank Westling- horn. The band was based in Taylor and played for masonic lodge, SPJST, etc., they played ballroom music. Band was formed in 1933 and lasted until 1940, with Bob Kautz and Carmen Yanero forming another band
Gathering at the "Taylor Cafe", Taylor, Texas, ca. 1950's
Nurses at Wedemeyer Hospital, Taylor, Texas, ca. 1920's, in car l-r: Mamie Rusch, Edna Ahlbright, Alemda Kelidorf, running board l-r: Ethel Sanders, Selma Wolf, seated front l-r: Annie Schubert, Carrie Nelson Kerr, Elsie Storey, Schroeder, Savilla Modessett Lane, Annie Bohls
4th of July, 1926 Beauty Pageant at Murphy Park Swimming Pool, Taylor
Lorraine Castro Camacho [sitting] as Diez y Seis Queen, ca. 1930's
Decorated Carriage for Taylor Fair Parade, Taylor, Texas ca. 1913
God's Flowerland, Church Pagent, Taylor, Texas, ca. 1920's
Dry Goods Store, Taylor Texas
Ed Hunke Bakery Wagon & Horses, ca. 1890's
Don Hill as Santa, Taylor, Texas
Wm. Pipkin w/ Ben Hur Hat - Taylor, Texas
Imperial Bakery in Taylor, Texas, at 204 1/2 Main St., Daniel C. Camacho and John Velecka, ca. 1942.
Sturgis Goldstein Grocery, 2nd St., Taylor, Texas, ca. 1914
Flo Kruger, at age 16, 4th of July Beauty Pageant, Taylor, Texas, ca. 1946
Flo Kruger on cotton bale - 1940's
Ed Fuentes, in front of Fuentes Grocery Store, 319 Pine [Dickey], Sept 1939, One of the first Hispanic businesses in Taylor, Texas, ca. 1920, adjacent to his home.
"Candy Jim's" Store, 303 N. Main St., Taylor, Texas, ca. 1910
Kautz Dry Goods Store, Taylor, Texas
General Store, Taylor Texas, ca. 1910
General Store w/ Buggies, Taylor, Texas - 1920's
Chief Brady, Central Barber Shop
Grocery Store, R.A Kautz & Mother, Taylor, Texas
Cotton Hauling Truck w/ Bales, from Seed Barn, south of Taylor, ca. 1920
Ed Konarek Blacksmith Shop, South Main St., Taylor, Texas, left Ed Konauk, ca. 1919
Marse & Husta Saloon, 113 North Main St. , Taylor, Texas ca. 1905
Daily Democrat & Weekly Texan Newspaper, 4th & Talbot St. , Taylor, Texas, ca. 1900's
Texas Power & Light Substation on North Main, Taylor, Texas
G.E. King's Mule Barn, D.U. Teaff's Wagon Yard, M.B. Norman [center with mustache], ca. 1890's
Waterworks & Taylor Ice Co. on East First St., Taylor, Texas, Taylor Ice. Co, Dan Murphy & George Burkitt started Taylor Waterworks & Ice Company, 1882-1883
(from the park plaque at the end of the bridge)

"a special credit to the Williamson County Sun for this story"

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Historical Markers and Their History

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Taylor's beginnings are rooted in commerce:

The town was laid out by the Texas Land Company in anticipation of the coming of the railroad. It was originally named Taylor Station after a contemporary official of the International & Great Northern Railroad. Taylor Station was situated on a major cattle trail used by Texas ranchers to drive their stock to market. Within 60 days of the railroad reaching Taylor Station in 1876, 146 carloads of cattle were shipped north to market from this fledgling community.

The railroad brought other forms of commerce as well, and the town developed rapidly. Farmers arriving primarily from the Midwest and other southern states soon discovered that the black land soil would support cotton. With the railroad at hand to ship the cotton to mills in the east, Taylor became the center of the thriving cotton trade.

A disastrous fire in 1879 destroyed most of the frame structures in the three-year-old town. Most of the burned-out buildings were replaced with the fine brick and stone structures that distinguish Taylor's appealing downtown to this day. A brisk trade in cattle and cotton brought stability, and a prosperous town took shape. Churches and private schools were established, and craftsmen and tradesmen set up shop in town to serve the flourishing farms and ranches.

In 1882, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad extended tracks to link it to the great Missouri Pacific system.

Less than ten years after, the frontier station on the open range began to attract residents. Taylor established a public school and community waterworks to pipe fresh water to homes and businesses in town.

The First National Bank was organized in 1883. As testimony to the favorable economic climate of the day, the bank's initial stock offering of $50,000 sold out in less than one hour.

Taylor has always placed a premium on the quality of life in the community. In 1884, the city fathers opened a dog pound on the public square to encourage residents to be more responsible with their pets. A small boy was paid 25 cents for each stray dog he rounded up. The enterprising city Marshall then sold the dogs back to owners for $1 with a numbered brass dog tag. The city used revenues from the dog pound to complete a sewer system.

Although Taylor's rate of growth has slowed from its earliest days, the city has shown a steady increase in population, even though the population of the country as a whole declined between 1930 and 1970.

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