Black's Fort

The fort answered a frontier the army was leaving. Henry E. McCulloch's rangers had camped near the site of Burnet in December 1847, and Fort Croghan followed, but the military abandoned it in December 1853, judging that settlers could now hold their own. They often had to. Early schools in the county met under shade trees while the older boys kept their rifles ready. Through the 1860s and 1870s residents faced raids as well as counterfeiters and cattle thieves, and some white outlaws disguised themselves as Indians to shift the blame.

What the plaque says

Black's Fort Built as a defense against the Indians in 1851 by William Black (1815-1907) on land owned by him. In the stockade, constructed of cedar logs, sentries were kept on guard on moonlight nights. Guns and ammunition for public use were kept here. Abandoned in 1868. Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hancock Springs Park — 15 mi
  Lampasas's city park on Sulphur Creek, with a spring-fed swimming pool that holds about 69 degrees all year, the walls of the old bathhouse and a golf course.
• Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge: Doeskin Ranch — 16 mi
  A free federal refuge north of Lake Travis kept for two songbirds that need old juniper and oak, with trails at the Doeskin Ranch unit near Bertram.
• Inks Lake State Park — 19 mi
  A state park on a constant-level lake of the Colorado, between Buchanan and Inks dams, with pink granite and gneiss at the water and CCC work along Park Road 4.
• Longhorn Cavern State Park — 20 mi
  A cave carved by an underground river in the Hill Country, cleared of mud by hand in the 1930s and reached down 52 stone steps on a guided tour.

More markers nearby

• Site of Town of Strickling — 1.2 mi
• Shady Grove Community — 2.3 mi
• Joppa Community — 3.2 mi
• Bethel Cemetery — 5.1 mi