Cedar Chopping in Central Texas

Ken Roberts, a retired Southwestern University economist, wrote the book on the people the plaque calls cedar choppers: The Cedar Choppers (Texas A&M University Press, 2018). Texas Monthly's account of it describes Southern white mountain families who came from Appalachia by way of the Ozarks to Central Texas after the Civil War and lived by cutting juniper, hunting, keeping hogs and cattle, and burning charcoal. The magazine, following Roberts, traces their ancestry to a Scotch-Irish warrior culture. Alan Lomax recorded cedar chopper families singing English ballads in the 1930s.

What the plaque says

Cedar Chopping in Central Texas Soon after Texas became a republic in 1836, the government divided land in this area for settlement. Ample timber, fresh water sources and wildlife attracted many to establish communities along Brushy Creek. The Legislature organized these settlements in the creation of Williamson County, carved from Milam County in 1848. During the 1850s, most pioneer area families operated small farms or businesses, and cattle ranching began to grow in the area. In the 1870s and 1880s, following economic hardships of the Civil War, Texas cattle ranchers began to drive stock through this area to markets outside the state. Residents also turned to cotton production, the raising of sheep and goats, and the harvesting of ashe juniper, known locally as cedar. With four rail lines built through the county by the 1890s, residents utilized the railroad for shipping products, including cedar ties for rail line construction. The wood was also used for fence posts, roofing shingles, foundation piers and telephone poles, as well as the manufacture of cedar charcoal, which had a variety of commercial applications. The term cedar chopper applied to harvesters and their families, who moved from camp to camp for their work. Cedar chopping was a significant factor in the development of the county and its economy well into the twentieth century. It supported charcoal kilns, timber yards and camps, such as one located at this site, leased from 1905 to 1908 by A.F. Martin & Brother. Site investigations here indicated archeological remains of a temporary camp and dugout structure. Today, the impact of cedar choppers and their work is apparent in the successful communities throughout the area, which developed in part because of their industry. (2005)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Round Rock — 6.4 mi
  A table-shaped stone in Brushy Creek gave Round Rock its name in 1854; the Chisholm Trail crossed the creek near it, and Old Town stayed behind when the railroad pulled the town east.
• Inner Space Cavern — 10 mi
  A Georgetown cave found in 1963 when highway engineers drilled test holes, holding Pleistocene fossils and 72-degree rooms that visitors reach by an artificial tunnel.
• Mount Bonnell — 11 mi
  Austin's old lookout over the Colorado, named by an 1838 traveler, picnicked on by George and Libbie Custer, and reached by a 1939 flight of about 100 limestone steps.
• Williamson County Courthouse — 13 mi
  The fifth Williamson County courthouse, a Beaux Arts building by C. H. Page, rises over a Georgetown square of more than 50 Victorian-era buildings.

More markers nearby

• Granite for the State Capitol — 1.7 mi
• Cedar Park Cemetery — 2.6 mi
• Cedar Park — 3.1 mi
• Pond Springs Community and School — 3.1 mi