Dam and Well

Goldthwaite was founded in 1885 in what was then southern Brown County and named for Joe G. Goldthwaite, the railroad official who auctioned the town lots. A post office opened in 1886. When Mills County was organized the next year, landowners donated townsite property in return for promises that Goldthwaite would be county seat, and a courthouse was finished in 1890; the 1888 jail is on the National Register. The Santa Fe built shops and a roundhouse switch, meaning the town as a division point, but after labor trouble it moved its shops to Brownwood.

What the plaque says

Dam and Well When the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad reached this area in 1885, company officials platted the town of Goldthwaite and built a reservoir to supply water for steam locomotives. A 25-foot-high dam near this site stored water from several springs, creating a pond that became a favorite swimming spot. The railroad dug a 50-foot-deep, spring-fed well at this site in 1906 to provide more water. In 1915, when these sources became inadequate, the dam was broken and reservoir drained. Today the springs form a stream which runs through Mills County Park, and the well is used by the city. (1976)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Goldthwaite Eagle — 0.3 mi
• Mills County — 0.3 mi
• Confederate Veterans Memorial of Mills County — 0.3 mi
• The Old Town Well, Goldthwaite — 0.3 mi