Dr. James Odiorne

Odiorne came to a county that mostly opposed secession. Blanco County's settlers were largely from Tennessee and Alabama, about a tenth were German-born, and in 1860 the census counted ninety-eight enslaved people. Even so, immigrants from Northern states and Europe helped tip opinion, and the county voted secession down 170 to 86. The war cut the population to 1,187 by 1870, killed off more than 16,000 sheep and dropped farm and ranch values from $576,302 to $90,736. In 1862 the legislature carved Kendall County from its southwestern edge and compensated it with parts of Hays and Burnet.

What the plaque says

Dr. James Odiorne (1816-1887) Prominent pioneer physician, civic leader. Practiced medicine in Illinois and Kentucky before settling in Texas in 1857; moved to Blanco County in 1860. He was Civil War surgeon at Fort Mason, Tex. Served as commissioner and chief justice of Blanco County, 1860s; owned a newspaper, 1885-87. As doctor he went by horseback or gig, regardless of weather. Scarcity of drugs led him to use native herbs for medication; for a sedative (opium), grew and milked garden poppies. He died of burns when alcohol exploded during the compounding of medicine in his drugstore near this site. (1972)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park — 0.2 mi
  The Johnson City district of the national park: the Victorian house where Lyndon Johnson grew up, and the stone barns his grandfather built in the Johnson Settlement.
• Pedernales Falls State Park — 10 mi
  The Pedernales stepping down over layered limestone east of Johnson City, a river that can turn from a placid stream to a torrent in minutes.
• Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site — 13 mi
  A state park on the Pedernales opposite the LBJ Ranch, with a working Texas-German farm kept as it was around the First World War and the permit desk for the ranch tour.
• Luckenbach — 22 mi
  A store, saloon and dance hall on Grape Creek that a humorist bought in 1971, declared a free state of mind, and turned into a pilgrimage for Texas music.

More markers nearby

• Blanco County — steps away
• James Polk Johnson Building — steps away
• Dr. James F. Barnwell — steps away
• 1894 Blanco County Jail — steps away