Junction's First Waterworks

Junction's water and power came amid a wave of new services. The county's first telephone system reached Junction in 1905 and its first banks opened in 1906; Junction got the county's first electric lights in 1917, and the first gas stations opened about then. A countywide bond election in 1919 paid for graveled and paved roads, and by 1922 state highways ran from Junction toward Kerrville, Sonora, Menard and Rocksprings. In April 1945 the Kimble County Electric Cooperative brought electricity to rural areas, and by the late 1940s every highway in the county was paved.

What the plaque says

Junction's First Waterworks Predecessor of present city waterworks. Supplied water to homes and furnished power to run grist mill, cotton gin, and sawmill. Business leader Ernest Holekamp had canal dug in 1895, beginning at South Llano River, 1/2 mile south of Courthouse. Average bottom width was 6 feet, with depth of water from 3 to 4 feet. The system, named Junction City Milling Company, changed hands 6 times. It was purchased by city in 1928. Holekamp, who came to city in 1881, was first president of Kimble County State Bank and first mayor of Junction, 1927. (1970)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kimble County Historical Museum — 1.1 mi
  A free county museum in Junction, the town at the meeting of the North and South Llano, with the papers, photographs and tools of a ranching county.
• Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve — 26 mi
  A limestone cave on the James River where about four million Mexican free-tailed bats raise their young each summer, kept open to visitors by a family's gift.
• Fort McKavett State Historic Site — 31 mi
  The post Sherman called the prettiest in Texas, home to soldiers of all four Buffalo Soldier regiments and then to a town that lived in its buildings until 1973.

More markers nearby

• First Post Office — steps away
• City of Junction — steps away
• Site of First Livery Stable — steps away
• Burt M. Fleming American Legion Post No. 237 — steps away