Lohmans Crossing

The road now serves Lakeway, a resort town that began as a 2,700-acre ranch owned by Houston oilman Jack Josey. In 1962 three Houston men tied to the Gulfmont Hotel Company took an option on the land; the name followed their Fairway Motor Hotel in McAllen. Lots went on sale on May 30, 1963, and the Lakeway Inn and Marina opened that July. By 1971 there were 300 homes. Owners voted in July 1974 to incorporate, with Austin's consent, as a 1,200-acre village, and the population grew from 4,044 in 1990 to 8,002 in 2000.

What the plaque says

Lohmans Crossing A native of Hanover, Germany, John Henry Lohmans emigrated to Texas in 1842. He settled in Austin where he opened a large dairy farm. In 1867 he moved into this area west of Austin and cleared a farm out of the abundant timberland. Lohmans worked on several road construction projects in the area and privately financed the building of Lohmans Ford Road. Lohmans Crossing Road (.5 mi. W) follows the general path of the early route. Lohmans Ford Road, along with others in the area, was significant in the formation of an early Colorado River crossing network. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mount Bonnell — 12 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.
• Barton Springs Pool — 14 mi
  A three-acre pool in the bed of Barton Creek, fed by the fourth-largest spring in Texas at 68 to 70 degrees, and shared with an endangered salamander found almost nowhere else.
• Harry Ransom Center — 15 mi
  The University of Texas archive where a Gutenberg Bible and the earliest surviving camera photograph are always on view, free, beside the papers of Watergate and the movies.
• Bullock Texas State History Museum — 15 mi
  The state's history museum at the head of Congress Avenue, built around the hull of La Salle's ship La Belle, raised from Matagorda Bay with 1.8 million artifacts.

More markers nearby

• Hudson Bend — 3.6 mi
• Anderson's Mill — 7.1 mi
• Community of Nameless — 11 mi
• Eanes School and Chapel — 11 mi