Historical Marker
Original Old Rock Courthouse Cornerstone
Benjamin, Knox County · Texas
Erected 1967
Benjamin was founded in 1885 by Hilory H. Bedford, president and controlling stockholder of the Wichita and Brazos Stock Company, who named it for his son Benjamin, killed by lightning. To encourage settlement he gave each of his twelve fellow stockholders a fifty-acre tract and set aside forty acres for a town square. The town's first mail came in 1884 with Bedford as postmaster, and he was instrumental in organizing the county in 1886 with Benjamin as its seat. The courthouse that replaced the rock building was built in 1938 with Work Projects Administration labor.
What the plaque says
Erected in Benjamin in 1891, when the officials of Knox County were: J.J. Truscott - judge; W.H. Benedict, T.P. Reeder, J.A. Spinks, G.B. Stewart, commissioners; T.D. Isbell - sheriff. Rock structure, replacing wooden courthouse of 1886, was in use until 1935. (1967)
Where it stands
33.58313, -99.79323 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Knox County — steps away
- Benjamin School — steps away
- Sunset Consolidated Rural School District — 10 mi
- First Christian Church — 11 mi