Ralph Roy Smith

Smith's 1909 bill gave Texas an agency with a wide brief. The Texas State Library and Historical Commission had five members: three appointed by the governor plus the state school superintendent and the head of the University of Texas history school. It was to collect Texas history, publish archives, mark historic sites and houses, advise communities starting libraries and hold library institutes. In 1919 the governor gained power to appoint all five members, and in 1979 the agency was renamed the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

What the plaque says

Ralph Roy Smith R. R. "Railroad" Smith (1880-1944) was born in Gonzales County to Alexander Frohock and Mary McGill (Mathews) Smith. Around 1907, Smith moved to Atascosa County where he opened up a law practice and entered into the newspaper business with a cousin. Smith successfully ran for the Texas House of Representatives in 1908, and during the Thirty-First Legislative session he solely sponsored a bill creating the Texas State Library and Historical Commission. Smith served later terms in 1911 and 1921. Smith moved his newspaper from Pleasanton to Jourdanton in 1909 and was also a strong advocate of moving the county seat from Pleasanton to Jourdanton in 1910. (2009)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Atascosa County Courthouse — 0.7 mi
  The only surviving Mission Revival courthouse in Texas, built in 1912-13 on Jourdanton's town circle after a county seat vote that some residents still call a theft.
• Longhorn Museum — 5.5 mi
  Atascosa County in one roadside museum: longhorn-and-mustang ranching, a moved railroad depot and caboose, a horse-drawn hearse and the town that calls itself the birthplace of the cowboy.

More markers nearby

• Jourdanton — steps away
• Jourdan Campbell — steps away
• Atascosa County — 0.7 mi
• Jourdanton I.S.D — 1.1 mi