Historical Marker
Rawleigh Porteus Smyth
Plainview, Hale County · Texas
Erected 1975
Smyth graduated from Texas A&M in 1877 and rose in the Texas National Guard, becoming a captain in 1879 and a colonel in 1886. He moved to Estacado in March 1887 to survey and to Plainview in 1888, where he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1892. In the Spanish-American War he commanded the Third Regiment of volunteer infantry as a colonel. He became Hale County attorney in 1904, was county surveyor from 1908 to 1910 and 1918 to 1924, and was elected mayor of Plainview in 1932.
What the plaque says
Rawleigh Porteus Smyth (August 4, 1855 - February 2, 1941) An Austin native and graduate of the Texas Military Institute, R.P. Smyth became a Brigadier General after Spanish American War duty. As a surveyor, he ran boundaries (1887) of the Two Buckle and other South Plains ranches and platted towns of Plainview, Happy, Tulia, Kress. Married Florence Tucker (d. 1894); was a Masonic leader. As a state legislator, 1897, helped make laws to aid Plains settlers. As an irrigation advocate, helped to create area's agricultural empire. Recorded 1975
Where it stands
34.17714, -101.71365 · Directions
More markers nearby
- Edwin Lowden Lowe — steps away
- Emma Grigsby Meharg — steps away
- W. J. "Jeff" Williams — steps away
- Plainview Cemetery and Memorial Park — steps away