Sam Rayburn

Rayburn's Tennessee years ended at five, when his family left for a forty-acre cotton farm near Windom, Texas. He served as Speaker in three stretches, 1940-1947, 1949-1953 and 1955-1961, nearly twice as long as any predecessor. His last big fight came in 1961, when he won a plan to add three seats to the House Rules Committee, 217 to 212. He swore Lyndon Johnson in as vice president that January and died in November, with his funeral in Bonham.

What the plaque says

Sam Rayburn Was born 1 mile N. of this place on Jan. 6, 1882. In 1887 he moved to Texas with his parents, W.M. and Martha Waller Rayburn. He was a member of Congress from March 4, 1913 until his death on Nov. 16, 1961. Known as "Mr. Sam," he was Speaker of the House of Representative longer than any one before his time, serving from Sept. 16, 1940 to Nov. 16, 1961, except for two terms when he was minority leader.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• American Museum of Science and Energy — 10 mi
  The Oak Ridge museum that opened in 1949, when the Manhattan Project city's gates opened, in a town whose Black workers were housed in the Gamble Valley hutments.
• Fort Southwest Point State Historic Park — 10 mi
  A reconstructed 1797 federal fort on a knoll at the meeting of the Clinch and Tennessee rivers, headquarters of Cherokee agent Return J. Meigs, a state park since July 2026.
• Historic Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary — 17 mi
  The coal-mining prison opened in 1896 after the Coal Creek War ended convict leasing, where James Earl Ray escaped in 1977, now a tourist site and distillery.
• Frozen Head State Park — 18 mi
  A 24,000-acre Cumberland Mountains park around a 3,324-foot peak, made from Brushy Mountain prison lands and the CCC, and home to the Barkley Marathons.

More markers nearby

• K-25 Plant — 3.8 mi
• X-10 Plant — 3.8 mi
• Oak Ridge — 6.7 mi
• Lenoir Cotton Mill — 7.8 mi