Site of Gano Community

The Handbook of Texas says Gano formed around 1890 around the Watson and Wilder families and got a post office in 1891. By 1892 it had seventy-five people, a doctor, two livestock agents, a gin, a mill and a store. Its school, called Gentry for a settler, predated the town by twelve years and took the Gano name by 1903, when it had sixty-four students. The post office closed in 1907. The Handbook says the name honors Confederate general Richard M. Gano, who after the war was a Disciples of Christ minister and stock farmer in Dallas County.

What the plaque says

Site of Gano Community Settlement in this area began in the 1870s. The Wilder family operated a cotton gin, grist mill, blacksmith shop and general store. Other pioneer residents included the Allcorn, Watson, Casey, Gambrell, Gregory, and Howe families. By the 1890s the community was named Gano in honor of Confederate general R.M. Gano and included a post office, school and church. The town began to decline after the general store closed. The church building was not rebuilt after a storm, and the school was consolidated with Milam County schools in 1919. Few vestiges of the town remain. (1997)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 26 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.

More markers nearby

• Salty Community — 5.9 mi
• Post Oak Island Lodge #181, A.F. & A.M. — 6.4 mi
• St. Paul Luthern Church, School and Cemetery — 6.4 mi
• St. John Lutheran Church — 6.7 mi