The Carter Family in Del Rio

The Carters' border radio years were also their last together. From 1938 to 1941 they held a twice-daily program on XERA. In the 1939-40 season the children joined in: Janette and Joe, children of A. P. and Sara, and Maybelle's daughters Helen, June and Anita. By then the shows were prerecorded in San Antonio and sent to several border stations; many such transcription discs later became roofing for houses in Acuna. Sara and A. P. had divorced in 1939. The group moved to WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1942 and disbanded in 1944.

What the plaque says

The Carter Family in Del Rio Known as country music's First Family, the Carter family first found national acclaim while on XERA radio. Owned by Dr. John R. Brinkley, the powerful radio station across the Rio Grande from Del Rio reached listeners around the country. A.P. Carter, his wife Sara, and his sister-in-law, Maybelle, first broadcast from the station during the 1938-39 season. For the next few years, they and others performed gospel and folk standards, early elements of country music. Often opening their "Good Neighbor Get-Together" show with "Keep on the Sunny Side," the group at times included other family members, who continued to influence American music for many decades. (2005)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Felipe Creek — 1.0 mi
  The spring-fed creek that made Del Rio, rising from the third largest springs in Texas and running past swimming holes and a hike-and-bike trail through town.
• Whitehead Memorial Museum — 1.2 mi
  A village of old Del Rio buildings set along a working irrigation canal, from an 1870 store to a 1925 doctor's office, with Judge Roy Bean buried on the grounds.
• Val Verde Winery — 1.7 mi
  The family winery an Italian immigrant founded on Del Rio's irrigated land in 1883, which outlasted Prohibition by selling table grapes and kept Texas wine alive into the 1970s.
• Amistad National Recreation Area — 8.4 mi
  The American side of the reservoir the United States and Mexico finished in 1969 where three rivers meet, with painted shelters still reachable by boat when the water allows.

More markers nearby

• Operation Brass Knob — steps away
• Paul Kallinger — steps away
• Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church — steps away
• First Baptist Church of Del Rio — 0.4 mi