The Oliver Pecan

Oliver's grove stood when Texas was still learning the pecan's worth. Exports from Galveston rose from 1,525 bushels in 1850 to 13,224 in 1854, and Indianola shipped 8,962 barrels in 1866, yet many trees were cut for cotton fields or for wagon parts and farm implements, and by 1904 laws to stop their destruction were under consideration. The nut soon became one of the state's leading money crops: Texas produced 5,832,267 pounds in 1910. The legislature named the pecan the state tree in 1919, and in 1921 growers organized the Texas Pecan Growers Association.

What the plaque says

The Oliver Pecan Young P. Oliver (1857-1925) came to this area in 1876 from his native Guadalupe County. In 1896, Oliver purchased this section (640 acres) of land, on which grew hundreds of pecan trees, and became a pioneer in the pecan industry. The grove contained "Old Oliver", a giant tree which produced 350-400 pounds of soft-shelled nuts per year; 800 pounds in 1906. By grafting buds from "Old Oliver" on seedlings from its pecan strain, the well-known Oliver pecan strain was developed. A flood in 1935 destroyed the tree, but its pecans are still produced commercially. Nut harvesting is a major Kimble County industry. (1973)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kimble County Historical Museum — 2.7 mi
  A free county museum in Junction, the town at the meeting of the North and South Llano, with the papers, photographs and tools of a ranching county.
• Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve — 24 mi
  A limestone cave on the James River where about four million Mexican free-tailed bats raise their young each summer, kept open to visitors by a family's gift.
• Fort McKavett State Historic Site — 32 mi
  The post Sherman called the prettiest in Texas, home to soldiers of all four Buffalo Soldier regiments and then to a town that lived in its buildings until 1973.

More markers nearby

• Little Mexico (Northeast Junction) — 0.9 mi
• Schreiner Park — 1.6 mi
• Kimble County's First Sawmill — 1.7 mi
• South Llano Crossing — 1.8 mi