The Settlement of Williams Ranch

Williams Ranch was also where the county's worst years began. Vigilante committees formed to deal with the area's criminals and then degenerated into warring mobs that committed crimes of their own. Conflict between the vigilante groups broke out at Williams Ranch in 1869 and became a reign of terror: the vigilantes drove out some bad characters but killed innocent men, and lynchings and assassinations became commonplace. The turbulence lasted until 1897, when the Texas Rangers finally broke up a group of vigilantes who often gathered at a place called Buzzard Roost.

What the plaque says

The Settlement of Williams Ranch Once a prominent frontier town, Williams Ranch grew up around the homestead of cattleman John Williams (1804-1871), who came to this area in 1855. The community flourished during the Civil War (1861-1865) because of trade with Mexico and by 1874 had stores, saloons, a hotel, mill, and blacksmith shop. In 1875 Henry Ford and J. M. Parks bought most of the land in the village and platted a townsite. They proposed the name "Parksford" but "Williams Ranch" prevailed when the post office opened in 1877. The community was a stage stop and a roundup point on the western cattle trail. It claimed the first hotel, newspaper, telegraph, and public school in Brown and Mills counties. In 1881 it was one of the towns considered as a site for The University of Texas. Williams Ranch reached its peak of activity in the early 1880s, with a population of over 250. The settlement began to decline when the railroad bypassed it in 1885. An outbreak of mob violence was quelled by the Texas Rangers in 1887. By 1892 the post office and all businesses had closed. Today the site is marked by the natural springs that attracted the original settlers and by Williams Ranch Cemetery, burial place of many pioneers and their descendants. (1976)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 30 mi
  A CCC park on a reservoir that filled in a single flood before its dam was done, with stone cabins, a hilltop dance pavilion and a grand staircase climbed by dancers arriving by boat.

More markers nearby

• Mullin United Methodist Church — 0.2 mi
• John Williams — 3.3 mi
• Site of Chesser Valley Community — 3.8 mi
• North Brown Cemetery — 5.5 mi