Tom Green County

By 1880, the Handbook of Texas says, the county had 3,615 people and four post offices: Ben Ficklin, Fort Concho, Knickerbocker and San Angelo. John Arden brought the first sheep from California. In 1881 L. B. Harris fenced 20,000 acres and others followed; fence-cutting spread, and in 1884 the legislature made it a felony. In 1886 fifteen outfits gathered 25,000 cattle near Knickerbocker in the biggest roundup in West Texas history. The Santa Fe arrived in September 1888, and by the turn of the century San Angelo was the largest range cattle-shipping station in the United States.

What the plaque says

A part of the Miller and Fisher Grant in 1842. Created a county March 13, 1874. Organized January 5, 1875. Named in honor of General Thomas Green, 1814-1864. A veteran of San Jacinto. Member of the Somervell Expedition. A Confederate officer. First mail routes to the Pacific converged here in 1858. County seat, Ben Ficklin, 1875. San Angelo, since 1882

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Concho National Historic Landmark — 3.5 mi
  The stone post at the forks of the Concho, headquarters of the Tenth Cavalry from 1875 to 1882, saved by a woman with a museum and now a city-run landmark of 23 original buildings.
• Concho River Walk — 3.5 mi
  Four miles of lit trails along the North Concho through downtown San Angelo, rebuilt after voters taxed themselves in 2004, with gardens, sculpture, a river stage and stocked trout.
• San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts — 3.6 mi
  A free art museum on the Concho beside Fort Concho, founded in the fort's 1868 quartermaster building and known nationally for its biennial ceramics competition.
• Miss Hattie's Bordello Museum — 3.8 mi
  The upstairs rooms on Concho Avenue where a brothel ran from 1902 until the Texas Rangers closed it in 1952, shown on short guided tours with most of the furnishings original.

More markers nearby

• Major Ben Ficklin, C.S.A. — steps away
• Site of Ben Ficklin — steps away
• John Ingram — 2.5 mi
• John R. ("Sarge") Nasworthy — 3.3 mi