Town of Thrall

The rain that gave Thrall its record also drowned people. A U.S. Weather Bureau station here measured 38.2 inches in 24 hours, ending at 7 a.m. on September 10, 1921, which a USGS summary says is still the official national record. The same summary says 87 people drowned in and near Taylor and 93 in Williamson County, and that 215 died across Texas, the deadliest flood in the state's history. The confluence of the San Gabriel River and Brushy Creek spread ten miles wide. The summary does not name the dead.

What the plaque says

Town of Thrall An 1876 International & Great Northern Railroad siding called "Stiles Switch" for landowners J.E. and F.N. Stiles, grew into a shipping point for the Swiss and Germans who settled in this area. The post office that opened in 1901 was named for Methodist minister and historian Homer S. Thrall. Nearby oil discoveries and sudden growth caused the town to be incorporated in 1915. The 38.21-inch rainfall of Sept. 8-9, 1921, gave Thrall a world record. Since 1961, Texas A.&.M. University agricultural research center has operated here. Farming remains the basic local industry. (1976)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Williamson County Courthouse — 23 mi
  The fifth Williamson County courthouse, a Beaux Arts building by C. H. Page, rises over a Georgetown square of more than 50 Victorian-era buildings.
• Inner Space Cavern — 23 mi
  A Georgetown cave found in 1963 when highway engineers drilled test holes, holding Pleistocene fossils and 72-degree rooms that visitors reach by an artificial tunnel.
• The Round Rock — 24 mi
  A table-shaped stone in Brushy Creek gave Round Rock its name in 1854; the Chisholm Trail crossed the creek near it, and Old Town stayed behind when the railroad pulled the town east.
• 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

• St. John Lutheran Church — steps away
• Christ Lutheran Church — 2.5 mi
• Site of New Bern Church, School, and Cemetery — 3.3 mi
• Howard Bland, Sr. — 4.6 mi