Rockdale Country Crafts
History of Milam County
History of Port Sullivan
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HISTORY OF MILANO, MILAM COUNTY, TEXAS
The area around the central Texas region that came to be known as Milano is part of the Post Oak Belt, a
rectangular strip of land composed of clay, sand, and sandstone and covered with post oak trees that extends
from down near present day Bastrop up through Lee, Milam, and Robertson counties. | ||||
There were no improved roads and the major public road in the area ran from Lexington to Davilla and northward to Belton. This road had no bridges over the streams, except a rickety old toll bridge across Brushy Creek at the old Henderson Crossing.
The only available transportation in the Milano region prior to 1870 was by horseback, horse or oxen drawn drawn wagons, horse-drawn stage coaches, and now and then a horse-drawn buggy. The country was almost a wilderness; the land except small farms, was unfenced, and for the most part, was very fertile, grew heavy crops of wild grasses, and supported many Texas cattle and horses, and much wild game. The country was thinly settled, with a few farmers settled along the streams, who had poor houses usually built of logs, and sometimes with lumber, hauled by ox-wagons from Bryan by way of Caldwell. The farmers gained a livelihood by their scanty crops, their grass-fed livestock, and the wild game, which abounded in the country.
The Founding of Milano (1874)
In the spring of 1880, J.A. McGee's store was broken into, the safe forced opened and $1,800 stolen, and the building was set on fire. Meanwhile, a new town called Milano Junction was in the works, 1� miles east of the original township. It became a ghost town and later burned to the ground.
The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway announced that starting in September, it would begin freight service at Milano Junction. Passenger service for GC&SF's Texas Midland Route began Dec. 12, 1880.
In 1874, the International & Great
Northern Railroad surveyed out the original 12-block town of Milano. The Handbook of Texas Online stated that one story suggests that the town was named for Milano, Italy, because of the similarity of the climates. It also offers the explanation that the postal authorities declined to call the town Milam City because a Milam already existed in Texas.
The original railroad town was platted on the south side of the railroad tracks about 1� miles west of the current location when the I&GN laid track across the Brazos River 30 miles from Hearne to Rockdale. There were stories, however, that an unnamed settlement existed in this area beside a spring-fed watering hole on a trail used by wagon traffic and cattle drives that cut through southwest to Caldwell before the railroad was surveyed.
In October 1874, John G. Lowry was appointed as Milano's first postmaster. The new town also boasted a grocery store, saloon, hotel, school, Baptist Church, railroad section house and homes for railroad employees. The next month, a desperado named Stark Reynolds took over Milano and held the town at bay for a few days. He shot an elderly, crippled man, although not fatally. Even though news of the shooting was widely circulated, none of the law officers in Milam County were anxious to arrest him. He was eventually captured by Texas Rangers in Kimble County.
New Town of Milano (1880-1881)
In the spring of 1880, J.A. McGee's store was broken into, the safe forced opened and $1,800 stolen, and the building was set on fire. Meanwhile, a new town called Milano Junction was in the works, 1� miles east of the original Milano township. The original site of Milano became a ghost town and later burned to the ground.
How Milano Got it's Name
Local versions exist for how the town got it's name but the one I like best is the following.
As the wagon train filled with settlers approached what is now the town of Milano, Paw turned to Maw and asked, "Shall we settle here?" Maw came back with the classic reply, " My land no!!" and thus the new name of the town was born.
Another version is that the town is named after Milano Junction which was created by the intersection of the north-south track laid between Brenham and Belton in 1881 by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway and the International-Great Northern track going east-west laid in 1873-1874.
The original site of Milano soon became known as Old Milano and Milano Junction became present-day Milano. Milano Junction grew, with businesses and families moving from Old Milano. Hotels, stores, lodges, churches, restaurants, blacksmith and barber shops, and saloons opened.
By the 1880s Milano had blossomed into a commercial center with 500 residents. It served as a shipping point for cotton and hides produced in the area,
By the 1920s, Milano became an important truck farming community raising large quantities of tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupes destined for shipment to the big cities of Texas by rail.
Milano reached it's peak population in 1939, with a population count of 920 residents.
The number of residents began to decline in the early 1940s and fell to a low of 380 by the early 1970s before beginning to grow again in the late 1970s. When Milano was incorporated in the early 1980s, it had 468 residents which is approximately it's population today. In the 1950s and 1960s, Milano boasted four grocers, a general store, and about a half dozen gas stations. Sloan's Caf� in downtown Milano served such hard to find country delicacies as black-eyed peas and cracklin' cornbread, and Hartley's Station not only sold oil, gasoline and kerosene, but was the town's bus station, served food, and offered the most generously packed, hand-dipped ice cream cones in town.
Walker's grandfather Thornton Walker, his dad, Luther Walker, and brother Steve Walker operated Walker's Station from 1927 to the 1990s, selling gasoline, and oil products as well as groceries and livestock feed, and in the its last years of operation, barbecue and all the trimmings.
Another Milano store was the E.C. Westbrook & Son general merchandise that still stocked buggy whips in its massive inventory when it closed in 1981. The store originated in 1880 as J.D. Peeples' Store that was handed from father to son, and sold to E.C. Westbrook Sr. in 1954.
Johnny Horton Death Crash (1960)
On November 5, 1960, Milano received world-wide attention as the site of Johnny Horton's deadly automobile crash while traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana.
John Gale �Johnny� Horton, singer, was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 30, 1925, the son of John Lolly and Ella Claudia Horton. His parents moved back and forth from Los Angeles to East Texas during his early years. Johnny graduated from high school in Gallatin, Texas, and attended junior college in Jacksonville and Kilgore and earned a basketball scholarship to Baylor University in Waco. After college, Johnny Horton worked in Alaska and California in the fishing industry.
In 1950 Johnny began singing country music on KXLA, Pasadena, California, and then proceeded to Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree on KLAC�TV, Los Angeles. He then joined the Louisiana Hayride out of Shreveport, Louisiana, and in 1955 performed under the name the Singing Fisherman. In 1956 Johnny had his first hit, "Honky Tonk Man." His first number-one recording in the country was "When It's Springtime in Alaska," released in 1959. At that time both country and popular-music radio stations began playing his music.
Johnny achieved national recognition when some of his songs made the popular hit parade. His more popular saga songs, including "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Sink the Bismarck," reached positions on both country and pop charts. Despite his crossover appeal, Horton remained entrenched in the country music scene and had only moderate success.
On November 5, 1960, in Milano, Texas, he died in an automobile accident while traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana. His wife, Billie Jean (Jones) Horton, with whom he had two daughters, became a widow for the second time, as she had been married previously to Hank Williams. Horton was buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Haughton, Louisiana. His song, "The Battle of New Orleans" won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Recording, and in 2002 it won a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. He was an inductee in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Milano Today
Today, Milano has a U.S. Post Office, a public school system, a livestock sale barn, Shell Station and convenience store, truck stop restaurant (food only these days), a big flea market and several other businesses operating in Milano selling farm and ranch supplies and fencing. The town is also headquarters of the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater District serving Milam and Burleson counties.
Nearby Communities
Nearby Communities
Sandy Creek located approximately four miles west of Milano toward Rockdale, was named after a nearby stream. In 1869 the Sandy Creek Baptist Church acquired land in the area and Sandy Creek became a voting precinct in 1892. By 1903, the community of Sandy Creek had a two-teacher school with sixty-two students. The school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District in 1931.
Prospect
Prospect was a small rural community located four miles northwest of Milano, just off present day U.S. Highway 190(named for the good prospects of the people who first settled there). By 1903 the community had a one-teacher school with sixteen students. By 1931, the school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District and by 1980, only a cemetery marked the community's location.
Sand Grove
Sand Grove is a small rural community five miles south of Milano and three miles southwest of State Highway 36. It was named for the local sandy soil. Sand Grove was a voting precinct in 1881, and in 1903 it had a two-teacher school with ninety-four students. The school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District in 1931.
This is a work in progress. Come back often .... send me your stories and old pictures and I'll post them on the
web.
Leonard Kubiak, 1264 FM2116, Rockdale, Texas 76567 (PHONE: 512 630-4619)
email: lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com (best way to reach me)
For a complete list of other area history pages, SEE
Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
For questions or comments, send me an Email at lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com
MORE PLACES TO GO
Don't forget to bookmark our site and come back often!! Thanks for visiting!!
Click on the deer to add
This Page To Your list of webpage Favorites.
COME BACK TO SEE US OFTEN!
Copyright � 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, & 2009. All rights
reserved by Leonard Kubiak. Fort Tumbleweed and forttumbleweed are trademarks of Leonard Kubiak. No Part of this Website nor any of it's contents may be
reproduced in any manner without written permission.
Return to the Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
How Milano Got it's Name
Local versions exist for how the town got it's name but the one I like best is the following.
As the wagon train filled with settlers approached what is now the town of Milano, Paw turned to Maw and asked, "Shall we settle here?" Maw came back with the classic reply, " My land no!!" and thus the new name of the town was born.
Another version is that the town is named after Milano Junction which was created by the intersection of the north-south track laid between Brenham and Belton in 1881 by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway and the International-Great Northern track going east-west laid in 1873-1874.
The original site of Milano soon became known as Old Milano and Milano Junction became present-day Milano. Milano Junction grew, with businesses and families moving from Old Milano. Hotels, stores, lodges, churches, restaurants, blacksmith and barber shops, and saloons opened.
By the 1880s Milano had blossomed into a commercial center with 500 residents. It served as a shipping point for cotton and hides produced in the area,
By the 1920s, Milano became an important truck farming community raising large quantities of tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupes destined for shipment to the big cities of Texas by rail.
Milano reached it's peak population in 1939, with a population count of 920 residents.
The number of residents began to decline in the early 1940s and fell to a low of 380 by the early 1970s before beginning to grow again in the late 1970s. When Milano was incorporated in the early 1980s, it had 468 residents which is approximately it's population today. In the 1950s and 1960s, Milano boasted four grocers, a general store, and about a half dozen gas stations. Sloan's Caf� in downtown Milano served such hard to find country delicacies as black-eyed peas and cracklin' cornbread, and Hartley's Station not only sold oil, gasoline and kerosene, but was the town's bus station, served food, and offered the most generously packed, hand-dipped ice cream cones in town.
Walker's grandfather Thornton Walker, his dad, Luther Walker, and brother Steve Walker operated Walker's Station from 1927 to the 1990s, selling gasoline, and oil products as well as groceries and livestock feed, and in the its last years of operation, barbecue and all the trimmings.
Another Milano store was the E.C. Westbrook & Son general merchandise that still stocked buggy whips in its massive inventory when it closed in 1981. The store originated in 1880 as J.D. Peeples' Store that was handed from father to son, and sold to E.C. Westbrook Sr. in 1954.
Johnny Horton Death Crash (1960)
On November 5, 1960, Milano received world-wide attention as the site of Johnny Horton's deadly automobile crash while traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana.
John Gale �Johnny� Horton, singer, was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 30, 1925, the son of John Lolly and Ella Claudia Horton. His parents moved back and forth from Los Angeles to East Texas during his early years. Johnny graduated from high school in Gallatin, Texas, and attended junior college in Jacksonville and Kilgore and earned a basketball scholarship to Baylor University in Waco. After college, Johnny Horton worked in Alaska and California in the fishing industry.
In 1950 Johnny began singing country music on KXLA, Pasadena, California, and then proceeded to Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree on KLAC�TV, Los Angeles. He then joined the Louisiana Hayride out of Shreveport, Louisiana, and in 1955 performed under the name the Singing Fisherman. In 1956 Johnny had his first hit, "Honky Tonk Man." His first number-one recording in the country was "When It's Springtime in Alaska," released in 1959. At that time both country and popular-music radio stations began playing his music.
Johnny achieved national recognition when some of his songs made the popular hit parade. His more popular saga songs, including "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Sink the Bismarck," reached positions on both country and pop charts. Despite his crossover appeal, Horton remained entrenched in the country music scene and had only moderate success.
On November 5, 1960, in Milano, Texas, he died in an automobile accident while traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana. His wife, Billie Jean (Jones) Horton, with whom he had two daughters, became a widow for the second time, as she had been married previously to Hank Williams. Horton was buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Haughton, Louisiana. His song, "The Battle of New Orleans" won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Recording, and in 2002 it won a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. He was an inductee in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Milano Today
Today, Milano has a U.S. Post Office, a public school system, a livestock sale barn, Shell Station and convenience store, truck stop restaurant (food only these days), a big flea market and several other businesses operating in Milano selling farm and ranch supplies and fencing. The town is also headquarters of the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater District serving Milam and Burleson counties.
Nearby Communities
Nearby Communities
Sandy Creek located approximately four miles west of Milano toward Rockdale, was named after a nearby stream. In 1869 the Sandy Creek Baptist Church acquired land in the area and Sandy Creek became a voting precinct in 1892. By 1903, the community of Sandy Creek had a two-teacher school with sixty-two students. The school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District in 1931.
Prospect
Prospect was a small rural community located four miles northwest of Milano, just off present day U.S. Highway 190(named for the good prospects of the people who first settled there). By 1903 the community had a one-teacher school with sixteen students. By 1931, the school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District and by 1980, only a cemetery marked the community's location.
Sand Grove
Sand Grove is a small rural community five miles south of Milano and three miles southwest of State Highway 36. It was named for the local sandy soil. Sand Grove was a voting precinct in 1881, and in 1903 it had a two-teacher school with ninety-four students. The school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District in 1931.
This is a work in progress. Come back often .... send me your stories and old pictures and I'll post them on the
web.
Leonard Kubiak, 1264 FM2116, Rockdale, Texas 76567 (PHONE: 512 630-4619)
email: lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com (best way to reach me)
For a complete list of other area history pages, SEE
Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
For questions or comments, send me an Email at lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com
MORE PLACES TO GO
Don't forget to bookmark our site and come back often!! Thanks for visiting!!
Click on the deer to add
This Page To Your list of webpage Favorites.
COME BACK TO SEE US OFTEN!
Copyright � 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, & 2009. All rights
reserved by Leonard Kubiak. Fort Tumbleweed and forttumbleweed are trademarks of Leonard Kubiak. No Part of this Website nor any of it's contents may be
reproduced in any manner without written permission.
Return to the Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
John Gale �Johnny� Horton, singer, was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 30, 1925, the son of John Lolly and Ella Claudia Horton. His parents moved back and forth from Los Angeles to East Texas during his early years. Johnny graduated from high school in Gallatin, Texas, and attended junior college in Jacksonville and Kilgore and earned a basketball scholarship to Baylor University in Waco. After college, Johnny Horton worked in Alaska and California in the fishing industry.
In 1950 Johnny began singing country music on KXLA, Pasadena, California, and then proceeded to Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree on KLAC�TV, Los Angeles. He then joined the Louisiana Hayride out of Shreveport, Louisiana, and in 1955 performed under the name the Singing Fisherman. In 1956 Johnny had his first hit, "Honky Tonk Man." His first number-one recording in the country was "When It's Springtime in Alaska," released in 1959. At that time both country and popular-music radio stations began playing his music.
Johnny achieved national recognition when some of his songs made the popular hit parade. His more popular saga songs, including "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Sink the Bismarck," reached positions on both country and pop charts. Despite his crossover appeal, Horton remained entrenched in the country music scene and had only moderate success.
On November 5, 1960, in Milano, Texas, he died in an automobile accident while traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana. His wife, Billie Jean (Jones) Horton, with whom he had two daughters, became a widow for the second time, as she had been married previously to Hank Williams. Horton was buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Haughton, Louisiana. His song, "The Battle of New Orleans" won the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Recording, and in 2002 it won a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. He was an inductee in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
Milano Today
Today, Milano has a U.S. Post Office, a public school system, a livestock sale barn, Shell Station and convenience store, truck stop restaurant (food only these days), a big flea market and several other businesses operating in Milano selling farm and ranch supplies and fencing. The town is also headquarters of the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater District serving Milam and Burleson counties.
Nearby Communities
Nearby Communities
Sandy Creek located approximately four miles west of Milano toward Rockdale, was named after a nearby stream. In 1869 the Sandy Creek Baptist Church acquired land in the area and Sandy Creek became a voting precinct in 1892. By 1903, the community of Sandy Creek had a two-teacher school with sixty-two students. The school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District in 1931.
Prospect
Prospect was a small rural community located four miles northwest of Milano, just off present day U.S. Highway 190(named for the good prospects of the people who first settled there). By 1903 the community had a one-teacher school with sixteen students. By 1931, the school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District and by 1980, only a cemetery marked the community's location.
Sand Grove
Sand Grove is a small rural community five miles south of Milano and three miles southwest of State Highway 36. It was named for the local sandy soil. Sand Grove was a voting precinct in 1881, and in 1903 it had a two-teacher school with ninety-four students. The school was consolidated with the Milano Independent School District in 1931.
This is a work in progress. Come back often .... send me your stories and old pictures and I'll post them on the
web.
Leonard Kubiak, 1264 FM2116, Rockdale, Texas 76567 (PHONE: 512 630-4619)
email: lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com (best way to reach me)
For a complete list of other area history pages, SEE
Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
For questions or comments, send me an Email at lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com
MORE PLACES TO GO
Don't forget to bookmark our site and come back often!! Thanks for visiting!!
Click on the deer to add
This Page To Your list of webpage Favorites.
COME BACK TO SEE US OFTEN!
Copyright � 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, & 2009. All rights
reserved by Leonard Kubiak. Fort Tumbleweed and forttumbleweed are trademarks of Leonard Kubiak. No Part of this Website nor any of it's contents may be
reproduced in any manner without written permission.
Return to the Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
This is a work in progress. Come back often .... send me your stories and old pictures and I'll post them on the
web.
Leonard Kubiak, 1264 FM2116, Rockdale, Texas 76567 (PHONE: 512 630-4619)
email: lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com (best way to reach me)
For a complete list of other area history pages, SEE
Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
For questions or comments, send me an Email at lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com
MORE PLACES TO GO
Don't forget to bookmark our site and come back often!! Thanks for visiting!!
Click on the deer to add
This Page To Your list of webpage Favorites.
COME BACK TO SEE US OFTEN!
Copyright � 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, & 2009. All rights
reserved by Leonard Kubiak. Fort Tumbleweed and forttumbleweed are trademarks of Leonard Kubiak. No Part of this Website nor any of it's contents may be
reproduced in any manner without written permission.
Return to the Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
For a complete list of other area history pages, SEE
Fort Tumbleweed Home Page
For questions or comments, send me an Email at lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com
Don't forget to bookmark our site and come back often!! Thanks for visiting!!
Click on the deer to add
This Page To Your list of webpage Favorites.
COME BACK TO SEE US OFTEN!
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