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History in
a Pecan Shell
By Carolyn
Heinsohn
1. Also known as Lyonsville, part of league of land granted to Kesiah
Crier, a widow with three children, in 1831 by Mexican government.
Kesiah started selling tracts of her land after 1845.
2. Community named after the Lyons family who were attacked by Comanches;
the father was killed and a son was captured and raised among the
Indians.
3. By circa 1853, a store and post office was built by Neil McKinnon.
The Navidad Baptist Church purchased acreage for a church that same
year in the T. Taylor League, southeast of Lyons Post Office.
4. Lyons Lodge No. 195, AF&AM, was organized in 1856 and met in
a room on the McKinnon farm.
5. Lyons population peaked around 1860; four physicians lived in
the area, and a saloon and other businesses were established.
6. 1861 – the
Lyons Lodge constructed a building for a church and school on the
McKinnon farm.
7. During the Civil War, property was ruined and stock driven off,
so settlers moved away after the war, and the town disappeared.
Some moved to Blum Hill, or later, High
Hill. Others moved to Schulenburg
and established businesses when the railroad was built there in
1873.
- Carolyn
Heinsohn
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Historical Marker
(Highway 77 1/2 mile South of Schulenburg):
Site of Former
Town of Lyons
Early town on land
grant of Keziah Cryer. Named for settler James Lyons, killed by 1837
Indian raiders, who kidnapped his son Warren. In 1860s town had stores,
Masonic Lodge, school, post office; and was on "Cotton Road" to Mexico,
but it died in 1870s when the Southern Pacific Railroad was built.
1972 |
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Historical Marker
(2240 Vacek Loop, Schulenburg):
Navidad Baptist
Cemetery
In 1853, Seth F.
and Caroline M. Hazel deeded land to trustees of Navidad Baptist Church
and Cemetery. This cemetery served the residents of the pioneer community
of Lyons, whether or not they were members of the Navidad Baptist
Church. The community was established by the 1840s on land originally
granted in 1831 to Kesiah Crier. In the 1870s, however, most businesses
and members of the community moved north toward the new railroad town
of Schulenburg,
and Lyons soon ceased to exist, although some residents continued
to live in the area.
The oldest known burial in the cemetery dates to 1853. Many of those
interred here are early Texas pioneers, including relatives of the
Old Three Hundred, the first families Stephen F. Austin settled in
Texas. In addition, veterans of conflicts dating to the Texas Revolution
are buried here. Today, though the community of Lyons is gone, the
cemetery remains an important reminder of the early town. The burial
ground chronicles the lives of area pioneers.
Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004 |
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| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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