Weir, Jonah, Trails, and Old Houses

Generally, before we go off on some adventure, I do some research about

Very old live oak tree

the area and decide what I want to see, alternatives in case we can’t find what we’re looking for, and of course places to eat, stay, shop, and so forth. Occasionally we’ll run across something to see that is not within my usual interests. I dearly love old movies in the genres of scifi, horror/monsters, crime, and comedy. The blood baths, touted as horror movies, that pass for entertainment find me less than curious. On this trip we were on a quest to find a 19^th to 20^th century pattern house (they were ordered from Sears, shipped out on the railroad, and put together on your own land) that had, incidentally, been used in one of the Texas Chain Saw Massacre movies. We didn’t find the house we were looking for, but we did find some tiny towns, and historical markers that piqued our interest, and just by chance, a movie set.



We ran across the little town of Weir in our wanderings. This town was named for Thomas Calvin Weir (1826–1901) who came to Williamson County in 1856. As he was farming the land and making his fortune,

Weir's Christmas train - not the Katy

James Francis Towns and his brother Robert W. Towns homesteaded on the nearby San Gabriel River, establishing a gin and a blacksmith shop. Churches sprang up, as well as another community, Townsville (also called Towns Mill). Lucy Weir, Calvin’s daughter, became the postmaster in Townsville, and also ran a small store. The two little towns continued to develop until the coming of the Georgetown and Granger Railroad (becoming the Katy Railroad). It came through Weir, sealing the fate of Townsville to be a town of the past. Many people moved to Weir, as did the post office and several new businesses. The town continued to grow until a flood, a severe drought, World War I, and the great depression caused the population to waver. It slowly began to grow again and became an incorporated city in 1987.

Another little town that exists as an unincorporated community is Jonah.

Area near Jonah

We found the cemetery first, then had to learn something about the area. The community began as several mills along the San Gabriel River. It seemed to be doing fine, but there was an issue with finding a name. Several names were proposed, but none was accepted until someone referred to the naming process as a ‘Jonah’ – that name was accepted by post office officials. At least it’s a pretty area, even if getting the name was not.






Mankins Crossing is also a attractive area along the San Gabriel River. It’s actually a historic crossing that was named for Samuel Mankins, a

Mankins Crossing

pioneer settler, who bought land along the river in 1849. In one stretch along the river is a band of limestone that once allowed local farmers to safely cross the San Gabriel. Eventually a small community with a church, cotton gin, and school grew up. The additional usage caused the community to supplement the limestone with a concrete and gravel causeway. In the mid-1900s the Texas State Highway Department, again because of the increased traffic, replaced the causeway with an actual bridge across the river, which has been improved upon periodically ever since. Now Mankins Crossing is a popular place for fishing, wading and swimming.

The region around Georgetown has always been a crossroad. By the

Old barn near the Double File Trail

early 1800s Williams County was crossed by the Double File Trail, a thoroughfare that was created by the Delaware Indians as they traveled from the ‘Redlands’ in East Texas across the Southwest and into Mexico. The trail crosses Donahoe Creek, San Gabriel River, Brushy Creek and several rivulets, along with the current Texas Highway 95, Texas 29, and US Highway 79, and lots of Farm to Market and County Roads. This trail was also well used by Texas pioneers, Texas Rangers, and the men of the Santa Fe Expedition. Of historical interest is the Santa Fe Expedition. Its mission was both commercial and military in that it was to safeguard the claim of the Republic of Texas to parts of Northern New Mexico, as well as develop trade links between the two. President Lamar pushed through this expedition to help keep the US from annexing Texas; he also hoped that New Mexico would join the Republic of Texas.

So back to pattern houses….we never did find any, but we did find the house that was in one of the sequels of the Texas Chainsaw movie. It’s

Texas Chainsaw movie set

on a working farm and the public is not invited onto the grounds. The house actually was moved from the University of Texas at Austin to its current location. The owners chose to allow filming simply because the house wasn’t being used and they wanted to encourage movie making in the Austin area. Supposedly the house is being restored to the design it was before it was moved. In any case, pictures from the road are fine, but you can’t actually visit the house.

We had a great time on our short road trip, and I can’t wait get on the road, again!

Cotton Bolls

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