Robert Thomas Hill

Robert Thomas Hill began life on August 11, 1858, in the aristocratic comforts of his parents' Nashville, Tennessee, home. His family, however, suffered tragic losses during the Civil War and by 1864 young Robert was an orphan living in his grandmother's Nashville home. He left Nashville in 1874 for Comanche County, Texas, to join his brother, Joe, as an employee of a local newspaper known as the "Comanche Chief." Hill developed a passion for geology while studying a nearby formation known as Round Mountain. He entered Cornell University in 1882 and in 1887 graduated with honors in geology. In 1888 the University of Texas established a geology chair to honor Hill for his landmark discovery of Cretaceous deposits on Round Mountain. He participated in the state geological survey and identified and named the Balcones Escarpment. In 1891 Hill became president of the Cosmos Club, a society of the nation's most distinguished scientists. In the 1890s and early 1900s Hill studied aquifer formations in the Southwest U.S., West Indies, Mexico and Central America. Hill's publications represent one of the most distinguished geological studies produced by one individual. Following his death on July 28, 1941, Hill's body was cremated and his ashes scattered over Round Mountain. (1995)

Robert Thomas Hill is a historical marker in Comanche, Comanche County, dedicated in 1995. It is one of 47 historical markers documented in Comanche County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 80 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 31.8998, -98.6055 near Comanche. The nearest cataloged historic site is First Comanche County Courthouse (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Fleming Oak, General Ashbel Smith, C.S.A., and Indian Raid in Comanche.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5093004302. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.