Parker County, C.S.A.

Part of a colonial grant to S.M. Williams and Stephen F. Austin, father of Texas, but with no permanent settlers before 1850, this county was created in 1855 and named for Isaac Parker, its legislative sponsor. By 1860 it had 4,213 people and in 1861 its voters favored secession 535 to 61. Oliver Loving, a settler, was an official stock raiser, furnishing beef to the Confederacy in the Civil War. He and 18 other men organized a full-time patrol against the frequent, bloody Indian raids. Citizens of adjacent counties took refuge here. In 1864 three local men were charged with treason. One admitted inviting federal General J.G. Blunt to come from the Cherokee nation and give Parker County protection from the Indians. General John R. Baylor, a local rancher, was an officer in the Arizona-New Mexico campaign to make the Confederacy an ocean-to-ocean nation, and after victories there became Governor of Arizona. He was in the Confederate Congress from 1863 to 1865. Parker County sent the Confederate army nine companies. Its Company E, 19th Texas Cavalry, served in Parsons' Brigade--which fought over 20 engagements in three years with considerable distinction. (1964)

Parker County, C.S.A. is a historical marker in Weatherford, Parker County, dedicated in 1964. It is one of 74 historical markers documented in Parker County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 205 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.7606, -97.7974 near Weatherford. The nearest cataloged historic site is Citizens National Bank (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Weatherford City Hall, Weatherford, and Parker County Courthouse.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5367003941. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.