Valley Spring, Texas, Llano County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

A settlement originally known as Phillips Ranch (after the founding O. C. J. Phillips family was established nearby in the 1850s.

In 1860 a Phillips son (W.O.) built a cotton gin and sawmill at the site. Locals started referring to the town as �Whistleville� after the mill�s summoning work whistle.

Less than a mile from Whistleville, one Davie Owen opened a competing mill and gin. Locals referred to this would-be community as �Bugscuffle.� Indeed, Bugscuffle became the recipient of a post office in 1878, which demanded a more dignified name. Valley Spring was submitted � and accepted.

Four years later the stage route between Llano to Brady was altered and Davie Owen wasted no time opening a store along the route. This would evolve into what we now know as Valley Spring. First population figures date from the 30s and 40s when an estimated 100 people lived here. By the late 1960s this figure had declined to around 50 � the same figure that was given for the 2000 census.

Historical Marker: SH 71, Valley Spring

Community of Valley Spring

O. C. J. Phillips, first settler, arrived in 1853. Whistleville combined with Bugscuffle to form Valley Spring, with post office established 1878. This was birthplace of James Field Smathers (1888-1967), inventor of electric typewriter.
(1970)

Historical Marker: from Valley Spring take US 71 SE 3 miles to CR 407, then N on CR 407 2 miles

Valley Springs Primitive Baptist Church

Constituted in August 1882, this congregation elected one of its eleven charter members, Elder S. R. Woods, as its first pastor. The membership met monthly in the Valley Springs schoolhouse until 1886 when it moved to the Shiloh Community School building on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Redford. Over the years, the Valley Springs Primitive Baptist Church has continued to meet here, serving a widespread rural area of Llano County.
1984

Historical Marker: CR 409, 0.2 miles N of SH 71, Valley Spring

Valley Spring Cemetery

This hilltop cemetery has served the local community since 1867 when Martha Epperson Eaker and Hattie Phillips, daughters of pioneer settlers in the area, were buried here. Burials continued, and in 1877 the Epperson family donated land for the "benefit and convenience of San Fernando Valley." Cemetery trustees acquired another acre in 1889, the deed referring to the "old graveyard west of the Valley Springs." Renowned pioneer physician Dr. W. Y. Fowler (1860-1935), who began his 46-year Llano County practice at Valley Spring in 1889, acquired the surrounding ranch in 1897 and provided additional land for the cemetery.

More than 100 graves in this cemetery are marked only with a rock or unlettered stone; many are believed to be those of young children. Forty headstones record a birthdate prior to Texas statehood in 1846. Veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II also are buried here. Cemetery maintenance, dependent on volunteers, resumed with the formal organization of the Valley Spring Cemetery Association in 1994. Improvements include water piped to the site, and many trees and plants added for beautification. The "old graveyard" continues to serve the families of Valley Spring.

(1996)

	Old Cafe TE photo

PeopleFamous Texas Typists by Clay Coppedge
James Field Smathers, inventor of the electric typewriter; and Betty Nesmith Graham, inventor of Liquid Paper.

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