Glen Rose

History

The area was first settled in 1849 by Charles Barnard, who opened a trading post near Comanche Peak. After the region became a federal Indian Reservation in 1855, Barnard moved his business to Fort Belknap. Circa 1859 when the reservation was abolished, he returned to the area and built the first store on what is now the site of Glen Rose. A three-story stone gristmill was constructed along the Paluxy River and the town that grew up around it became known as Barnard's Mill. A post office opened in 1874. When Somervell County was formed on March 15, 1875, Glen Rose was designated as its county seat. A courthouse around Glen Rose's town square was completed around 1892, but burned down a year later. A newly built Romanesque Revival style courthouse was constructed soon after with locally quarried limestone. That building sustained damage in a 1902 tornado that also damaged part of the town square. From the 1900s to the 1920s, Glen Rose was home to approximately 1,000 people. The area's mineral springs attracted numerous doctors and self-styled healers. During Prohibition, the area was a center of moonshining, and Glen Rose became known as the "whiskey woods capital of the state". The population remained steady during the Great Depression, although unemployment rates in both Glen Rose and Somervell County increased. As part of the New Deal, Glen Rose borrowed $80,000 under the Public Works Administration (PWA) to construct a new water and sewage system. Three low-water dams on the Paluxy River, several local school buildings, and a canning plant were built with Works Projects Administration (WPA) money. Somervell County's population declined from 3,071 in 1940 to 2,542 in 1950 as many residents moved in search of greater employment opportunities. At the same time,…

Geography

Glen Rose is located around the junction of U.S. Highway 67 and State Highway 144 in central Somervell County. The city is situated nearly 17 miles (27 km) south of Granbury and 52 miles (84 km) southwest of Fort Worth. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.7 square miles (7.1 km), all land. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Glen Rose has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,905
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,797
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,387
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  2,554
• White-winged Dove

  Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,397
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,006
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  1,745
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,732

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2024-05-01
  7 km SSW of Mansfield, Texas
• M 3.2 — 2024-05-01
  7 km S of Mansfield, Texas
• M 3.2 — 2019-10-01
  8 km SSW of Mansfield, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2019-07-08
  4 km SSE of Rendon, Texas
• M 3.4 — 2018-05-19
  8 km NW of Venus, Texas
• M 2.6 — 2017-09-14
  Northern Texas