Heritage, Volume 6, Number 3, Fall 1988 Page: 26
38 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Welcome to Salado! We're glad to have
you tour our historic village, whether in
your armchair or automobile. Halfway
between Austin and Waco on IH-35, exit
the highway and come into Salado. Leave
behind the frantic 1980s and become part
of the slower paced 19th century. Please
come with us as we show you around...soon
we hope you will come in person, take
advantage of our hospitality, and the Driving
Tape Tour available here. The tour was
done through the Bell County Historical
Commission, and it gives you Salado in
greater detail.
The tour begins at the old rock post
office on the south end of Main Street just
past Stagecoach Inn. You will find tour
signs to guide you. Across the street on
what is called "College Hill" are the ruins
of the Salado College that was founded
coincident with the founding of Salado.
For some time, many of the leaders in this
area had talked of a fine school for their
children, and their dreams became reality
in October 1859 when they accepted the
proposal of Colonel E.S.C. Robertson to
found a school and a town on land he would
donate at the Old Military Road crossing of
Salado Creek. The land for the town would
be sold, with the proceeds going to defray
the expenses of the college. Colonel
Robertson had built his own home just to
the southwest of here in the mid- 1850s. His
father, Empresario Sterling C. Robertson,
had brought hundreds of settlers to this
part of Texas in the 1820s and 30s, in what
was called Robertson's Colony. Salado
College operated for over 20 years on only
the tuition of its students, never having any
endowment, grants or funds from a church
or other source. Financial problems developed
about the time the State of Texas
decided they should have public universi26Sunbathers and swimmers come to Salado Creek to
see the Bronzed Mermaid, who sits in the middle of
the creek.ties, and Texas A&M, Texas University,
and Sam Houston State came into being.
From 1890 to 1913 a fine private academy,
Thomas Arnold High School, occupied
the rock college building, and was a source
of great pride to the Salado citizens. After
two fires devastated it, the structure was
rebuilt, but in 1925, a third and final fire
destroyed the Salado College building.
The site is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places, as are 17 other buildings
in Salado. You will also note 25 Texas
markers as you make your tour.
Turn north, you will notice the Central
Texas Area Museum on the right and the
Stagecoach Inn on the left. The museum
was founded in 1959 and occupies the
building that once housed the first Grangeorganized in Texas. Exhibits focus on the
periods of Texas history that have been
important here. Each year the museum
sponsors several special events, most importantly
the Gathering of the Scottish
Clans each November that brings hundreds
of bag-pipers, Scottish dancers and
devout kilt-wearers to Salado.
Stagecoach Inn is known far and wide
for its country cooking and for the lovely
old hotel that houses the dining room. For
approximately 130 years travelers have
been drawn to this site for food and rest.
Many famous guests have registered at the
old inn over the years-among them Sam
Houston, Robert E. Lee, George Custer,
family of Lyndon B. Johnson and many
others. The population and businesses of
Salado were on the decline for many years,
due in part to the failure of the railroads to
come through town and to the failure of
Salado to remain a college town. Revitalization
began in the 1940s with Stagecoach
Inn, and continued with the addition of
the Motel and Country Club to the project
in 1959. The museum attracted visitors to
its special events and the first new area of
homes began in 1962. Newcomers began to
trickle into Salado in the 1930s, but the
pace picked up and has continued to accelerate
into the present. The motel office is
located where Salado's first Anglo-American
settler, Dr. Archibald Willingham,
built his double log cabin. This cabin was
bought by Colonel and Mrs. Robertson,
who lived in it while the Robertson plantation
home was built.
As you turn right at the next comer, you
will pass some of the many specialty shops
in Salado. You will want to allow extra time
to wander through these shops, as well as
those that are located for the next mile
north. They feature art, antiques, jewelry,DRIVING ' TOUR
FOCUSES ON SALADO'S HERITAGE
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 6, Number 3, Fall 1988, periodical, 1988; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45436/m1/26/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.