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Milam County, Texas - Historical Markers

The Town of Gause

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Photograph by Milam County Deputy Sheriff Greg Kouba &
Milam County Deputy Sheriff Reese Lockett - 25 July 2003

Marker Title	The Town of Gause
Address	US 79
Location	.
City	Gause
Year Marker Erected	1974
Designations	n/a
Text on Marker	William J. Gause (1829-1914), born in Alabama, moved to Texas in 1849, to the Brazos region in 1856, and to this locality in 1872. Buying lumber in Montgomery, he gave his friend Dan Fowler half in return for hauling it here. The two built the first homes in this settlement. In 1873, Gause gave right of way and 100 acres of land to the International & Great Northern Railroad, and the town was platted. Gause Post Office opened in 1874, with James S. Reynolds as postmaster. The I. G. N. freighted out great quantities of cotton, and the town thrived. Cotton gins, stores, blacksmith shops, a lumber yard, a bank, hotels, livery stables, a newspaper and other businesses were established. Besides W. J. Gause, civic leaders included Dr. J. E. Brown, Richard Cox, Dr. James dollar, Lafayette Ely, Bill Faubian, Dan Fowler, J. C. Lister, C. C. Moore, Dr. John Porter, Frank Thomas, and T. L. Watts. Churches were organized and a Masonic Lodge chartered. The county's first independent school was established in Gause. Good highways, mechanized farming, and decline of railroading halted commerce in the town of Guase. It survives, however, as a residential site chosen by descendants of the pioneers and by commuters of industrial plants and businesses in this vicinity.
Source	Texas Historical Commission's Texas Historic Sites Atlas Database - July 2003

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Created on 26 July 2003 and last revised on 20 Apr 2004.