My friend and fellow history buff, Don King, who shares my interest in old travel routes, sent me some information on Byrd’s Store. Located a few miles north of Lake Brownwood, Byrd’s Store, now called simply Byrds, appears to have been along one of the earliest roads through Brown County. Before Byrd’s Store was established, its forerunner, Byrd’s Indian Trading Post, operated a few miles away from the Byrd community. I find it fascinating that the Byrd family was busy trading with Native Americans while there was a virtual war going on between the tribes and settlers all around them, yet it seems that was indeed the case.

According to an account written by James Furry, and published on rootwebs, “Martin [Byrd] started building his trading post, his house, and corrals. He opened his trading post here and started trading with the other settlers and the Indians that were still In the area. It seems that he did quite well.”

Martin and Letha Byrd, along with other family members, arrived in the Brown County area sometime between 1859 and 1862. The couple opened Byrd’s Indian Trading Post near a crossing on Pecan Bayou. The trading post was approximately one-half mile west of the present-day Byrd’s Store, according to John Limmer in his work, A Tale of Two (Wagon) Trains. “The following is taken directly from Jim Byrd’s writing,” Limmer explained. “’Some of the early directions stated that Byrd’s Indian Trading Post was located on the south side of the Pecan Bayou above the mouth of Elm Creek where the Coleman and Comanche road crossed Pecan Bayou. Close to this location is a crossing on the Pecan Bayou named ‘Letha’s Crossing’ after Martin’s wife, Letha.’”

By 1874, Martin decided to relocate, opening a store in a more populated area near the junction of Hogg Creek and Pecan Bayou. The site is noted for its lush landscape and towering pecan trees. This new location became a social hub for the burgeoning community. Martin served as postmaster for the town. The store was more than a place of commerce; it was where local elections were held, and camp meetings under the shade of those same trees were a common sight.

The community grew, with the Byrd’s Store becoming a main artery for local trade, dealing in cattle, cotton, and pecans. At its peak around 1884, Byrd’s Store was a bustling center with a population of seventy-five, boasting a district school, churches, and even mills. The prosperity did not last. By the late 19th century, the population declined to just 14 souls, and continued to decline until today there is virtually nothing left of the original community. The nearby Windham Cemetery, where Martin and Letha Byrd are buried, serves as one of the few physical reminders of this historic site,

Reading about Byrd’s Indian Trading Post and Byrd’s Store feels like something out of a John Wayne movie–cowboys and Indians stuff, where a character like Byrd sort of rides in the middle, trading and selling with both groups as they travelled through on the old road. The name of the road and many of the events that must have taken place there are now lost to history, but not, necessarily, lost to imagination.

***

Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com. Comments regarding her columns can be emailed to [email protected].