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Rio Vista is on Highway 174 seven miles south of Cleburne, twenty miles south of Fort Worth, and twenty-five miles southwest of Dallas in Johnson County. On March 21, 1801, after several trips into the area of the Sabine River, Phillip Nolan advanced inland with a party of eighteen men as far as the Brazos River. The party was attacked, and Nolan was killed. In 1954 a granite monument in memory of the event was placed three miles south of Rio Vista on Highway 174. Anadarco Indian chief José María terrorized the area in the 1830s but was at peace with the frontier settlers by the 1840s. On December 11, 1837, George Gentry was granted a parcel of land in Robertson District, Navarro County, on Trout Creek, a tributary of Nolan River. He sold it to B. J. Chambers,^qv who in 1856 sold 1,280 acres to R. Meredith Hart. In July 1849 Henry Briden and his bride, Lucinda (Sevier), arrived in a wagon pulled by oxen, accompanied by her father, Charles Sevier, and an uncle, A. G. Sevier. At the Nolan River west of the site of Rio Vista they found springs of water and constructed a log cabin, the first house in Johnson County. Several area homes have Texas historical markers, as does the Chisholm Trail west of town. The community was known as Grange Hall and Kimbell before 1881, when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was completed a mile east and the townsite of Rio Vista was laid out overlooking the Nolan River and Mustang Creek. Grange Hall declined, and Rio Vista grew. In 1884 residents from neighboring Derden, Nathan, Hart, and Sullivan moved to the new site. After the first train came through in 1885, as many as three arrived daily. In 1900 the town had churches, schools, a bank, a meat market, a blacksmith shop, a saloon, a general store, a cotton gin, and a livery stable. A post office, telephone lines, and an excellent water well enhanced the town's prosperity. A cattle-dipping vat and a cotton yard were located near the new depot. In 1914 a fire swept through the business part of town. The many businesses destroyed were never restored.

Almost exactly at the railroad tracks, the land divides itself into good, flat, black land for farming on the east and more picturesque, slightly rolling land suitable for ranching on the west. Rio Vista has always been an agricultural community, producing such crops as cotton, corn, milo, wheat, hay, and peanuts. Cattle, especially dairy, and horses have also been raised. The rerouting of State Highway 174 in the mid-1950s so that it would pass through Rio Vista into Hill and Bosque counties and Lake Whitney set off a spurt of growth on the west side of the highway. A new post office and a landing field were built by 1969. In 1990 Rio Vista had a population of 541, a fire department, four churches, a school system, three grocery stores, a custom feed mill and feed store, two antique stores, and several small businesses. The population reached 656 in 2000.

Relax in North Central Texas - Business Directory

Accommodation Hotel/Motel Americas Best Value Inn & Suites 1614 Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.americasbestvalueinn.com Reservations: 888.315.2378 t: 254.897.2111 f: 254.897.2232 Map Glen Rose Inn & Suites 300 SW Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 t: 254.897.2940 f: 254.897.8800 e: glenrosehotel@valornet.com Map top Attractions Granbury Live 114 N. Crockett St., Granbury, TX 76048 www.granburylive.com t: 817.573.0303 toll free: 800.989.8240 e: info@granburylive.com Map  top Camping RV Parks Big John's Liquor and RV Park / Whit's Grocery Shak 4133 3rd St, Walnut Springs, TX 76690 www.bigjohnswalnut.com t: 254.797.5000 f: 254.797.0227 e: info@bigjohnswalnut.com Map top Eateries Bakeries Tiger Corner / Sub Express / Barnard St. Bakery 1110 NE Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.tigercorner.biz t: 254.897.3324 f: 254.898.8406 e: info@tigercorner.biz Map Restaurants Big Cup Eatery 226 SW Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose, TX 76043 www.nctxonlineguide.com/bigcup.html t: 254.897.3841 c: 254.396.3119 Map Granny's Restaurant Family owned and operated  109 Hereford St, Glen Rose, TX 76043 t: 254.897.9773 Map top Health Care Chiropractic Coble Chiropractic 507 SW Big Bend Trail, Ste. C, Glen Rose, TX 76043 t: 254.897.7447 f: 254.897.2099 e: coblechiropractic@valornet.com Map Dental Susan Baker, DDS 1104 Bluebonnet St, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.drsusanbaker.com t: 254.898.4646 f: 254.897.7321 e: sjbaker@windstream.net Map top Home Services Plumbing Boyd's Plumbing Company Serving Somervell county and the surrounding areas http://boydplumbingco.net t: 254.897.3692 f: 254.897.1279 e: boydplumbingco@aol.com Well Drilling Pollock Well Drilling & Services Inc 2910 Hwy 67 N., Rainbow, TX 76077 t: 254.897.2350 f: 254.897.9613 e: pollockdrilling@valornet.com Map top Professional Services Business Consulting Powers Communication Serving all of North Central Texas www.nctxonlineguide.com/powerscom.html t: 254.436.0000 e: info@nctxonlineguide.com Computer Services John Cunyus - Mobile Computer Repair PO Box 482, Glen Rose, TX 76403 www.johncunyus.com/computerservice.html t: 254.897.4197 Toll Free: 888.896.6081 e: john@johncunyus.com top Ranch Services Well Drilling Pollock Well Drilling & Services Inc 2910 Hwy 67 N., Rainbow, TX 76077 t: 254.897.2350 f: 254.897.9613 e: pollockdrilling@valornet.com Map top Real Estate Agents Dinosaur Valley Reatly 1005 Big Bend Trail Ste. 4, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.dinosaurvalleyrealty.com t: 254.897.7158 f: 254.897.3602 c: 817.648.2122 e: scott@dinosaurvalleyrealty.com Map Home Inspectors Burgan Home Inspections Inspecting North / North Central Texas for over 20 years www.nctxonlineguide.com/burganinspections.html t: 254-898-0102 c: 817.379.9799 e: burganinspections@verizon.com Map top Retail Grocery Big John's Liquor and RV Park / Whit's Grocery Shak 4133 3rd St, Walnut Springs, TX 76690 www.bigjohnswalnut.com t: 254.797.5000 f: 254.797.0227 e: info@bigjohnswalnut.com Map Liquor Big John's Liquor and RV Park / Whit's Grocery Shak 4133 3rd St, Walnut Springs, TX 76690 www.bigjohnswalnut.com t: 254.797.5000 f: 254.797.0227 e: info@bigjohnswalnut.com Map top Utilities Southwest Water & Electric Energy Powers Serving all of North Central Texas and the World www.sweepcorp.com e: info@sweepcorp.com top Wedding Services Tiger Corner / Sub Express / Barnard St. Bakery 1110 NE Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.tigercorner.biz t: 254.897.3324 f: 254.898.8406 e: info@tigercorner.biz Map top

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ref: http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/RR/hlr22.html