On July 16, 1824, Mexico granted land to Churchill Fulshear, one of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300" settlers and a figure associated with Austin as Father of Texas. Churchill Fulshear, Jr., a veteran of the Texas War for Independence, built a four-story brick mansion in the 1850s and bred and raced horses at Churchill Downs at Pittsville, two miles north. His pupil, John Huggins, gained world fame by training the first American horse to win the English Derby. The town was platted here in 1890 by the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad and soon became a trade center with many facilities. The Rev. J. H. Holt became the first pastor in 1894 of the still existent Methodist church.