Bird, Joseph

(July 15, 1821-August 15, 1909) For more than 50 years after becoming a pioneer settler of this area, North Carolina native Joseph Bird greatly contributed to the development of Blanco County as a distinguished frontier Baptist minister, postmaster, Civil War soldier, county judge, rancher, and prominent community leader. Bird married Eliza L. Doriss in Arkansas in 1844. About 1854 they and their six children settled on land between Cypress Creek and the Pedernales River. They built a log cabin close to this site about 1858 and eventually their family grew to include 12 children. The area's pioneer settlement, called Birdtown in Joseph's honor, was renamed Round Mountain by the time a post office was established here in 1857. Bird served as postmaster in 1859-66 and in 1873-74. For the Baptist churches he helped found in the area Bird served as an itinerant pastor and performed marriages, baptisms, and funeral services. He enlisted in the Confederate army as a first lieutenant in 1862 and was stationed at Camp Groce, Waller County, Texas. Bird moved to Johnson City while serving his two terms as Blanco county judge in the early 1890s. Eliza Bird died in 1896 and in 1900 Joseph married Martha A. Gill. Bird was buried in the Round Mountain Cemetery. (1994)

Bird, Joseph is a historical marker in Round Mountain, Blanco County, dedicated in 1994. It is one of 28 historical markers documented in Blanco County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 59 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.4303, -98.3429 near Round Mountain. The nearest cataloged historic site is Elitha Smith Martin (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Joseph and Eliza Bird Residence, Round Mountain Stage-Coach Inn and Stable, and Round Mountain Cemetery.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5031000411. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.