“Geologist Richard Burleson forms the opinion that they are ‘igneous occurrences.’ Archeologist Vount Byron de Prorok … concludes they were constructed by a prehistoric race. Dr. R.S. Hyer, former professor of physics at SMU, concludes the formation is natural. Dr. Kenneth Schaar of The University of Texas at Arlington concluded that both sections he examined were natural formations but does not rule out the possibility that another portion could be manmade.” These are just a few of the conclusions of men, quoted on the Rockwall County Museum website, who have examined the curious wall that meanders through a portion of North Texas. Even with all of this evidence, the jury is still out. Is the wall that gave Rockwall County its name a natural formation or manmade?
Texas has 254 counties. There is a simple answer to the question, “Why?” It is because Texas is just so big! In the early days of the state, Texas followed a simple guideline that no one should be more than a day’s travel from their courthouse. Travel was mostly on horseback, so the counties had to be relatively small. Rockwall County leads the way as the smallest county. The Constitution of 1876 said new counties had to be at least 900 square miles. Rockwall County was in an area that was part of Nacogdoches County in 1836, and by the time Texas joined the United States in 1845, it was part of Henderson County. Kaufman County was formed in 1847, and the Rockwall area was included therein until 1873, when the residents felt the county seat of Kaufman was just too far away. And in 1873, Rockwall County was formed. Since it was formed before the 1876 Constitution, the diminutive county was able to organize with just 147 square miles.
Today’s Rockwall County Courthouse is a magnificent edifice, constructed in 2011, and features terrazzo floors, granite wall paneling and mahogany ceiling paneling. It is a far cry from the original structure built in 1875 and the subsequent structures completed in 1892 and 1940. While the first two structures no longer exist due to fire and safety issues, the 1940 courthouse is still in use today by the county commissioners and tax office.
One Republic of Texas action that helped with the establishment of the city of Rockwall and of Rockwall County was the construction of the Central National Road. According to the Texas State Historical Association, in 1844, the Texas Congress “established a five-man commission to select a right-of-way, see that it was cleared and supervise the building of necessary bridges.” The road would run from the Trinity River in the Dallas area crossing Rockwall County near Rockwall, then farther north and east to the extreme northwest corner of Red River County. The foresight of Congress was great and was, in fact, an “international” vision. “At its southern terminus, it connected with the road opened in 1840 between Austin and Preston Bend on the Red River, in effect making an international highway between St. Louis and San Antonio.” Population shifts kept the highway from meeting its full international potential, and the later development of new towns decreased the importance of the Central National Road.
It was sometime in the early 1850s that farmers digging a well discovered a rock wall that crossed the future county and, at some places, appeared at ground level. When the town of Rockwall was formed, it was named after the rock formation, and subsequently, of course, the county took the name also. As recently as 1976, part of the wall was excavated near present-day FM 549 and Cornelius Road. The excavation was open to the public, and hundreds of school children visited the wall. In 1996, Architect John Lindsey concluded that “evidence of a prehistoric structure is mounting.” Then in 2012, the America Unearthed program, “The Great Wall of Texas,” concluded it was a natural formation.
Today, the walls in situ are buried and closed to the public on private property. However, pieces of the walls have been moved and reconstructed at Rockwall County Museum Park, and a small segment of the wall is visible at the old Rockwall County Courthouse. Texashillcountry.com titles its blog about the wall, “The Rock ‘Wall’ in Rockwall, Texas: Prehistoric Man, Extra-Terrestrial, or Natural Phenomenon?” Regardless of its origin, the wall makes a nice foundation for the city of Rockwall and Rockwall County.
Sources:
1. https://rockwallcountymuseum.com/rock-wall/.
2. http://www.texasescapes.com.
3. https://texashillcountry.com.
4. https://www.texastribune.org.
5. https://www.tshaonline.org.
Written by Bill Smith
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