Discover Fisher County

Fisher County can be explored through its landscape and settlement history: early ranching, the Old Indian Trail, the development of Roby, and the history of its cemeteries each offer a different perspective. If you’re looking for a hotel for a stay in Fisher County, these topics can help guide your trip planning.

Landscape, Ranching, and Quail Research

The county’s grasslands and available water attracted early ranchers. This connection between the landscape and ranching is one of the defining themes of the region’s history. Another link to local wildlife is the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch: the 4,820-acre property is located in Fisher County and is dedicated exclusively to scientific quail research. The property’s size and operations may change.

The Old Indian Trail also ran through Fisher County. Various Indigenous groups used the historic route to travel between the Plains region and Central Texas. In the spring of 1847, Robert B. Marcy traveled along the trail through the county to El Paso and camped for two days near the present-day site of Rotan. The trail thus connects a long history of Indigenous travel with a specific travel account from the 19th century.

From the County’s Founding to Roby’s Development

Fisher County was named after Samuel Rhoads Fisher (1794–1839), a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and Secretary of the Navy of the Republic of Texas in 1836. The county was established in 1876, settled in 1877, and organized in 1886. In April 1886, an election designated Roby as the county seat; the town had first been laid out in 1885.

As Roby developed, land was donated for churches, schools, a park, and a cemetery. Roby Cemetery also preserves different traces of the town’s history: its oldest gravestone is that of Mable W. Deming and bears the year 1884. Also buried in the cemetery are Fisher County pioneers, Civil War veterans, and the formerly enslaved person “Aunt” Abbie Alborn.

Cemeteries and Historic Directions

Woods Chapel Cemetery was established and used until 1884, after a nearby frame building had served as a school and church. A San Jacinto Day memorial event is held there every year on April 21. If you plan your trip around that date, confirm the current arrangements locally.

To reach Woods Chapel Cemetery, travel south from US 180 via FM 1812, then west via CR 156, followed by an unpaved road. Check road conditions and access before setting out. Palava Cemetery is now the only physical reminder of a once-thriving town and serves as a memorial to the area’s pioneers. From Roby, the described route goes 13 miles south along SH 70, then east along FM 2744. Here, too, check road conditions and access before setting out.

Hitson Community and Rotan

Hitson Community developed from the settlement of ranchers John and William Hittson around 1870. A post office opened in 1885, and a school began operating in 1888. Numerous large farming families cleared fertile land there and grew crops. This local history complements the story of early ranching with the development of agricultural communities.

Rotan developed into a trading center for the northern and western parts of Fisher County and the southern parts of Kent and Stonewall counties. The first train reached the town in October 1906. Alongside Roby’s history, these details offer different historical perspectives on Fisher County: the development of its communities, their agriculture and trade relations, and the older travel routes through the area.

More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Rotan, Upton County, Scurry County, Gillespie County, La Salle County, Smith, Henderson County, Bexar.

For the broader travel overview: Texas.