1873 Sesquicentennial Mural

Artist Bristen Phillips completed this mural in 2023 to celebrate Terrell’s sesquicentennial. Funded by the Park and Downton Improvement Corporation (PADIC), this mural pays homage to two of Terrell’s early settlers, John G. Moore (1826-1880) and Charles C. Nash (1833-1878). After the Texas & Pacific Railway announced its intentions to build a line through northern Kaufman County, these two pioneers made plans to create a new town along the railway, providing a depot stop and economic opportunities for the county. Nash, a Kaufman merchant, gave Moore a stash of money from his safe, and Moore took the money, wrapped the bills around his leg, and covered them with his sock before riding his horse to Uvalde to purchase 320 acres of the J. W. Cude survey. Two weeks later, Moore deeded half the purchase to Nash. Together, they laid out the new townsite, which quickly developed into a thriving depot town that boasted a population of 3,000 by the mid-1800s. Terrell was named after another Kaufman County landowner, Robert Adams Terrell (1820- 1881).