The following was edited from The Mural at Belton Dam by Barbara J. Tucker:

This excerpt, like the original booklet, is dedicated to Elizabeth M. Burman.

The Mural at Miller Springs

In 1949 the United States Army Corps of Engineers began construction on a Leon river dam to provide flood control, offer recreation to area residents, and conserve water. By 1954, that dam was finished and boasted 1,300 feet of unguarded concrete walls. This wall forms one side of an emergency spillway for the lake and is called a retaining wall. FM 2271 divides the wall area into two segments, an east side which is 800 feet long and 15 feet high and a west side which is 500 feet long and starts at three feet and goes to 15 feet high. This wall became a "canvas" for amateur and professional graffiti artists.

Over the years, the graffiti became more and more unsightly. A solution for the problem was actively sought by all. Finally, the idea for creating a wall of pictures came from California. The Belton Project Manager, Charles Ferguson, toured a Corps of Engineers Dam in California and came home with the idea. He contacted the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor with his concept and the Art Department, specifically Maurine Burks, grabbed the idea and painted with it. The original idea that Mrs. Burks had is not what is on the wall today though, and that story is most interesting in itself!

Ms Burks envisioned the east side of the concrete slab to be an abstract painting. The west side was to be a giant picket fence with peoples' faces peeking out. The original plans changed and the east side today is a montage of Bell County past and present and the west side is a great balloon race inspired by the balloon races in Albuquerque with caricatures of local residents!

The idea of a folk art history mural carried some rules for the painters. The Corps required that the east side have no advertisements or commercialization, and no distinguishable personalities except the three-times bigger than life picture of Peter Hansborough Bell, a Texas governor and for whom the county was named. The west side which was painted (1983-1986) as "The Great Belton Dam Balloon Race", boasts two face-filled balloons with 75 local personalities represented in them. The faces belong to Mrs. Burks, her family, students, friends, and maybe someone just walking down a Bell County street! Mrs. Burks' dog is even on the west side.

Before any sketching or coloring could be done, the Corps sand blasted the graffiti surface of the wall, put a sealer on it and a gray base coat of paint. Under the direction of Mrs. Burks, citizens of Bell County were encouraged to submit ideas of things to include in the mural. Sketches of these items were done and a final selection was made. Each scene started as an artist's sketch on a pad of paper. It was enlarged significantly and then taped together at the site to be used as a guide. The pictures were extremely hard to scale. Graphing was to have been used, but proved difficult at the site. The students used the pad drawings to sketch free hand the outline of the pictures in black paint on the wall. The hardest picture to create was the courthouse. The artists and painters used scaffolding with other helpers shouting information up to them.

The mural cost about $2,000.00 and required about 100 gallons of paint. The sketching in black outline paint was started on July 8, 1978 and the public was invited to add the color on Saturday, October 7, 1978. It took six months to complete this giant color by number creation with final touches being added by Mrs. Burks during the summer of 1979. The graffiti eyesore was transformed into history that reads bigger than life! The mural actually started in the middle with Governor Bell and the UMHB campus. Is it the largest history lesson in the world? Maybe...maybe not, but it was the first of its kind in Texas and the second in the Nation. It is certainly the biggest coloring book in the state! The mural has been successful in solving the vandalism problem probably because all Belton residents and many others across the country have a personal stake in the pictures...they helped to color them! Girl Scouts, high school students, Congressman Page, long and short time county residents, the young and the not so young, an eighty year old painter in a wheel chair, and a man born in a log cabin all worked together to make something wonderful.

We invite you to take time to "walk the wall" and share a bit of Bell County history with those who recycled an eyesore into a peek at the past.

Section 1: Ox-Wagon

Documents show that in the early 1830's six families and five single men owned land in present day Bell County. Some of the land had come from Mexican government land grants, some was issued by Stephen F. Austin, most of which was reassigned by Sterling C. Robertson, land agent. He offered land that was relatively inexpensive and accepted payment over a six year period. By 1835 eight families had settled in the Bell County area.

Section 2: Pony Express

A Pony Express rider, identified by his U.S. mail bags, was a luxury the early residents of Bell County did not have. Early settlers however, did have stage lines. These stages were owned and operated by local business men and carried mail and passengers.

Section 3: Fort Griffin

Little River Fort was built where the Salado, Leon and Lampasas waters meet to form Little River. The fort became known as Fort Griffin because it was located on Moses Griffin's land. It was erected and manned by Texas Rangers from it's completion on December 25, 1836 until they abandoned the structure in 1837.

Section 4: Plantation Living

• The white building is a twenty-two room plantation in Salado built by Elijah Sterling Clack Robertson.
• The log cabin is modeled from the Willingham cabin built by the first Anglo settler in the area, Archibald Willingham.
• The mounted soldiers are Texas Rangers, many of which were the original settlers of Bell County.

Section 5: Salado College

The cornerstone of Salado College was laid on July 4, 1860 and operated until 1885. The structures were used as various schools for many years until the structures were plagued by fire. The ruins can still be found on what is today known as Salado Hill.

Section 6: Stage Coach

• The Sawyer and Reiser Stage Line provided service through Salado. The stage stopped at the Shady Villa Hotel which is now known as the Stagecoach Inn. Guests have included General Sam Houston, George Armstrong Custer, Colonel Robert E. Lee, and "Shanghai Pierce, a cattle baron.
• The next building was the saloon on Main Street Salado.

Section 7: Salado

In 1966 Salado Creek was designated as Texas' first Natural Historic Landmark. Between the Civil War and the Great Depression there were nine mills built on the Salado Creek which had more mills than any other creek in Bell County.

Section 8: Area Homes

• The modern home represented on the mural is the home of Mrs. Maurine Burks the painting project director.
• The little white house in front illustrates the one room "shotgun" type of architecture and is located in the Moffat community.
• The two story home with the shutters is located at 702 North Penelope in Belton and was the home of F.K. Austin, a prominent Belton grocer arriving in Bell County around 1854.
• The white house with the pointed roof is a country home and is typical of architecture in the 1870s and 1880s.

Section 9: Belton

• The Curtis Mansion with its "Old Maid's Porch," was built by a cotton buyer named William Ray Miller in 1902. The house is located on Main Street.
• The modern brick structure in front of the Curtis home is the Belton City Library.
• The large building is the Carnegie Library, which is now the home of the Bell County Museum.

Section 10: Belton Public Buildings

• The Opera House was built on the square in Belton. This structure is Belton's second Opera House and was designed in a late Victorian style in 1895.
• The Bell County Courthouse is a massive mixture of architecture. The current structure, which is illustrated, was built in the spring of 1885 and cost an amazing $130,000.

Sections 11 and 12: Panel Break

Periodically the mural painters took a break form the pictorial time line of settlement in Bell County. This break shows the recreational opportunities provided by the lake and the red castle which can be seen is the symbol of the builders of the dam, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Section 13: Early Times

• Belton, originally named Nolandville, was founded in 1850.
• The bridge was over Nolan Creek. It leads to the Indian Marking Tree. This tree is where Indians would mark a trail by bending a branch into the ground and burying it.
• The arches are at the University of Mary Hardin Baylor (UMHB).

Section 14: UMHB Station

• This is the train depot and the light signal in front of the UMHB station.
• The Hudson House, located at 318 North Main Street, Belton, is in the background.

Section 15: McWhirter-Walker-Kimball Home

This 1875 home located at 400 North Pearl St. in Belton, was the home of the Sanctificationists, a female religious sanctuary organized by Martha Whirter. The Walker distinction in the name of this house belongs to Sam Sims Walker, a prominent Belton merchant. The Kimballs are the present owners.

Section 16: Moving Along...

• The Chapel at UMHB sits high in the picture.
• The power house, once located in Temple, was placed on the wall for Congressman Poage, who came and painted it.
• This trolley is the Interurban electric railway or streetcar which ran between Belton and Temple dreaming that someday these two central Texas sites would be connected with Dallas and San Antonio. It was built in 1904 and ended its service in 1929. It had its shops and power source at Midway, half way between Belton and Temple.

Section 17: Bell County:

• Peter Hansborough Bell was governor when this area applied to be a county. The first time the county was "overlooked" when it applied as "Clear Water County," The name was revised to the present Bell, and the second application was accepted in 1850.
• The log structure is the Sanderford Cabin and it stands today.

Section 18: Charter Oak

• The Charter Oak is the site where Bell County was organized, thereby earning its name. The tree is actually centuries old and stands along the Leon River on private property.
• The gates to UMHB are behind the Charter Oak.

Section 19: Panel Break

The rodeo type scene helps to illustrate the significance that cowboys and ranchers continue play in the economy of Bell County. Look closely for the spike and hammer which represent the railroads contributions to the county.

Section 20: Trains

Between 1877 and 1915, ten railroads investigated Bell County, but only the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railroad known as simply the Santa Fe, and the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad known as the Katy, made and broke local rural communities. The large train represents Temple, which began when the Santa Fe chose not to build in Belton, but instead started its own town.

Section 21: Temple Skyline

• Temple College's Fine Arts Building is pictured in their present location where they have been located since 1957.
• The Azalee Marshall Cultural Activities Center which opened in 1978.
• Temple Civic Theater is near the trees.
• The Kyle Hotel (1929) is in the back on the far right side. Famous guests have included Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Lawrence Welk.

Section 22: Hospitals

• The Santa Fe Hospital was started in 1891 to provide medical and surgical treatment to employees of the railroad.
• The Scott & White Hospital began as a partnership between Dr. A. C. Scott Sr. and Dr. R. R. White Sr. working at the Santa Fe Center. It was formed in 1897 and resulted in a private hospital opening its doors in 1904 and called the Temple Sanitarium. It had sixteen beds.
• The King's Daughters Hospital was founded in 1896 to care for people not cared for by anyone else. It was run by a group of Temple women, including Mrs. A.C. Scott as one of the first trustees.
• The Olin E. Teague Veteran's Administration Medical Center was named by an Act of Congress after Representative Olin E. Teague, a leader for veterans affairs. This facility in various forms has served veterans since 1942.

Section 23: Temple Homes

• The railroad theme remains present since Temple began as Temple Junction named reluctantly after the Chief Engineer of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1881.
• The white house belonged to James and Miriam Ferguson, who both served as governors of Texas. Miriam was the first female to hold this position.
• This distinctive Japanese style house was built in 1914 by Dr. and Mrs. J.M. Woodson.

Section 24: Rural Bell County

• The round building was used by the SPJST Lodge and burned in the 1930's.
• The Holland Mercantile Company is the building with the three windows on the second floor. This building burned in 1960 after serving the town of Holland beginning in 1893.
• The old Post Office in Troy illustrates a typical rural station.
• The house on the hill is a typical farm house. It was shaped to get the prevailing winds. The entry hall ran the entire length of the house with several rooms making up each section.

Section 25: Panel Break

• This panel shows how the promise of good soil brought some of the first settlers to this area.

Section 26 & 27: Killeen

The gray house is the Rancier Home in Killeen. Will Rancier was a banker who invested heavily in the Killeen area.

Section 28: Bells

• The Bells were part of the Ding Dong community. this country store was owned by a Mr. Z. Bell and his nephew, Foster Bell. the sign shows two "Bells" and the words "Ding Dong"! It was located on FM440 near the Lampasas River.
• The bell tower belongs to Central Texas College.
• The soldier marks the beginning of Fort hood. It was named in honor of General John Bell Hood, a Confederate Genera, and was dedicated as Camp Hood in September of 1942.

Sections 29, 30 and 31: Fort Hood

The #1 Headquarters building is drawn with the American flag flying high. Different kinds of military equipment used at Fort Hood are painted on the mural. The mural shows training exercises that comprise much of the action at Fort Hood.

Sections 32 and 33: The Signatures

The armadillo train is the signature of the artists who painted the mural. They can be found riding bareback and in the covered wagon. The large cowboy with the giant paint brush represents all who came to paint, from Vermont to California, on the biggest coloring book in the great state of Texas!

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Last updated: April 17, 2000