Fort Graham was a pioneer fort established in 1849 at the site of Jose Maria Village, an Anadaca camp on the western edge of present day Hill County, Texas. It remained in service until 1853, when settlements had moved further west. It was named after Col. William M. Graham, who died at the battle of Molina del Rey.[1]
In 1936, the Texas Centennial Commission granted Hill County $6700 to purchase the land upon which the Fort stood and reconstruct one of the buildings.[2]
In 1953, the US Army Corps of Engineers took the fort site as part of the Lake Whitney project.[1]
The Corps never moved the old fort reconstruction out of the lakebed; yet saw no historical value to the building. According to a paper written by Dr. S. Alan Skinner's in his 1974 report entitled "An Evaluation of the Archaeological Resources at Lake Whitney, Texas"
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In 1983, a group of local citizens led by Mrs. Selma Hill raised $15,000 to move the building, that it was determined the for would be preserved. At this time, the building was only three years from being eligible for the National Register on its own merits, however the citizens were never informed of this. Had it achieved National Register status the Corps would have been forced to take preservative action.
The Corps, in accordance with the 1936 dedication, operated a park on the site until 1982 at which time Hill County was forced to enter into a lease for the property or lose this culturally significant resource. The citizens of the County were again called upon to maintain the site, and did so until 2002. In 2002 the Corps came before the County demanding that a minimum of $60,000 be spent for the revitalization of the area. Hill County did not have sufficient funds, and thus relinquished the lease.
The Fort Graham Preservation Society, Inc (FGPS). is a non-profit corporation established to ensure that the memory of Fort Graham is not lost. FGPS is currently working with Federal and County agencies to preserve and revitalize Fort Graham Park and archeological site.