- The Emerald
House, fair ground park between IH-10 and U.S. 290, moved
to Ozona from Emerald townsite.
- Although the early
history of this structure is unrecorded, it is known that the
house originally was built in the townsite of Emerald (9 miles
east). Established in 1889 as Crockett County's first
settlement, Emerald was the colonization project of railroad
agent T. A. Wilkinson. When Crockett County was organized
formally in 1891, an election was held to determine the site
of the county seat. Emerald lost its bid for the seat of
government to a newly developing area that became the town of
Ozona. Within a few years, many of Emerald's buildings,
including this house, were moved to the new county seat. As a
result, Emerald eventually disappeared. Until 1981, when it
was moved to this site, the Emerald house was located on one
of Ozona's Main Streets. It had been owned by many of the
town's prominent citizens, including E. M. Powell, an early
area surveyor who gave the land for many of the town's public
buildings and parks; pioneer merchant Phil Perner; newspaper
publisher W. A. Cochran; ranchers George L. Harrell and J. W.
Friend, and E. B. Deland. As one of Crockett County's earliest
structures and a survivor of its first settlement, the Emerald
House is a significant reminder of the County's heritage.
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