In the 1870s, before barbed-wire, rock fences were described as honey-combed throughout the area. I interviewed the daughter of one of the fence-builders that said her father was part Cherokee who came to Erath County to escape prejudice. He built rock fences for 75 cents per day. When the population grew, wagon loads of the fences were ground up for street paving. An article in the 1910 Stephenville Empire noted: “The old time rock fences in and around Stephenville have nearly al disappeared since work on the public square commenced, the city having bought them to be ground up and put on the streets. The disappearance of these landmarks . . . leaves nothing as it looked fifty years ago.”