Discovery Monument, Rockwall, Texas

The Discovery Monument located on the grounds of the Historic Downtown County Courthouse, was created to depict the discovery of the rock wall for which the City and County of Rockwall were named. 

In 1852, three pioneer farmers were digging a water well on the land of Terry Utley Wade and discovered unusual layers of rock which resembled a buried rock wall. It was too long to dig around and too deep to dig under so it became one of the sides of the well.

In later years, when a county was formed, broken off from Kaufman County, the name of the new county was named for the unique geological feature, and Rockwall, Texas came to be. 

In 2004, after a Founder’s Day celebration, the Rockwall County Alliance for the Arts, planned and held a contest to have a sculpture made to commemorate the pioneers. 

My design was chosen and bronze maquette sized sculptures were sold to raise the funds. 

After almost 20 years, the City of Rockwall took over the project and the memorial was created and placed in 2023.