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All the United States Texas Marble Falls Township Dead Man's Hole

Dead Man's Hole

Civil War dumping ground for the bodies of terrorized Union sympathizers.

Marble Falls Township, Texas

Added By
Stephanie Littleton
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Dead Man’s Hole   Nicolas Henderson on Flickr
Dead Man’s Hole   Nicolas Henderson on Flickr
Dead Man’s Hole   Nicolas Henderson on Flickr
Plaque at the Dead Man’s Hole.   Paul Long on Flickr
Dead Man’s Hole   Paul Long on Flickr
  canlarue / Atlas Obscura User
Most recently Dec 2016   italyanastacia / Atlas Obscura User
Most recently Dec 2016   italyanastacia / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The Civil War between the Union and Confederacy famously raged in Congress and on the battlefield. Less documented were the clashes between partisan groups in small neighborhoods and communities. For some unlucky Union sympathizers the war fatally ended in a gaping Texas sinkhole.

Dead Man’s Hole, as it would be baptized, was discovered in 1821 by Ferdinand Leuders, an entomologist observing nocturnal insects. He recorded his findings without taking much note of the spacious cavity. He had no idea he had stumbled upon what would become a notorious burial ground for ideological murders and lynchings. The hole, located in southern Burnet County, Texas is caused by a buildup of natural gas pressure. It measures 7 feet in diameter at the surface and has a cavernous depth of about 15 stories.

As the Civil War brought destruction and death to the United States, groups of vigilante secessionists materialized in the South wreaking havoc on anyone associated with the  Union. These anarchic gangs, colloquially known as bushwhackers and fire-eaters, harassed, robbed, and murdered those with different political and ideological views. One such victim was John R. Scott, a New York born judge living in Burnet County. Despite having four sons serving in the Confederate army, Scott was deemed guilty of espousing Union sympathies and was threatened anonymously. As he fled to Mexico, Scott was assailed by a group of bushwhackers who shot him and jettisoned the body in the fateful Dead Man’s Hole.

Similar narratives fill local chronicles. Union sympathizers were either killed on the spot and thrown down the cavern or dragged to it and murdered after a hasty trial. It is thought that 17 bodies in total ended up in Dead Man’s Hole. A mysterious epilogue to the hole’s gruesome history occurred after sacks of bones were collected from the sinkhole. Awaiting a proper burial in the Burnet County Courthouse, the bones disappeared, never to be recovered.

Update as of June 2022: The hole is currently covered.

Related Tags

Sinkhole Us Civil War Informal Funerals Murder Caves Crime And Punishment Subterranean Sites Ecosystems

Community Contributors

Added By

slittleton

Edited By

italyanastacia, canlarue, kelnkae

  • italyanastacia
  • canlarue
  • kelnkae

Published

October 6, 2013

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Sources
  • http://www.voicesofthetexashills.org/vthhsites0010.htm
  • http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rpd03
  • http://www.texasescapes.com/MikeCoxTexasTales/Dead-Mans-Hole.htm
  • http://bob-texashillcountry.blogspot.com/2010/02/dead-mans-hole-civil-war-and.html
Dead Man's Hole
1500-2098 Shovel Mountain
Marble Falls Township, Texas, 78654
United States
30.528417, -98.264947
Get Directions

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Photo of Texas

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