Rivers course through the history of Glen Rose. Settled in 1849 by brothers Charles and George Barnard, this settlement in the northern Hill Country got its start as a trading post. A decade later, George built a gristmill on the Paluxy River. In the bed of that same river in 1909, a local boy discovered fossilized dinosaur tracks. Visitors today can walk among the giant three-toed theropod tracks, found within Dinosaur Valley State Park. East of town, the Paluxy flows into the Brazos River, where the late writer John Graves grew up fishing and canoeing. Graves, a resident of Glen Rose, chronicled a Brazos River canoe trip in his 1960 book, Goodbye to a River, a classic of Texas literature. Just a block from the Paluxy, Glen Rose’s historic downtown square beckons with local shops, museums, and charming small-town events, including a July 4th parade with floats, equestrians, and vintage tractors, followed by fireworks at Wheeler Branch Park.