McKinney settled the area that is now McKinney Falls State Park by 1850. Remains of his work are still visible to hikers curious enough to cross the creek. It is located up the hill and within throwing distance of the El Camino Real de los Tejas, a road used from the late 1600's until the early 1800's. During that time missionaries, soldiers and traders used the road to conduct business in the area it traveled. McKinney was Kentucky born and one of Stephen Austin's first 300 hundred colonists during the creation of Texas. He lived a successful life and shaped the area until his death in October of 1873 and rests in the Oakwood Cemetery located in Austin.