Marker Title: Burton Community
City: Burton
County: Washington
Marker Location: Main and Washington Sts. in front of Burton
State Bank and post office, Burton.
Marker Text: John M. Burton (1806-77) of Georgia came to Texas
in the 1820s, and to this area in 1834. When the Houston & Texas
Central Railroad was being built in 1869, he sold land for townsite.
Post office opened Sept. 23, 1870, with Charles Huberich as postmaster.
Early businesses included a mercantile store, lumber yard, blacksmith,
tin shop, cotton gin, oil mill, drugstore, and leather shop. The noted
Texas Ranger Captain L. H. McNelly lived here. After service with State
Police, he came home and raised two Ranger units that reflected credit
on citizens of the Burton community, 1874-1877.
Museum Name: Chappell Hill Historical Society Museum
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 211
City: Chappell Hill
Zip Code: 77426
Street Address: Church & Poplar Streets
Area Code: 409
Phone: 836-6033
County: Washington
Marker Title: La Bahia Road
City: Brenham
County: Washington
Marker Location: At the intersection of SH 36 and FM 390, 7 mi.
N of Brenham.
Marker Text: One of the first overland routes used by European
explorers of Texas, La Bahia Road was originally an east-west Indian
trail in southeastern Texas and Louisiana. Earlier it may have been
an animal trail. Although not as famous, or long, as El Camino Real
(the San Antonio Road), La Bahia is probably older and it figured quite
importantly in the movement of explorers, soldiers, traders, and settlers
across Texas. Possibly the first European to set foot on the road was
La Salle, who explored for France in this area during 1685-87. Almost
certainly it was traveled by the Spaniard Alonso De Leon, who searched
for the French intruders in 1689. From 1812 on, the trail and its westernmost
town, La Bahia (now Goliad), served agents of both war and peace. The
Gutierrez-Magee Expedition, part of Mexico's revolt against Spain, used
the road in 1812-13. In 1821 the first Anglo-American colonists in Texas,
the vanguard of the "Old 300", came down La Bahia into this
area. During the 1836 Texas Revolution, the road found use by troops
of the Texan army; Col. James Fannin and his 400 men were massacred
near the road--in Goliad. In the 20th century, La Bahia's route helped
surveyors map modern Texas highways.
Marker Title: Early Texas River Steamers
City: Brenham
County: Washington
Marker Location: About 11 miles E of Brenham on US 290 just W
of Brazos River and just S of US 290 on Malinowski Road.
Marker Text: River-shipping efforts in pioneer Texas by steamboat
were centered primarily on the Brazos (about 2 mi. E.), and Washington-on-the-Brazos
(about 15 mi. N.) was an important distribution point for commercial
interests. The Brazos flowed through most productive cotton and sugar
region in Texas; steamers greatly aided shipment of these items to markets
in New Orleans. The first steamer reached Washington in 1840; by 1849
its docks were busy with steamboats making regular river trips. Between
1820-1840 settlers made journey to Texas on the Red River in steamers
if the river was high enough and there were no obstructions. Buffalo
Bayou, extending from Houston to Galveston Bay, was waterway traveled
most often by steamers, and took over trade from Brazos River because
it had better outlet to the sea. Navigation on the Trinity, Colorado,
and Sabine rivers also increased inland growth and development. While
rivers in Texas seemed to offer possibilities for steamboat travel,
the story of river navigation is largely one of disappointment. Most
meandering rivers were too shallow, often flooded, needed clearing;
many were choked with driftwood. These hazards greatly retarded economic
and social development of the state. By 1865 the importance of river
steamers was gone.
Marker Title: General Jerome B. Robertson Home
City: Independence
County: Washington
Marker Location: 1/10 mi. E off FM 50 (10200 block) on Local
Rd., Independence.
Marker Text: A captain in the army of the Republic of Texas 1836;
a captain in the Somervell Expedition 1842; Representative and Senator
in the Texas Legislature; Brigadier General of Hood's Brigade C.S.A.
Marker Title: Andrew Robinson Sr.
City: Washington
County: Washington
Marker Location: In front of Star of the Republic Museum in Washington-on-the-Brazos
State Park, Washington.
Marker Text: First settler of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300"
colonists to arrive in Texas. Came November 1821 with his wife Nancy
and 2 children. In 1824 he received title to over 9,000 acres of land
and was made a captain in the colonial militia. The town of Washington
was surveyed on his grant and he became a co-founder of it. By 1830
he was operating a ferry at La Bahia Crossing as well as a hotel and
saloon. In 1835 he fought in the Battle of Gonzales, where his unit
first carried into battle the original Lone Star flag made by Sarah
Dodson. He died 1852.
Museum Name: Star of the Republic Museum
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 317
City: Washington
Zip Code: 77880
Area Code: 409
Phone: 878-2461
County: Washington
Marker Title: Washington County
City: Washington
County: Washington
Marker Location: In front of Visitor Services Complex in Washington-on-the-Brazos
State Park, Washington.
Marker Text: To the memory of those courageous souls, the delegates
to the Constitutional Convention held here March 1-17, 1836 who declared
Texas free, organized a Republic, and framed its constitution Jessie
B. Badgett; Dr. George Washington Barnett; Thomas Barnett; Stephen William
Blount; John White Bower; Asa Brigham; Andrew Briscoe; John Wheeler
Bunton; John S.D. Byrom; Mathew Caldwell; Samuel Price Carson; George
Campbell Childress; William Clark, Jr.; Robert M. Coleman; James Collingsworth;
Edward Conrad; William Carroll Crawford; Richard Ellis; Dr. Stephen
Hendrickson Everitt; John Fisher; Samuel Rhoades Fisher; James Gaines;
Dr. Thomas Jefferson Gazley; Benjamin Briggs Goodrich; Jesse Grimes;
Robert Hamilton; Bailey Hardeman; Augustine Blackburn Hardin; Samuel
Houston; William Demetris Lacey; Albert Hamilton Latimer; Edward Oswald
Legrand; Samuel Augustus Maverick; Collin McKinney; Michel Branamour
Menard; William Menefee; John W. Moore; Dr. Junius William Mottley;
Jose Antonio Navarro; Martin Parmer; Sydney Oswald Pennington; Robert
Potter; James Power; John S. Roberts; Sterling Clack Robertson; Francisco
Ruiz; Thomas Jefferson Rusk; William Bennett Scates; George Washington
Smyth; Elijah Stapp; Dr. Charles Bellinger Stewart; James Gibson Swisher;
Charles Standfield Taylor; David Thomas; John Turner; Edwin Waller;
Claiborne West; James B. Woods; Dr. Lorenzo De Zavala May these names
be engraved on the hearts of all Texans
Marker Title: Washington County Courthouse
City: Brenham
County: Washington
Marker Location: 105 E. Main between S. Park and Baylor Sts.,
Brenham.
Marker Text: Built in 1940 with funds granted by the Public Works
Administration. This is the fourth courthouse to serve Washington County
since its formation in 1835. Constructed during the tenure of County
Judge Sam Low, the massive white limestone courthouse was designed in
the art moderne style. Details of that style include the light fixtures
and cast aluminum eagles at the entries. The building stands as a symbol
of Washington County government.
Museum Name: Washington on the Brazos State Historical Park
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 305
City: Washington
Zip Code: 77880
Street Address: FM 1155
Area Code: 409
Phone: 878-2214
County: Washington
Marker Title: Washington-on-the-Brazos
City: Washington
County: Washington
Marker Location: In Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park, Washington.
Marker Text: This frontier village was the setting for the convention
that on March 2, 1836, wrote and signed the immortal Texas Declaration
of Independence in this first capital of the Republic of Texas, the
constitution was drawn, the government organized. However, Washington
was a target for Santa Anna's army, and on March 17 the government had
to flee. After the Texas victory at San Jacinto, April 21, 1836, Washington
was again proposed as capital, but Houston was selected instead. In
1842, the Republic's government returned to Washington and remained
here during the term of Anson Jones, fourth and last president of Texas.
Anson Jones, native of Massachusetts, in 1833 had come to Texas, where
he at once began the practice of his profession, medicine. At the Battle
of San Jacinto, in the Texas Revolution, he took the field as surgeon
of the 2nd Regiment. Later he served in the Texas Congress, was minister
to the United States, Secretary of State, a senator, and finally the
president from 1844 to 1846. Upon annexation of Texas to the United
States, Dr. Jones retired to Barrington, his plantation near Washington.
He died in Houston on January 9, 1858.
Camp Felder was a Confederate camp for Union prisoners of war. It was located near present-day Chappell Hill in Washington County and was named for Gabriel Felder, owner of the Brazos River bottomland where the camp was established.
Camp Waul was a Confederate training camp seven miles north of Brenham and was named for Thomas Neville Waul. Waul's Texas Legion was organized on May 13, 1862 and ordered out of state in August that year.
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