The most western of all Texas towns, El Paso also claims to be one of the oldest. The city has grown out of several early settlements, the oldest of which was formed by Juan Maria Ponce de Leon in 1827. The California gold rush in 1849, as well as the cattle drives and general movement … Read more
Now renamed and incorporated as the town of West Columbia, Columbia of the days of the Republic of Texas was located between the Brazos and San Bernard rivers in west central Brazoria County. It was founded in 1826 by Josiah Hughes Bell, who laid out the town two miles west of Marion (now East Columbia). … Read more
Located near the mouth of the Brazos River, Brazoria was first established in 1828 as a port and trading center for Austin’s colony. Although the town was burned in 1836 during the Runaway Scrape, it was rebuilt and served as an important trading center during the Republic. By 1840 claimed six newspapers. The decline of … Read more
One of the earliest settlements in inland Texas, Bastrop was located at the intersection of the Colorado River and the Old San Antonio Road. The settlement, originally called Mina, was first settled in the late 1820’s. Soon after the Revolution, the town was incorporated. Its name was changed to Bastrop, in honor of Baron de … Read more
Austin, the capital of Texas, was a barren hill on a bend in the Colorado River when the Texas Revolution was fought. Leaders of the newly formed government selected the site from a short list of sites considered by the Second Congress of the Republic of Texas. By 1839, however, the town was established and … Read more
Corpus Christi in 1852 was a frontier town with its businesses mainly located on the beach, and residences scattered along a high bluff behind. Land in the vicinity was extremely fertile. Regions of timber grew nearby, surrounded by vast stretches of grassy prairie that abounded with wildlife. Despite this seeming paradise, Colonel Henry L. Kinney, … Read more
By 5 p.m. the afternoon of September 15, 1896, nearly 50,000 people had gathered anxiously on a wide stretch of Texas prairie near Waco. Moments later, they watched two 35-ton locomotives, each pulling seven boxcars, collide head-on at a combined speed of 120 miles per hour. The publicity spectacular was staged at Crush, Texas, a … Read more
The Texas Constitution establishes the fundamental laws under which all of its citizens are governed. The Constitution that we use today was first adopted in 1876. However, Texas has operated continuously under a constitutional government since 1824, a dozen years before the Fall of the Alamo! Under the Mexican Constitution of 1824, the regions of … Read more
There have been 8 different Capitol buildings used by the Republic of Texas, then by the State, starting from the beginning of the Texas Republic through today’s capitol. Washington-on-the-Brazos (1836) The ad interim government of the Republic of Texas was formed at the Convention of 1836, which met in primitive quarters at Washington- on-the-Brazos from March 1 … Read more
Following the California gold rush of 1849, there became an increasing need to protect and supply the growing population of Americans in the southwest. After attempts to build a transcontinental railroad succumbed to sectional politics, U.S. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis decided to experiment with camels as a means for transporting military provisions across west … Read more