Rock Island is a historical settlement located on the
Brazos River in
Washington County, Texas
Washington County is a county in Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,805. Its county seat is Brenham, which is located along U.S. Highway 290, 72 miles northwest of Houston. The county was created in 1835 as a municipality of ...
, United States, northeast of
Chappell Hill, and northwest of
Hempstead. It emerged from a pre-Texas Republic era plantation named Rock Island for a small island in the Brazos. Conflicting histories place the site either east of the Brazos River in
Waller County or west of the river in Washington County. This could be explained by the apparent change in the path of the river at that spot during the existence of Rock Island.
By 1837, the plantation had a general store, inn, cotton gin, blacksmith, and a growing population but lost its bid for the county seat. The settlement benefitted by the addition of a ferry crossing and the Rock Island Academy. Rock Island had a post office 1849-1857. In 1857, the railroad was built east of the Brazos establishing the new community of
Hempstead but did not cross the Brazos leading to the decline in Rock Island.
References
Ghost towns in East Texas
Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
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