unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
and a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in
Washington County, Texas
Washington County is a county in Texas. As of the 2020 census, its 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 o ...
, United States.
Location
Gay Hill is located on
Farm to Market Road 390
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
, twelve miles north-west of Brenham in Washington County.
History
The settlement was first known as the Chriesman Settlement, in honor of Horatio Chriesman (1797–1878). In 1839, the second oldest Presbyterian church in Texas was established here by Reverend Hugh Wilson (1794–1868). A year later, in 1840, the
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...
established a post office and renamed it 'Gay Hill' in honor of Thomas Gay and William Carroll Jackson Hill, who owned the general store. A decade later, in 1854, a Mason lodge was formed here. Later, a Baptist church was also established.
The
Glenblythe Plantation
The Glenblythe Plantation is a former plantation in Gay Hill, Washington County, Texas. Before the American Civil War, it was cultivated with slave labor. The plantation home is no longer standing, however in 1967, a historical marker was install ...
, owned by Scottish immigrant and nurseryman Thomas Affleck (1812-1868), was located in Gay Hill. He discovered the Old Gay Hill Red China rose, which is native to Gay Hill.
From 1853 to 1888, Reverend James Weston Miller (1815–1888) served as the director of the
Live Oak Female Seminary
Live Oak Female Seminary was a Presbyterian female seminary and boarding school in Gay Hill, Washington County, Texas, Gay Hill, Washington County, Texas, Washington County, Texas from 1853 to 1888. Many daughters of the Southern aristocracy were ...
, a defunct women's college.
In 1881, the
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway
The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GC&SF) was chartered in Texas in 1873 to build a railroad from Galveston, Texas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. By 1886, it had built from Galveston to a junction in Temple, Texas, which was founded by the co ...
added a stop two miles away from Gay Hill. As a result, the town was moved, and the former location became known as ''Old Gay Hill''. The railway made the cotton industry more efficient, and it became an important transportation hub for the South. However, shortly after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the cotton industry declined and businesses started closing down. By 1971, most residents had moved to nearby Brenham.
The town is now a ghost town. There are no stores or schools in town. The main industry is ranching. The old Gay Hill School building has been relocated to
Old Baylor Park
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
in
Independence, Texas
Independence is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 140 in 2000. It is located about an hour northwest of the Greater Houston metropolit ...
National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Texas
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Texas.
This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Texas. ...
.
Demographics
By 1860, the population was 120. By 1936, the population had grown to 250. By 1958 however, the population had dwindled down to 200. In 1993 and again in 2000, the population was 145.