Navasota is a city primarily in Grimes County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. The population was 7,643 at the 2020 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature designated Navasota as the "Blues Capital of Texas" in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

musician. Technically, a sliver of Navasota is in Brazos County, which is part of the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan area.

Geography

Navasota is located in southwestern Grimes County, east of the Navasota River (a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the Brazos River). It is northwest of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas State Highway 105 State Highway 105 (SH 105) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas that runs from Brenham to the outskirts of Beaumont. The route was originally proposed in 1925 and took its current routing in 1984. Route description SH 105 begins ...

is the main east–west route that passes through the center of Navasota, leading southwest to Brenham and east to Conroe.

Texas State Highway 6 State Highway 6 (SH 6) runs from the Red River of the South, Red River, the Texas–Oklahoma state line, to northwest of Galveston, Texas, Galveston, where it is known as the Old Galveston Highway. In Sugar Land and Missouri City, it is k ...

passes north–south through the eastern side of the city as a four-lane bypass, leading northwest to College Station and south to Hempstead. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.47%, is water.

History

The French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who was misguided in his 1687 attempt to locate the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

and trying to find his way back to French-held lands near the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, came through the area that would become Navasota, where he was murdered by one of his men. After numerous voyages, explorations of the Mississippi River valley, and trading ventures and several mutinies, La Salle's bones are believed to have found their resting place in the Navasota Valley. Originally called Hollandale after Francis Holland who first settled the area in 1822, Navasota was situated within two Montgomery County land grants. Grimes County was created in 1846 but it would take the forward thinking of James Nolan and others like him before it would renamed Navasota in 1854. The origin of the name Navasota has been debated by many over the years. Some speculate it’s a native American phrase meaning “prickly pear” while others lean toward “muddy waters,” referring to the nearby Navasota and Brazos Rivers. After September 1859, when the Houston and Texas Central Railway built rails through the town, Navasota became an important shipping and marketing center for the surrounding area. When the nearby historic town of Washington-on-the-Brazos resisted railways, it forfeited its geographic advantage and began to decline after many of its businesses and residents began to migrate to the new railhead to the northeast across the Brazos River at Navasota. Slavery was integral to the local economy. A few wealthy planters depended on enslaved

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

to provide labor for their large

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

plantations. The slaves were brought to the city and sold in the domestic slave trade. They worked primarily in the cotton fields, which were a major commodity crop in the area. Guns were made in nearby Anderson. Cotton,

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

, and

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but ...

s were made, processed, and stored in Anderson for the Confederacy during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. By 1865, the population of Navasota was about 2,700. Throughout the Civil War, all the marketable goods produced in the region were brought to Navasota, which at the time was the furthest inland railhead in Texas. Such goods were shipped south by rail to Galveston, where they could be transported by

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

along the Texas coast and up the

to the war effort or exported to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

or overseas to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Disasters and decline

Navasota suffered a series of disasters in the mid-1860s that severely depleted its population. In 1865, a warehouse filled with cotton and gunpowder exploded after it was torched by returning Confederate soldiers. The blast killed a number of people and started a fire that destroyed much of the original downtown. Many buildings were damaged, including the post office. Not long afterward, the town was struck by a deadly

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic. That was followed in 1867 by an even more dangerous epidemic of yellow fever. Many Navasota citizens, including the mayor, fled to escape the disease, and the town's population dropped by about 50 percent. In the late 1860s the KKK moved into Navasota, prompting a tense confrontation between federal soldiers and a crowd of local whites on one occasion. Navasota was considered such a "wild and woolly" place that women and children were discouraged from going downtown even in broad daylight. The downtown buildings were overrun with lawless ruffians, gamblers, prostitutes, and drunks. Lawmen had to hide and watch, and often were afraid of the streets at night. There were many saloons and gaming halls to entertain the cowboys, railroad men, and others on the loose. Every Sunday morning the

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker or mortician (American English), is a professional who has licenses in funeral arranging and embalming (or preparation of the deceased) involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks o ...

hitched up a buggy and went downtown to collect the bodies he expected to find after another wild Saturday night.

Marshal Frank Hamer

In 1908, Navasota was still a Wild West boomtown: according to one source, "shootouts on the main street were so frequent that in two years at least a hundred men had died". Famed lawman Frank Hamer, then 24 years old, was hired from the Texas Rangers to become the City Marshal. Hamer moved in and imposed law and order, prosecuting Navasota criminals until the town became safe again. He served as marshal until 1911. Hamer became more widely known in 1934 as a leader of the posse that hunted down and fatally shot Bonnie and Clyde. In 2012, the City of Navasota commissioned local sculptor Russell Cushman to design and create a statue of Frank Hamer, which is now on display in front of the city hall building.

Present

As of 2018, the population of the town was an estimated 7,715 people. The industrial sector of the community boasts 23 companies and over 1,200 jobs. In 2009, Navasota was selected as a "Visionaries in Preservation" city by the Texas Historical Commission to protect the numerous historic structures in the city. A new municipal building was completed in 2011 and continued downtown improvements are under construction, with completion scheduled for 2023. In 2012, Navasota Municipal Airport completed an expansion of its

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

to long by wide and is now able to accommodate jets on the runway. The city of Navasota earned a 2011 Gold Leadership Award from the Texas Comptroller's Office for efforts in transparency. Its application scored 17 of 20 points. Navasota was one of 70 (out of over a thousand) cities in Texas to receive the Gold status. It also received the award in 2013. In 2012, Navasota was named by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

as "Train Town USA". In August 2013, Navasota was named a Go Texan "Certified Retirement Community" by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Media

Navasota is served by the weekly ''Navasota Examiner'' newspaper, which has been reporting on Grimes County since 1894. The city is also home to the Willy 98.7 FM and 1550 AM radio stations, which are owned and managed by Bryan Broadcasting in Bryan, Texas. Willy 98.7 is a classic country station with local programming that includes the Navasota News and live broadcasts of Navasota Rattlers

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

games.

Attractions

Navasota has many shops and artisans in its historic downtown district, including antique, gift, and boutique stores and

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

housed in old classic stone and brick structures. Live plays are performed regularly at the Sunny Furman Theatre. The city also has

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

ing facilities and parks as well as wineries. Navasota retains a number of historic Victorian homes on Washington Avenue, the main residential and commercial thoroughfare through town. Another attraction is the historic Brule Field, a natural amphitheater built in the 1930s out of native stone. It served as the primary grid for the local high school football team, the Navasota Rattlers, until the new stadium was constructed in 2006. Several native-stone churches also remain near downtown, with distinctive Victorian fronts. The city is home to two statues of French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, including a bronze monument, dedicated in 1936 by the DAR, to celebrate the travels of the famous French explorer. The second is a stone bust that was previously in downtown, and was rededicated by the French consulate in May 2012 at nearby August Horst Park. The bust was donated to the city by the French government in 1978. Each spring, Navasota is a popular destination for its bluebonnet fields, the state flower of Texas. A statue of Mance Lipscomb is now a part of Mance Lipscomb Park, near downtown. A statue of Frank Hamer stands in front of city hall, honoring the time he served as city marshal. Local artist and sculptor Russell Cushman designed and built the bronze statue. Other attractions include art galleries, the Horlock House Artists-in-Residence program and museum, live music venues, food truck parks and several murals that present great selfie locations for area visitors. Seasonal festivals attract crowds each year, with live music being a large part of the draw.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 7,643 people, 2,661 households, and 2,011 families residing in the city. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, 7,049 people, 2,206 households, and 1,726 families reside in the city. The population density was . The 2,805 housing units averaged 435.0 per square mile (167.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 52.4% White, 38.4% Hispanic or Latino, 30.6% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.4% Asian, and 2.1% from two or more races. Of the 2,206 households, 37% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.5% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 20.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29% were not families. About 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.39. In the city, 30.7% of the population was under the age of 18, 10.6% were between 18 and 24, 26.7% were between 25 and 44, 18.0% were between 45 and 64, and 12.6% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $38,000, and for a family was $31,875. Males had a median income of $28,585 versus $21,731 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $14,564. About 23.8% of families and 23.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 34.7% of those under age 18 and 24.0% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Navasota Post Office. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the O.L. Luther Unit and the Wallace Pack Unit in an

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 ...

in Grimes County near Navasota. In addition, the Pack Warehouse is located in an unincorporated area near the Pack Unit.

Education

The Navasota Independent School District includes five traditional campuses and one academic alternative school campus. All campuses received a Met Standard rating from the Texas Education Agency. Navasota High School earned a distinction in ELA/Reading and exceeded state targets in Student Progress, Student Achievement, Closing Performance Gaps, and Post-Secondary Readiness. Navasota Junior High exceeded state targets in Student Progress and Post-Secondary Readiness. John C. Webb Elementary exceeded state targets in Student Progress and Post-Secondary Readiness. Brule Elementary exceeded state targets in Student Progress, Closing Performance Gaps, and Post-Secondary Readiness. High Point Elementary earned distinctions in ELA/Reading, Mathematics, Top 25 Percent Closing Gaps, Top 25 Percent Student Progress, and Post-Secondary Readiness. High Point Elementary exceeded state targets in Student Progress, Student Achievement, Closing Performance Gaps, and Post-Secondary Readiness. NISD offers instructional support for learners through a variety of programs such as Advanced Academics/GT, Dual Credit College Classes, Dyslexic Services, English as a Second Language Support, Program 504 Support, Special Services for needs such as speech, learning disabilities, and other health impairments, Pre-Kindergarten Classes, Tiered Supports through RtI, and an Academic Alternative School. The average student to teacher ratio is 14:1. School organizations and athletics available to students include Business Professionals of America, FFA, Student Council, National Honor Society, Theatre, Choir, Kickstart, Band, Bass Fishing, FCA, Skills USA, Library Club, Boyz II Men, Princess Code, UIL Academics, One Act Play, HOSA-Future Health Science Professionals, Spanish Club, Family Career and Community Leaders of America, Football, Volleyball, Cross Country, Drill Team, Cheer, Basketball, Golf, Tennis, Baseball, Softball, Powerlifting, Soccer, and Track. In 1990, the boys basketball team won the 3A state championship with a 35–0 record after beating Gainesville and Lamesa at the state tournament played at the University of Texas’ Frank Erwin Center. The Navasota Rattlers were 3A Div. II State Football Champions in 2012 and 4A Div. I State Football Champions in 2014.

Notable people

* Alvin Ailey, dancer and choreographer * Kathleen Blackshear, artist * Rosa Meador Goodrich Boido, physician, suffragist * Clay Condrey,

Major League baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher * Virgil "Ned" Garvin, Major League baseball pitcher * Frank Hamer, Navasota city marshal and Texas Ranger * Gennie James, former child actress * Christine M. Jones, a former Maryland legislator * René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, French explorer who was killed near present-day Navasota in 1687 * Milt Larkin, musician * Mance Lipscomb, blues singer * R. Bowen Loftin, a

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

president who was a graduate of Navasota High School * Chuck Norris, martial artist"Chuck Norris water"
* Robert Reed, Brady Bunch dad * Christopher B. "Stubb" Stubblefield, restaurateur *

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...

, soul musician * Hazel Hainsworth Young, educator and centenarian

Photo gallery

Image:Miller's Navasota Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Miller's Image:P.A. Smith Navasota Wiki.jpg , P.A. Smith Hotel Image:Lewis Wilson Building Navasota Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Lewis Wilson Building Image:Downtown Navasota 4 Wiki (1 of 1).jpg , Downtown Navasota Image:Ketchum Building Navasota Wiki.jpg, Ketchum Building Image:Downtown Navasota 6 Wiki (1 of 1).jpg, Downtown Navasota Image:Downtown Navasota 6 Wiki.jpg, Downtown Navasota Image:Downtown Navasota 5 Wiki.jpg, Downtown Navasota Image:Downtown Navasota 4 Wiki.jpg, Downtown Navasota Image:Downtown Navasota 1 Wiki.jpg, Downtown Navasota Image:Downtown Navasota 3 Wiki.jpg, Downtown Navasota Image:Downtown Navasota 2 Wiki.jpg, Downtown Navasota

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* Caro, Robert A. (1982). '' The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent''. New York: Knopf. . * Sitton, Thad (2000). ''The Texas Sheriff: Lord of the County Line.'' Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press. .

External links

City of Navasota

Handbook of Texas Online
{{authority control Cities in Texas Cities in Brazos County, Texas Cities in Grimes County, Texas French colonization of Texas Populated places established in 1831 1831 establishments in Texas