Washington-on-the-Brazos is an

unincorporated community 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 ...

along the Brazos River in Washington County, Texas, United States. The town is best known for being the site of the Convention of 1836 and the signing of the

Texas Declaration of Independence The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and was form ...

. The town is named for Washington, Georgia, itself named for

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. It is officially known as just "Washington," but after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

came to be known as "Washington-on-the-Brazos" to distinguish the settlement from "Washington-on-the- Potomac," Washington, D.C.

History

Washington was founded in 1833 by John W. Hall, one of the Old Three Hundred settlers, on land he had been given two years before by his father-in-law Andrew Robinson. It was located at a ferry crossing over the Brazos River on the La Bahia Road that dated from 1821. As the town grew, most settlers were immigrants from the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

, in what was then Mexican Texas. Because of its location on the Brazos River and near major roads, Washington became a commercial center, drawing in new inhabitants from nearby areas. After the outbreak of the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

, General Sam Houston made his headquarters at Washington in December 1835. Washington-on-the-Brazos is known as "the birthplace of Texas" because, on March 1, 1836, Texas delegates met in the town to formally announce Texas' intention to separate from Mexico and to draft a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

for the new

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 ...

. They organized an interim government to serve until a permanent one could be formed. The delegates adopted the

on March 2, 1836, signing it on the following day. They adopted their constitution on March 16. The delegates worked until March 17, when they had to flee with the residents of Washington, to escape the advancing Mexican Army. The townspeople returned after the Mexican Army was defeated at San Jacinto on April 21. Town leaders lobbied for Washington's designation as the permanent capital of the Republic of Texas, but leaders of the Republic favored Waterloo, later renamed Austin. Washington County was established by the legislature of the Republic of Texas in 1836 and organized in 1837, when Washington-on-the-Brazos was designated as the county seat. Although the county seat moved to Brenham in 1844, the town continued to thrive as a center for the

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 ...

trade until the mid-1850s, as it was located on the Brazos River to use for shipping out the crop. The construction of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s bypassed the town and pulled off its businesses. The strife of the

took another toll on the town, and by the turn of the 20th century, it was virtually abandoned. The Washington American, an organ of the American (Know Nothing) party, was published there in 1855 and 1856.

Culture

The town is home to the Washington-on-the-Brazos Historical Site, which has three main attractions: The Star of the Republic Museum (a museum about the Texas Republic), a replica of Independence Hall (where the

was signed), and Barrington Plantation (home of last Texas Republic President

Anson Jones Anson Jones (January 20, 1798 – January 9, 1858) was an American medical doctor, businessman, member of Congress, and the fourth and last president of the Republic of Texas. Early life Jones was born on January 20, 1798, in Great Barri ...

). In 1899, the local schools created a monument to Independence Hall. The town is also home to Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church, founded in 1849 as the oldest Black Catholic church in Texas. Washington Avenue in

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 ...

is named for Washington-on-the-Brazos and is the western route to Washington County.

Geography

Washington-on-the-Brazos is located on Farm to Market Road 912 off

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 ...

, east of Brenham and west of Navasota in the upper northeastern corner of Washington County. It is near the intersection of the Brazos and Navasota rivers.

Education

The first school in the community may have been established by the wife of John Hall in 1837. In 1841, local Masonic Lodge created its own school, and the Washington Female Academy briefly existed from 1856 to 1857. There were two schools in the 1930s, segregated according to race. Today, the community is served by the Brenham Independent School District.

Gallery

File:Inside the meeting room at Washington-on-the-Brazos IMG 9268.JPG, Inside the replica of the building where Texan independence was declared on March 2, 1836 File:Washington-on-the-Brazos Visitor Center IMG 9264.JPG, Visitor Center at Washington-on-the-Brazos File:Star of the Republic Museum entrance IMG 9271.JPG, Star of the Republic Museum is located within the state historical park. File:Frontier cabin, Washington-on-the-Brazos, TX IMG 9296.JPG, Frontier cabin replica at Star of the Republic Museum File:Steamboat replica at Star of Republic Museum IMG 9299.JPG,

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 ...

exhibit at Star of the Republic Museum File:Barrington Living History Museum entrance IMG_9311.JPG, Entrance to Barrington Living History Museum File:Barrington Farm, residence of Dr. Anson Jones.jpg, Barrington Farm, residence of

File:Corral at Washington-on-the-Brazos, TX IMG 9312.JPG, Corral at Washington-on-the-Brazos File:Washington on the Brazos Texas historical marker.jpg, Washington-on-the-Brazos historical marker File:Andrew Robinson Sr. Texas Historical Marker.jpg, Texas Historical Marker for Andrew Robinson Sr.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington-On-The-Brazos, Texas Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Capitals of former nations

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 ...

Protected areas of Washington County, Texas Texas Revolution Ghost towns in East Texas Museums in Washington County, Texas Living museums in Texas History museums in Texas Farm museums in Texas Agriculture museums in the United States Slave cabins and quarters in the United States