Buchanan, Texas, Johnson County second county seat. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Buchanan was named for the U.S. President (before he was elected) and replaced Wardville (another ghost) as the Johnson County seat of government in 1856. Buchanan was chosen for its more central location. A post office opened there in 1857 and a log courthouse heard trials and dispensed justice. A jail was in place the following year.

Buchanan served for slightly more than ten years. The town had insufficient water and in 1866 an agreement was reached with the new (adjoining) county of Hood. Johnson County gave land to Hood, causing a readjustment of the county center.

With Buchanan no longer within six miles of the center, in March of 1867, an election was held and Buchanan felt the pain it had inflicted on Wardville.

Voters chose Camp Henderson (which was to eventually become Cleburne), the population relocated to the new seat and the post office closed its doors in 1868. A few diehard residents remained but by the 1890s, Buchanan was deserted.

Buchanan Chronicles

The July 29, 1878 Solar Eclipse in Texas

by Mike Cox ("Texas Tales" column)

In Buchanan, a small community in Johnson County, a man who had not known of the coming astronomical show thought the end of the world had come when it started getting dark. He killed his child and himself. "He had always been regarded as a fanatic on the subject of religion," the Austin Daily Statesman reported on August 8, "but was an industrious, sober [person]."... more

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