Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park. (original) (raw)

The first settlers of Stephen F. Austin's Colonists arrived in late 1821. Andrew Robinson settled on the west side of the Brazos with his son in law John W. Hall and built a ferry in 1822. Robinson was given a grant by Baron Bastrop and Stephen F. Austin in 1824 which included a league of land and the authority to operate the ferry. The town was surveyed and platted in 1833.

Dr. Asa Hoxie named the town Washington - after a town in Wilkes County, Georgia - said to be the first town in the United States to be named after George Washington.

The town has been described as "little more than a collection of rough log buildings scattered on a bluff about half a mile back from the Brazos River. Colonel William Gray, a land agent from Virginia succinctly described it as a "disgusting place."

After the fledgling government of the Republic of Texas evacuated the site at the approach of Santa Anna's army, it was said that "the glory of the town had departed with the government." When people started moving back, it was described as such:

"the highly respectful resident population of 250 watched with impotent disapproval the doings of the hundred or so gamblers, horse racers and sports who had most of the money." Another observed: "there was a decrepit air about the place - except for racing season."

In 1842 when Washington became the capitol for the second time - prosperity was apparent in the brick buildings and additional homes.

Washington prospered as river traffic increased and there were sometimes as many as three stern-wheeled boats tied up at the docks. An 1854 flood left a boat high and dry in a cotton field where it was eventually dismantled. Captains took note - and moved their ships to deeper and more predictable waters.

The most momentous event since the signing of the declaration of independence occurred in 1845 when the Congress met at Washington on June 16, 1845 and Texas ceased to be a Republic and joined the United States.

Washington at zenith in the 1850s had a population of 1,500 - a figure it never saw again. The town refused to pay a bonus to the approaching Houston and Texas Central Railroad and became one of the first of many Texas towns to experience "death by railroad bypass."

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