Nature
Old River
Formed as a channel of the meandering Trinity River, Old River rises in southwestern Liberty County and flows to the southeast, joining the trinity in northwestern Chambers County. During the 1820s and 1830s the tributary was the center of early area settlement. Among the first pioneers to migrate here were Robert and Eleanor (Dorsett) Wiseman, who settled on nearby land grants in 1827.
History
On this Site First Known as Perry's Point
On this site first known as Perry's Point, a fort, established in 1830 by General Manuel Mier y Teran for the purpose of halting Anglo-American colonization was named Anahuac, the Aztec name of Mexico City, then the capital of Texas. The imprisonment here of settlers in Austin's colony brought the first open rebellion to Mexican rule in 1832. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Robert McAlpin Williamson
(1804-1859) Crippled by disease at 15, with a leg permanently bent at the knee, wore a pegleg which like his two natural legs was covered with his trousers. Hence he was nicknamed "Three-Legged Willie." Settled in Texas in 1827 to practice law. Here at Fort Anahuac in 1832, he made an heroic stand against the commandant, Juan Davis Bradburn, who had jailed his client and friend, Patrick C.
History
Round Point
This area on Trinity Bay, three miles south of the town of Anahuac, was called Round Point as early as 1828 when Anson Taylor (1791-1831) settled here. A native of South Carolina, Taylor emigrated to Texas from Tennessee with his wife, Elizabeth, and their five children.
History
Sarah Ridge Paschal Pix
Born on the family plantation in the Cherokee Nation near present Rome, Georgia, Sarah Ridge (1814-1891) attended mission schools and girls' seminary. Her father Major Ridge was a Cherokee leader and friend of Sam Houston. Major Ridge, Sarah's brother John, and cousin were later assassinated for supporting the treaty which traded Indian lands for acreage in the West.
History
Site of Mission Nuestra Senora de la Luz
Established in 1757 by Franciscan missionaries with the purpose of civilizing and Christianizing the Orcoquiza and Bidai Indians. Abandoned in 1772.
History
Site of Old Wallisville (Ghost Town)
Settled in 1825 by Elisha H. R. Wallis, a pioneer from Georgia, on land in grant of Joseph Vehlein, a contractor working to place colonists in Texas. Chambers County was organized in 1858; wallisville was made county seat. A post office was granted in 1859, and town became a thriving retail market. Many county records were burned in a courthouse fire in 1875.
History
Site of the Home of General Sam Houston
Site of the Home of General Sam Houston, Constructed in About 1860, Occupied by Him as a Residence During a Part of 1861 and a Part of 1862
History
Smith Point Community Church
Officially organized in 1948, Smith Point Baptist Church held services once a month in the 1937 Smith Point School and community center led by traveling Baptist ministers. The school building was later sold to the church and moved to this site in 1960. Restrooms and Sunday School classrooms were added to the old school house to accommodate a growing congregation.
History
The Dr. N. T. Schilling Medical Office
Nicholas T. Schilling, born in Bavaria on Nov. 28, 1845, came as a small child with his parents to the United States. He served in the Civil War (1861-65) as a youthful volunteer in the Maryland cavalry. In 1872, he received his M.D. degree from the chicago Medical college. When he came to Cedar Bayou (20 mi.
History
Town of Winnie
Site is on 1835 James Hoggatt grant from Mexico. As late as 1890s, small tracts were homesteaded here. Named for Fox Winnie (1843-1927), a contractor and investor of Newton, Kans., who with L. P. Featherstone in 1895 built Gulf & Interstate Railway through the area. An 1896 storm destroyed G. & I. R. rail bed.
History
Wallis Hill Cemetery
Elisha H. R. and Sarah (Barrow) Wallis brought their family to this part of Texas from Nachitoches Parish, Louisiana, in 1824. They settled on Wallis Hill in early 1825; their home became a familiar stop for travelers. When their son Elijah died in 1830, he was buried near the house.
History
Wallisville Cemetery
Early settler Albert Gallatin Van Pradelles (1808-1884) set aside land at this site for the burial of his grandson, William M. "Willie" Chambers, who died on his third birthday on December 10, 1878. the land surrounding the grave was established as a legal cemetery in county deed records the following month. Field notes by county surveyor Daniel B.
History
William Barret Travis
(August 9, 1809 - March 6, 1836) Co-commander with James Bowie, siege of the Alamo. Born in South Carolina; moved with family in 1818 to Alabama, where at 19 he was admitted to the bar; came to Texas 1831. In anahuac he joined william H. Jack and others resisting tyranny of customs collector Juan Davis Bradburn and was jailed 50 days in the fort (1832).
History
Winnie-Stowell
Winnie and Stowell are two communities in northeastern Chambers County that were founded in the mid-1890s on the Gulf & Interstate Railway. The towns share a common economic history and cultural heritage and often are referred to simply as Winnie-Stowell. The town of Winnie was organized by the Winnie Loan and Improvement Co.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
